On this episode of Luxury Cruising, Dr. Krystal Sodaitis sits down with Kevin Kennon to explore a fascinating question: What truly defines luxury today? Drawing from decades of experience designing world-class buildings, hotels, retail spaces, and large-scale developments, Kevin shares his perspective on creating meaningful luxury experiences that go far beyond opulence and price tags.
What does luxury really mean in an era where travelers increasingly value experiences over possessions?
In this episode of Luxury Cruising, Dr. Krystal Sodaitis welcomes Kevin Kennon for a thought-provoking conversation about the evolving definition of luxury travel. Kevin discusses how modern luxury is shifting away from excess and toward personalized service, authentic experiences, meaningful human connections, and immersive environments that help travelers reconnect with themselves and the world around them.
The discussion explores Kevin’s latest venture, Beyond Zero, a luxury wilderness hospitality concept designed to blend ultra-high-end accommodations with conservation, sustainability, and transformative guest experiences. Inspired by the intimacy and service model of luxury yachts, Kevin explains how his team is developing private wilderness retreats that prioritize both privacy and social connection while preserving the natural landscapes surrounding them.
Listeners will hear insights into the psychology of luxury, how architecture influences human experience, why personalized service remains the foundation of hospitality, and how future luxury travel experiences may combine cutting-edge technology with deeply human interactions. Whether you’re passionate about luxury cruising, hospitality design, eco-tourism, or the future of travel, this episode offers a fascinating look inside the minds shaping tomorrow’s luxury experiences.
Episode Highlights:
About the Guest:
Kevin Kennon is an architect, developer, and hospitality innovator with decades of experience leading major architectural projects around the world. As the founder of Beyond Zero Development Company, he is focused on creating a new category of luxury wilderness hospitality that combines conservation, sustainability, advanced technology, and deeply personalized guest experiences.
Kevin’s work spans hospitality, retail, mixed-use developments, museums, skyscrapers, and innovative architectural projects designed to improve the way people experience the built environment.
Media Profile: https://www.guestsonair.com/profile/kevin-kennon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkennonarchitect/
Twitter: https://x.com/@PKevinKennon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pkk2418/?hl=en
Website: https://www.kdcaia.com/
About the Host:
Dr. Krystal Sodaitis is a pediatrician, executive, and life coach for neurodiverse physicians—and the passionate host behind Luxury Cruising. She brings expert insight and honest excitement to every interview, helping curious travelers elevate their adventures at sea.
📍 Website: luxurycruising.net
📧 Email: luxurycruisingpodcast@gmail.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/krystalsodaitis
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Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Luxury Cruising. I'm your host, Crystal Soditis, and I've got a really great treat for us today. Um, I have Kevin with us, and Kevin is an expert in creating luxurious experiences, specifically around luxurious hotels, luxurious accommodations, luxury hospitality. And so I really want to dive in and talk to him about what creates that luxurious experience.
So, Kevin, please tell the audience anything you want them to know about you.
Speaker 2: Sure. Okay. Well, listen, it's great to be here. I'm talking to you from New York City, where it's, very hot It was very cold and now it's very hot, for this time of year. but we're getting by.
And, um, just a little bit about me. I am, an architect by training and by profession. I have, had the good fortune of being in charge and designing, some [00:01:00] very, let's say major architectural projects, uh, certainly in the city, and also all over the world, which is one of the most rewarding things about my job is that I do travel a lot.
and, you know, sort of been on the cutting edge, I think, of designing, cool buildings for the future. but you always with a kind of humanistic approach to it. Um, but somewhere along the line, I also started doing a little developing here in New York City, and, learned a lot of lessons in this one project.
but recently, I've started a new development company, and we focus on, very private, wilderness hotels and resorts. Um, but at the same time that privacy is based on intimate social experiences. So this is kind of where we are, I think, right now in the luxury moment.
I think it's all being sort of defined. and, I think we now have the tools to better understand who our guests are. So if we start from that sort of [00:02:00] guest-centric approach, a lot of the projects I've also been in retail, you know, with very high-end retailers.
and hospitality's always been guest-centric.don't get me wrong. I just think that we have the ability now to fine-tune our service, to, uh, meet the expectations we believe our guests might have. They may or may not. you know, people are fickle.
but, we wanna be prepared for just about anything. So, you know, that's why, our focus is really, at this point, is just developing a group of people who, are interested in this type of wilderness experience. Um, it's not glamping, this is luxury wilderness.
these would be fantastic hotels no matter where they're gonna be. but they're really built in a way to take people, uh, to the edge safely, and then use that experience to sort of set off a whole, kind of regeneration, of who they are. And, so ideally these become transformative [00:03:00] experiences.
and the reason we think we can do that is that the tools we have and what we're employing, the sort of cutting edge of technology, I think is gonna be able to solve a lot of problems, and at the same time sort of attract, a specific group of, people.
Speaker: I love that. Well, I definitely wanna get into the details of those specific hotels, um, at some point. But before we get there, I wanna ask you a question that I usually reserve for the end of the interview.
Speaker 2: Sure.
Speaker: But I think it goes well at the beginning, for our talk today, and that is, how do you define luxury?
Speaker 2: And you know what? I think that's a great way to start, uh, these kind of conversations because, if you just have a feed like I do on LinkedIn, I'm sure, just the algorithm is just every day is luxury . And, I think it's a term that I think gets overused or misunderstood.
I mean, for some people it just means, people who make a certain amount, above a threshold. [00:04:00] but it's more than that because, um, it used to be people measured their luxury I guess in two things. I think it's always been about service.
I mean, that's a sort of built-in expectation is that if I'm gonna pay more, well, then I'm gonna expect higher service. and I think that's as old as, you know, people have been, gathering together. and some people are paying for services, other people are performing those services.
I think it's now becoming less and less about things as much, or rather if you have things, you have a certain kind of things, um, might be very fashion conscious or eco-conscious or, there's something, but it tends to be understated.
there's nobody wants or, you know, it's not an era of I think where people are flaunting their wealth. But you also, it's an era where, people are valuing experiences and are willing to do things that maybe their parents would never have done.
You know, that [00:05:00] somehow defines them as a kind of a generation seeking a little bit of adventure. and those are the people that we're most interested in talking to, and canvassing and because again the purpose of this is, yes, I'm a designer, I'm an architect, I've designed lots of very cool hotels and, museums and skyscrapers and all this kind of stuff, and if you just Google my name, you'll find out all you want to know about me.
but, you know, I've always been very interested in, how does architecture make people's lives better? If we can't answer that, then, I'm not really sure, you know, what we're doing. And in an age where increasingly we define ourselves by, how much screen time we have, I think there is a conscious effort, and I see it especially in my kids who are both, zoomers, that, they wanna get away from that world.
They understand that it's been somewhat of a toxic experience for many of them. [00:06:00] and they self-regulate, by, getting away and getting into the world and, in ways that it's I think almost unique for a generation of Americans.
I did that. I mean, I was fortunate. my parents traveled around when I was a kid, and I've got the travel bug, ever since then. And, I've certainly had my, great stays in amazing, you know, hotels. But, I think the, point of it is that there's a kind of, a yearning for authenticity, authentic e-experiences, and at the same time there's a greater understanding of both the power and the fragility of nature.
and, sort of if you can combine that and also that, once you start to really look at this as an enterprise, you realize that when you're talking about sort of wilderness experiences with a very high level of service you're talking about you know, a significant amount of power and you have to have water and, there's a lot of other things that go into it that are just [00:07:00] fundamental.
And on top of everything, then you layer onto this that we have to some degree a sustainability bias. it's our name is Beyond Zero, uh, DDC. But I would say it's not so much sustainability, it's conservation first. You know, we buy as large, uh, plots of lands we can, usually, 2,000 acres and above.
And the idea being is that, we wanna be able to put these in places w-when you look out of your room, you're not gonna see another building or anything else. You know, you're basically gonna see, almost pristine nature, ideally as pristine as possible. so again, there's a lot of practical challenges to doing that.
but what's really cool about it is that, we kind of treat these almost like living laboratories as well. So, we can't do this without technology, and at the same time we wanna be partners with and support growing technology, and especially green technology, sustainable tech, uh, property [00:08:00] tech, you know, what have you.
anything that we can do so that the experience when you get there is not just simply you're out there in nature, but you're have a series of really amazing, intimate social spaces and experiences that you can do while you're with us,
Speaker: riding along.
Yeah. so how do you do that? Because a lot of the people I interview, they feel it right away. When they walk onto, either the main salon or to the initial deck of a cruise ship, they say immediately some people describe it as walking into, the lobby of a luxury hotel. Some people
feel sort of like the service, the opulence. It's just a feeling that they have. And, how do you identify a luxury hotel? These are intangible. So what goes into the planning, um, from your perspective that creates that space that ultimately infers this feeling of, [00:09:00] "Oh, yeah," "I'm here"?
Speaker 2: we've gone through a period, I would say maybe the last couple decades when these things first started, bubbling about, with things, like a category called eco resorts , right? and I would say 95%, of eco resorts have this same sort of model, let's call it architecture, you know, built into it, which is that, there's usually a main building of some kind where you eat and maybe have a drink, maybe there's a bar and a lounge or something.
entertainment area if it's for kids as well. and then you have everybody lives in sort of smaller little cabins that are kind of strewn about the landscape and, the problem with that is, if these things are built in narrow lots, they tend to congregate everybody as closely as possible.
Again, it depends a little bit on the ADR the price point that [00:10:00] you're sort of looking at. or they string them out along like a string of beads in a pearl necklace, right? You know. And the problem is if you're at the end of that string of beads and you get out of your, bathtub and you need a hot towel, you're not gonna wait 20 minutes for them to get there.
The fundamental basis of all hospitality is service. it's built on service and you can optimize service or you can get in its way. Um, and, having designed, casinos, in Vegas, as part of even larger complexes of buildings and navigating all that, you know,
so that feeling that you're talking about often is a very human thing. You know, where it's you connected with, somebody, maybe it was out in the porte cochere, you're dropping off your car, you know, it was the valet, the porter, or, the concierge or, whoever, you met along that way.
[00:11:00] and-sometimes it's just as simple as they know who you are, right? Oh, wow. and it's that little note, you know? Just know your name. Yeah. Right. I mean, I think that people, respond well when they feel like they're being seen.
and for some people travel is no big deal. I do it all the time, and then I'm really looking for all the things that you're gonna do wrong. Or, maybe this is something that they've saved their money up, and this is really an important, new thing for them.
but they are feeling a little bit like, "Wow, I'm really punching above my weight," you know, "when I'm in here. Look," "these people seem to be whatever. but those are just, the best hotels, don't exclude you. You know, if you're there, you wanna feel like you're there by invitation, not because you chose them, but because they chose you.
You know? it's like that's the sort of fundamental stuff about that. and you'd be surprised how much of that focus goes [00:12:00] into the design of one of these. If you don't have that, you know, of course there's lots of other issues and problems and, costs and things like that you have to, do.
But you know and if you don't mind me for blathering on here for a second. No, not
Speaker: at
Speaker 2: all. I'll trust the audience.
Speaker: I do want you to explore a little bit more of what it means to design- a hotel and the service to impart the feeling that they chose you. I mean, I love it- Yeah
and it resonated with me completely. Right. I was like, "Wow, how do you do that?"
Speaker 2: Okay, I would say getting back to, cruising, a little bit, um, yeah, the model for this has always been yachts , let's face it. You know? and what's interesting about yachts where people are going whether they own the yacht or they, lease it or, you know- Charter or whatever
you charter it or whatever, yeah, is that there are certain rules, you know, in there. and the point here is that once you leave port Everything you need is gonna be on that yacht. It should be, [00:13:00] right? Otherwise, you got problems. And this is a little bit of what we're doing here.
we're trying to design, in effect, a kind of land yacht, right? So that all of the needs, of our guests can be met. So we understand, you know, what those needs are, before they get on board. it's not a completely, far-fetched metaphor, for what we're doing.
so I think that confidence of knowing that those things are gonna be on board you know, those services or items, whatever that's gonna be, that's gonna be on board, for people, and They don't have to worry about it. It's one less thing they've gotta, think about.
"Oh, I forgot my, you know, medication." "Oh, don't worry. we've-" Got everything on board, your doctor signed off on this, We have all that, right? so the onboarding would be, I think, a little bit more intensive, but I think the payoff would be, I'm willing to have a little bit more of a, thorough, understanding for it and [00:14:00] ultimately we'll just get better at that.
and this is something where I do think AI's gonna be excellent at helping. it's not gonna create the human touch. You have to have the right people there, who can read people and understand their moods and know when they have to bother them and how they might have to bother them.
You know, there's lots and lots of cues, in that.
Speaker: Yeah. Hospitality is definitely not an enterprise that is gonna be taken by AI. I mean, it's just not-
Speaker 2: ...
Speaker: you know?
Speaker 2: No. because
Speaker: And creating that sort of human touch, that ability- Yeah ... to impart that sensation, like no, there's no AI in the world that's gonna be able to do that.
Speaker 2: so to first answer your question is, yeah, I do think that having that human connection right from the beginning. That's not what I do try to set that up, right? So that, there are not just one human connection, there's three or four or five, right?
and every step of the way, they know who you are, they know when you come in and if you're a return guest, they might even know, what kind of drink you want or, you know, exactly. it's that sort [00:15:00] of, wow, you guys really remembered.
and so that never fails, I think. And especially if it's genuine, it doesn't feel robotic. and then there has to be something about the quality of the space itself. in this case, we're really trying to feature the landscape You know, I could say, well, on some level, the architecture really disappears, and that's one approach.
But there's two ways to experience the wilderness, right? There's one way where the weather is beautiful, everything's perfect, and, the butterflies are, fluttering around.
and then there's another way where, actually it's harsh, right? and you wanna have a place where when it's great, it all opens up and you can go out right outside, and when it's harsh, you can hunker down with your friends over a fire, and, do sort of those kinds of activities and feel safe, right?
And you're safe because you're not out in your little house, you know, wondering if it's gonna rain yet, but you're all together, right? Yeah. You know, you're together with, like-minded [00:16:00] people .
Speaker: Yeah, and that does bring me to, thinking about a cruise ship and especially, you know, a luxury cruise ship that may be more open to the outside,
'Cause we know, one of the downsides to being on a very large ship, is you're sort of in a floating mall, and ... even though this is changing, there's not a lot of interaction- A floating
Speaker 2: casino. What do you
Speaker: mean? With... Yeah. It's a mall and
Speaker 2: casino.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Like, it is like Vegas in some ways. It is. Some of them are like Vegas ... you can be self-sustained.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. and so having that ability to experience the open water, experience nature, but then also knowing that when the weather gets bad, which inevitably on a ship it may happen-
Speaker 2: Yeah
Speaker: then you feel safe, and there's- a beautiful interior experience- Yeah ... so that you don't feel like you're missing out, in air quotes- Right ... because you're not outside.
Speaker 2: you know, that's what's interesting our idea, is that what we wanna do is
we're trying to develop a kind of [00:17:00] a prototype. the land yacht is a sort of prototype of a type of structure that can be built anywhere. it's a little bit of, uh, NASA almost, you know, technology. so that we build these things, very light footprint that hardly touch the ground.
and everything else is wild around them. so the, whole, experience is gonna be the sort of structure is built almost the same, but all the interiors are completely different and we wanna work with, you know, local craftspeople and local designers so that it has a very much of a local flavor.
So it could be the similar sort of setup in terms of how many rooms, how does it operate, you know, it's a kind of, a model of efficiency. but that's sort of then transported to it's on an ocean or, on a beach, or it's in the mountains, or it's a desert, or, you know, the whatever the geography is.
I mean, there's other limitations to it, so I can't say [00:18:00] categorically anywhere in the world. But sort of a little bit like that. and so that helps us too in terms of the development of this because we can, bring some economies of scale, modular, kind of components and buildings that we can just keep repeating and build these things, anywhere in the world and have the same operating consistency, which is what people demand.
There's certain things people want when they travel and they have brand loyalty because that's developed because I always know that I've got a great level of service. and when I talk to people who stay in hotels a lot, that's the number one thing.
when I was traveling a lot, the number one thing was could I get to sleep and could I get a hot shower? as you kind of get older, you've got other criteria, so.
Speaker: Yeah. There's more to it. So- Yeah ... are there any of these hotels that are built or they're still in development?
Speaker 2: No, we're definitely in the development stage. and while we have let's say our concept of the design, pretty far [00:19:00] along. and we are actively looking for land, right now mostly in the Southwest. but I am interested in talking to people especially if you have some experience in this, area, whether they're just in the service, hotel industry themselves and they've got some experience in that or they're in development or, there are people who think this is kind of a cool thing and would welcome being part of our group that we're gonna sort of tailor this around.
So, it's almost think of it a little bit more like a club. and, we're not really at the point where, I'm going out to, uh, big investment rounds at that I'm okay on that score. It's just, I really am interested in just talking to people about their travel experiences and, if it sounds interesting to them, I'm happy to schedule a time to, you know, get together on a call and tell you a little bit more about what we're doing.
But also really, I think to better [00:20:00] understand if you could design your perfect hotel experience and then imagine it, some people just don't like the idea of going out. You know, they like going to places where they- Yeah ... can go to a city and, that's fine.
luxury means, it fits you like a glove, like a really well-made glove, you know? that's kind of what we're trying to do. and,
Speaker: I love that definition or that thought about luxury. It fits you like a well-made glove. That's-
Speaker 2: Like a well-made glove. ... fantastic.
Speaker: Nice soft leather, well-made glove.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right. and, you don't always need gloves. but I guess it's kind of an existential level thing, you know?
it's how you treat travel, I think, for me, what's interesting about my experience of traveling over the years, and I was fortunate that I have parents who were very into travel, and their enthusiasm was infectious. but I just felt like it always, was a reset.
You know, wherever [00:21:00] I went, even if I'd gone to the same country or same place a gazillion times before, I always said, "You know what? I let's just go as if I've never been before." And, that was always refreshing, 'cause it's good to learn new things and it's, healthy for your soul and for your mental health, and, I think for your spiritual wellbeing is to have a better understanding that the Earth is a small, and fragile place, but also of immense power.
And, you know, so we all could use a little humility in our life.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: and togetherness.
Speaker: That sounds amazing. So if somebody was interested in talking to you about this project, providing their view on travel, especially eco travel, sounds like luxury eco travel, um, how would they find you?
Speaker 2: I'd say the easiest thing is on LinkedIn. you can just find me there. unfortunately, to get to me on LinkedIn, you [00:22:00] have to look at Paul Kevin Cannon. That's just my first name. and that's just in order that I can prove I am who I am. that's one. I mean, the other is you can just Google my name.
I don't think, there's not a lot of Kevin Cannons in the world. Excuse me. I'm not saying that to be, snooty or anything. it just, that's is. and there are different links you can get to me, uh, that way. but like I said, I really am, genuinely, interested in, you know, talking to people, and hearing what are the key things that they look for, when they travel and, uh, especially if it's at the luxury end of
Speaker: things.
Yeah. Excellent. Well, we will definitely put your LinkedIn in the show notes. Okay ... and I really appreciate you coming and talking to us about sort of the thought process behind creating luxury. Yeah. I absolutely loved it. I hope the audience did too. And for all of you listening, thank you for joining us, and until next time, I wish you safe [00:23:00] and luxurious cruising.