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How Hammock Beach Resort Thrives in a Data-Driven Culture

Written by Jason Q. Freed | Aug 29, 2025 2:44:43 PM

Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa is not a simple operation. With 275 luxury accommodations ranging from oceanfront hotel rooms to large private homes, nine pools, a dozen restaurants, two signature golf courses, and a private membership community, it’s more than just a resort – it’s a lifestyle destination. 

Managing such a diverse property requires seamless coordination across departments. According to Campbell, that coordination starts with centralizing the data. 

“A huge benefit for us is making sure everything communicates. Having a bunch of different programs out there that don’t communicate to each other is going to put a huge wrench in things,” Scott Campbell, the property’s Director of Revenue Management, told Otelier in a recent webinar. Watch the full webinar replay here. 

By leaning on Otelier’s IntelliSight, a modern hospitality business intelligence platform, Hammock Beach ensures that its PMS, POS, and other systems integrate to give leaders across the property a clear view of occupancy, demand, and guest spending patterns. 

Using Data to Balance Business Mix 

Like many resorts, Hammock Beach relies on a mix of leisure and group business. Today, that split is roughly 60% leisure and 40% group. Campbell emphasized the importance of using data to evaluate displacement risk, measure ancillary spend, and target the right type of travelers for profitability. 

“We try not to displace transient guests with group business,” he said. “There may be a time where we have a heavy golf group that’s going to have a lot of ancillary spend… We’ve got to look holistically at everything and see if it makes sense so that we’re not doing any kind of displacing.” 

That holistic approach requires drilling into real-time data. By evaluating booking windows, segmentation, and ancillary revenue potential, Hammock Beach can adapt to demand shifts – from post-pandemic revenge travel highs to today’s softer leisure environment. 

Forecasting to Inform Staffing and Service 

One of the clearest ways Hammock Beach puts data to work is in forecasting. Campbell and his leadership team rely daily on 14-day and 45-day forecast reports to align staffing and service levels. 

“Scheduling is very important when we look at how occupancy is pacing,” Campbell said. “As we’re scheduling a week out, don’t schedule based on the 45-day if you’re sitting at 50%. Within the 14-day, now you’re at 80% and it’s going to change dramatically.” 

This disciplined use of forecasts ensures that food and beverage, spa, golf, and housekeeping teams have the right labor in place to deliver service without overspending. It also highlights the need for hotels to adapt to shrinking booking windows, with many guests today waiting until the last minute to book. 

Encouraging a Culture of Adoption 

Centralizing data is one thing. Ensuring department heads use it to make decisions is another. Campbell credits Hammock Beach’s long reliance on IntelliSight with creating a culture of adoption. 

“One thing we’ve always said is, for the most part, data is the truth,” he said. “But you also need to trust but verify – understand the story behind the numbers and what may be impacting them.” 

That philosophy has encouraged leaders across departments – from golf to F&B to recreation – to use data not just as a snapshot, but as a foundation for deeper analysis. Over time, this has built trust in the system and helped align the property around fact-based decision-making. 

While Hammock Beach already uses data and AI-powered revenue management for rooms, Campbell sees opportunities for dynamic pricing across other revenue streams. Currently, golf, spa, and F&B pricing remains mostly static due to system limitations. 

“There’s definitely a lot of opportunity within each hour of what can be done,” Campbell noted when discussing golf pricing. The resort is now evaluating upgrades that would allow more flexible, demand-based pricing across outlets – a step many hotels and resorts will need to consider as guest expectations evolve. 

Best Practices Hoteliers Can Learn from Hammock Beach 

The Hammock Beach story offers several best practices any hotel or resort can apply: 

  • Centralize Your Data – Ensure your PMS, POS, Golf, and Spa systems communicate so you’re not missing insights. 
  • Balance Business Mix Strategically – Use displacement analysis and ancillary revenue tracking to optimize group vs. leisure demand. 
  • Forecast Labor Intelligently – Shortened booking windows mean staffing decisions should be based on near-term occupancy data, not outdated assumptions. 
  • Build a Culture of Trust in Data – Reinforce that data is the truth, but encourage teams to verify anomalies and understand context. 
  • Explore Dynamic Pricing Beyond Rooms – Evaluate tools that allow you to flex pricing in golf, spa, recreation, and even F&B to capture additional profit. 

A Culture That Drives Performance 

For Campbell, the combination of a complex property, a fast-changing market, and a culture rooted in data makes Hammock Beach a compelling example of what’s possible when hotels prioritize business intelligence. 

“Data allows us to go back 20 years and pull trends, see what happened during past downturns, and learn from it,” he said. “That history makes it easy for us to not have to be a hard sell when it comes to understanding and buying into the data.” 

For other hoteliers, the lesson is clear: building a data-driven culture isn’t just about technology. It’s about creating trust, applying insights across departments, and using data as the foundation for profitability. 

📌 Interested in how IntelliSight can help your hotel centralize data and build a culture of smarter decisions? Learn more here.