Hospitality is often described as a feeling. Not a product. Not a building. A feeling.
And if you’ve ever stepped onto a resort property and instantly relaxed before you even reached the lobby, you’ve felt the invisible work of landscape architecture. The arrival sequence. The curated view corridors. The way paths pull you forward. The microclimate that makes an outdoor terrace feel like the best seat in the house.
In this episode of the Radical Hospitality Podcast, host Zeke Freeman sits down with Scott LaMont, CEO of EDSA, one of the world’s most influential landscape architecture, planning, and design firms behind destinations for brands like Four Seasons, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Disney, Marriott, and more.
Scott’s message is clear: the best ideas begin with the place. And in hospitality, landscape is often the difference between a property that looks good in photos and one that guests remember for the rest of their lives.
Landscape is the Soul of a Destination
Scott describes EDSA’s work as deeply rooted in place, not trend. Whether they’re shaping a boutique eco-resort in Mexico, a luxury project in Costa Rica, or a massive development in the Middle East, their process starts with one question:
What is true about this land, this culture, this community and how do we design in a way that honors it?
That philosophy becomes a filter for everything:
- Where buildings should sit (and where they shouldn’t)
- What views should be protected
- Which trees must stay
- How guests move through the site
- What local stories and materials should be amplified
It’s not “designing on a site.” It’s designing with the site.
“Be Students of Place”
One of the strongest themes in Scott’s conversation with Zeke is how EDSA approaches discovery.
They don’t just take the guided tour. They go deeper.
They observe the local rhythms, the daily life, the “real” culture. They ask what the land is already doing and how a hospitality experience can fit within that truth.
Because when a destination feels authentic, guests don’t just enjoy it, they trust it.
And that trust translates into what hospitality operators ultimately want most: loyalty, word-of-mouth, repeat stays, and emotional connection.
Collaboration is the Competitive Advantage
Scott also breaks the myth that great design is driven by one visionary at the top.
At EDSA, the work is intentionally collaborative. It’s bottom-up studio culture, not top-down direction. Ideas come from everyone around the table: designers, engineers, operators, architects, local partners, and even clients.
And when that collaboration is working, the best compliment is when you can’t tell where architecture ends and landscape begins.
Scott shares a story from a design charrette where a client stopped the presentation and said:
“I thought you were the landscape architect and you were the architect… but you’re not talking like separate disciplines.”
That confusion wasn’t a problem. It was proof the team had created a shared vision.
Designing the Guest Experience Starts Before the Lobby
Zeke and Scott go deep on something most developers underestimate: the first moments.
Scott believes arrival is not a detail, it’s the frame for everything that follows. The way you enter a property shapes the guest’s opinion before they even check in.
Landscape is what choreographs that story:
- The anticipation when the ocean is revealed in small glimpses
- The turn in a pathway that opens to a dramatic vista
- The contrast of tight spaces and open views
- The “pause moments” where guests instinctively stop and take a photo
Even something as small as a bathroom window that perfectly frames the landscape can become a signature memory.
Great hospitality isn’t only in the room. It’s in the sequence.
https://www.fourseasons.com/naviva/
Naviva as a Masterclass in “Of the Place”
A standout example from the episode is Naviva, Punta Mita, a Four Seasons experience and one of the clearest expressions of EDSA’s philosophy.
This is not a mega-resort. It’s ultra-boutique, intimate, and deeply site-driven.
Scott describes how the placement of each unit was carefully selected for:
- bespoke view corridors
- minimal disturbance to land and trees
- a stronger sense of immersion and authenticity
They used advanced site modeling and data analysis, but still emphasized something that technology can’t replace:
being out in the field and feeling the site.
Because the real breakthroughs often happen in the last 10%: when you adjust a villa by 20 degrees, relocate a key, or decide not to build something at all because it compromises the experience.
The Rise of Micro-Resorts and Ultra-Boutique Hospitality
Scott confirms what many hospitality entrepreneurs are seeing right now:
there’s a growing demand for smaller, higher-quality, experience-driven stays.
Guests at the premium end are willing to pay for:
- privacy
- exclusivity
- meaningful experiences beyond the resort boundary
- guided local immersion (culinary, nature, culture)
He notes that what used to be considered “too small to be viable” is now being proven differently.
If the experience is strong and the service is exceptional, the footprint can be smaller.
In other words: boutique wins when the story is real.
Preservation and Development Can Co-Exist, But Only With Integrity
A powerful part of the conversation is Scott’s reflection on balancing development with preservation.
He shares a story from a tourism master plan in southwestern China where the “best sites on paper” for development were immediately rejected once the team saw ancient villages on the ground.
Those villages were the destination.
So EDSA fought to preserve them and guided development toward areas that protected what made the place special in the first place.
Scott’s point is important for any hospitality developer:
Sometimes the most valuable design decision is not what you build, but what you protect.
And often, what a client sees as “messy” or “ordinary” (a local market, a small ice store, a community lunch spot) may actually be the most unforgettable part of the guest experience if embraced properly.
A Practical Lesson: You Can’t Fully Design From a Map
Scott gives a real-world example from Jamaica that proves why site visits are non-negotiable.
On paper, a hilltop location looked like the perfect “wow” lobby moment. But once on site, the team discovered sound echoing from a distant truck route through the valley.
A location only 10 meters lower was quiet.
That’s not something you catch in renderings. You catch it by standing there.
That’s why EDSA combines:
- heavy prep with site data modeling
- local partners and surveyors
- drone flights and geo-located tracking
- and boots-on-the-ground exploration
Their philosophy is simple: prepare hard, then let the land correct you.
Scott’s Advice to Hospitality Developers
Zeke closes with a question every aspiring micro-resort or boutique hotel developer should hear.
Scott’s advice:
- Be yourself and lean into the place Don’t copy a case study from another market. Learn from it, but don’t imitate it.
- Hospitality isn’t complicated It’s experience, service, and making people feel welcome.
- Don’t obsess over expensive things Guests forgive a lot when they feel cared for.
- Turn constraints into story What feels obtrusive or imperfect may become the most memorable part of the narrative.
In short: great hospitality is emotional. The landscape is how you build that emotion before anyone says hello.
Landscape architecture in hospitality isn’t decoration. It’s the foundation of experience.
It’s how a place gains identity. How it earns authenticity. How it becomes more than a property and turns into a destination.
And as Scott LaMont proves through decades of global work, the magic formula is still surprisingly grounded:
Start with the place. Respect the place. Design with the place.
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