Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos Shaping Luxury Hospitality for a New Generation

Written by:

Steve Marcinuk

Date:

26 May 2025

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For over two decades, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, President and COO of Flag Luxury Properties, has been at the forefront of luxury real estate development, creating iconic properties that have redefined the hospitality landscape. Her portfolio, featuring landmarks like the Ritz-Carlton South Beach and the Ritz-Carlton New York NoMad, showcases her exceptional ability to anticipate and adapt to the evolving needs of luxury travelers.

“Lobbies are no longer formal spaces you simply pass through to reach your elevator, they’ve become living rooms where guests plug in laptops, charge phones, and enjoy cappuccinos while conducting business,” explains Olarte de Kanavos.

The Spark of a Development Career

Olarte de Kanavos discovered her passion for real estate development during her undergraduate years at Cornell University’s Hotel School. “Sophomore year, I realized I didn’t want to operate a hotel, and I was deathly worried that I wouldn’t find my place,” she recalls.

Everything changed when she attended a lecture by a developer who spoke about creating properties in Hawaii. “When I heard this developer speak about the creative process with architects and designers, about his instinct for what customers wanted and how he envisioned the guest experience, that hooked me on that day, and I never let go of it ever since.”

After graduating, she worked in commercial leasing before earning her master’s degree at NYU in the first cohort for the Masters of Development and Finance. Her career trajectory shifted significantly when she met her husband, Paul Kanavos, who had deep family ties to the hospitality industry.

“Through his familial relationships with the Marriott family, he secured the exclusive rights to build Ritz-Carlton in Miami-Dade County. That was really the genesis of our business,” she explains.

Strategic Vision: Urban Luxury in Gateway Cities

From the beginning, Flag Luxury Properties maintained a clear strategic focus. “We wanted to be in major gateway cities,” Olarte de Kanavos explains. “We both felt that we were urbanists at the core and weren’t interested in contributing to suburban sprawl.”

This urban philosophy, combined with practical family considerations, led them to concentrate initially on East Coast markets, particularly New York and Miami. Their first major projects included the Regent on Wall Street in New York and several Ritz-Carlton properties throughout Miami-Dade County.

Their portfolio expanded to include Las Vegas almost serendipitously. “We went to Las Vegas for our anniversary, just to look at it. The energy was fascinating, lines of people at restaurants and shops everywhere,” she recalls. “Within about a month after that trip, we were presented with an incredible opportunity there, found a partner in Brett Torino, and never looked back.”

Reimagining Luxury for a New Generation

What distinguishes Olarte de Kanavos’s approach is her commitment to evolving the concept of luxury hospitality to meet changing consumer preferences.

“We work very closely with our architects and interior designers, and really believe in pushing the envelope for the Ritz-Carlton brand,” she explains. “Every time we work with them, we’re trying to redefine the brand.”

This philosophy was evident in their work on the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, where they convinced the traditionally conservative brand to embrace the building’s art modern heritage rather than imposing their standard Queen Anne style.

With the Ritz-Carlton New York NoMad, they’ve completely reimagined the guest experience for a younger luxury clientele. “We wanted to create the next generation Ritz-Carlton Hotel,” she says. This meant rethinking fundamental aspects of hotel design, starting with the lobby.

“At the Ritz-Carlton NoMad, you don’t walk into a traditional luxury hotel with a huge stage-like front desk,” she explains. “Instead, we created four small pods for efficient check-in. The main event is the living room, where guests actually want to spend time.”

Tracking Evolving Customer Behaviors

Olarte de Kanavos has observed significant shifts in how luxury travelers use hotel spaces. Beyond transforming lobbies into workspaces, she’s noticed changes in how businesses utilize meeting areas.

“Business clients are no longer looking to have meetings in traditional meeting spaces,” she notes. “They want their meetings in spaces with beautiful decor, atmosphere, charm and personality.”

This has led to increased demand for food and beverage venues as meeting spaces. She cites a recent example of an influencer who chose to host a panel discussion in their Bazaar restaurant rather than a traditional meeting room. “She told us the content was so much more exciting and energizing in that environment than it would have been in a traditional boardroom.”

Technology Integration in Luxury Hospitality

When it comes to technology, Olarte de Kanavos believes the most significant opportunity in luxury hospitality is text-to-concierge service.

“We know these phone systems are antiquated. As a customer, you may be sitting in your living room while the hotel room phone is in another room, you really just want to use your own phone to get in touch,” she explains.

She emphasizes that this isn’t about replacing human interaction with AI but enhancing it. “It’s about finding out what guests need and then providing a person who is actually going to make that experience come true.”

Current and Future Projects

Flag Luxury Properties continues to expand its impressive portfolio with several exciting projects in development.

In Orlando, they’re developing a new Intercontinental Hotel. “It’ll be a four-plus star property in a market that really doesn’t have enough luxury,” she explains. “It’s within a mile of the convention center and half a mile of the new Epic Gate.”

In Miami, they’re undertaking an ambitious project combining two iconic properties. “We’re joining the Sagamore hotel to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel with a sky bridge, restoring the 110-room Sagamore to a 55-room Ritz-Carlton and creating 30 ultra-luxury residences right on the beach in South Beach,” she says. “That’s on billionaires row. There’s no more land on that beach, so this is really one of the last projects of its kind.”

They’re also working on community development in Miami Beach. “We’re looking forward to contributing to the betterment of Lincoln Road, which is our neighborhood,” she explains. “We’re working to redevelop that whole street, bring shade trees and art, and really beautify the space with the city of Miami Beach.”

In Las Vegas, where they already operate several successful retail properties, they’re finishing the leasing of “Project 63,” located between the Cosmopolitan and the Crystal Shops, with more developments on the horizon.