When Judi Blakeburn joined Watergate Bay Hotel in 2003, the property had just installed its first Property Management System.

“It was my first property management system, and I could see all the benefits it brought,” Judi shares.

Fast forward two decades, and that single system has evolved into a fully integrated, cloud-based guest experience platform that touches every corner of Watergate Bay and its sister brand, Another Place Hotels. But what’s more impressive than the technology itself is how Judi and her team have kept humanity at the heart of it all.

In the first episode of the Check Into The Future podcast, Judi joins host Jane Pendlebury to share her remarkable journey from implementing Watergate Bay’s first Property Management System (PMS) in 2003 to today’s cloud-powered, fully integrated guest experience platform.

Reimagining the Guest Journey

Judi’s career is a masterclass in hospitality transformation. When she joined Watergate Bay, founders Will and Henry Ashworth were pioneering a fresh concept: a ski resort on the beach. Their vision — active, year-round coastal holidays centered on experience — demanded a new operational mindset.

However, that vision quickly met the limits of early-2000s tech. Each department — restaurants, surf school, spa — had its own system. Everything worked in silos. It would take me days to understand what guests were actually doing during their stay. I wanted everything connected to the guest, not the guest connecting to everything.

That sketch became the blueprint for the integrated resort model that Watergate Bay is known for today.

The Long Road to Integration

In 2010, Judi led a two-year review of every system across the resort, eventually selecting ResortSuite, a Canadian platform that unified room bookings, dining, childcare, spa treatments, and outdoor activities into a single record (ResortSuite was later acquired by Agilysys and is now a core part of the Agilysys ecosystem, evolving into the Agilysys Versa PMS).

It was painful. However, within two years, they had one system and one guest record. For the first time, Judi could see a complete picture of each guest’s journey, from the surf lessons they booked to the gift card they used to pay for dinner. It also allowed for more intelligent, personalized communication.

Today, with the system now fully cloud-based under Agilysys, Watergate Bay continues to refine that single-profile vision, proof that technology, when implemented with purpose, can deepen personalization rather than dilute it.

A New Way to Measure Value

While most hotels still track Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), Judi advocates for a more holistic metric: Revenue Per Available Guest (RevPAG).

It’s about understanding the full value of every guest. At Watergate Bay’s properties, about half our revenue comes from rooms, and the other half from everything else: food, drink, experiences, activities.

This shift in perspective reframes how the team makes decisions. Instead of focusing narrowly on occupancy or rate, they look at ways to increase guest engagement and participation.

When Self-Service Means More Than Service

Some fear that automation will strip away the warmth of hospitality, but Judi believes the opposite.

“From my perspective, technology is all about taking away the things that a human doesn't need to do, allowing time for really meaningful interactions with our guests.”

The goal is to remove friction from the guest journey, mobile check-in, digital menus, and smart reservations, so staff can focus on what truly matters: conversation and care.

She gives the example of handheld tablets in restaurants. When a server takes an order on a tablet, the order’s already in the kitchen. They can keep chatting about the wine list or the local surf conditions. That’s real hospitality; it’s technology freeing up time for human moments.

Even the new guest app follows that principle. It lets travelers manage bookings, make payments, and schedule activities, but not at the expense of human touch.

Building a Digital Mind and an Analog Heart

As Judi looks toward the next 15 years, she envisions a hospitality landscape transformed by AI, but not depersonalized by it.

Judi believes AI will make hospitality more human. It will handle the frictionless, seamless parts. Her philosophy is beautifully captured in a phrase her team once coined for an internal magazine: a digital mind and an analog heart.

“We're people. We have hearts. We need real things, but we're capable of so much.”

It’s a delicate balance, one that Watergate Bay and Another Place Hotels have mastered through two decades of thoughtful innovation.

Final Thoughts

The future of hospitality isn’t about robots replacing staff or algorithms predicting every preference; it’s about freeing humans to do what they do best: connect, listen, and care.

For Judi, that’s the ultimate promise of AI. Fifteen years from now, guests will still want real experiences. They’ll still want to come together with family and friends, share food, explore, and make memories. Technology will just help us do that better.

And if the past two decades are any indication, she’s probably right.

Judi’s Background

Judi Blakeburn is Chief Commercial Officer for Watergate Bay Hotel, Another Place hotels, and SeaSpace, a new lifestyle aparthotel brand launched in Cornwall in 2024. With over 40 years’ experience in hospitality, she has played a central role in creating and growing lifestyle brands in Cornwall, Cumbria, and Scotland. Passionate about innovation and digital transformation, Judi has consistently shaped guest-centred experiences that combine commercial success with long-term loyalty. She is committed to exploring how technology can enhance hospitality while keeping people and place at the heart.

Listen to the new episode on:

• Apple: https://bit.ly/47E3Ckk
• Spotify: https://bit.ly/4oGpsty
• YouTube:  https://youtu.be/wKhrD_6T3aE