In Conversation with Monica Cuervo

Celebrating its 80th year, WATG honors its design legacy and excellence while expanding the firm’s creative reach into new regions and markets. At the helm of the Americas region is Monica Cuervo, Managing Director of the Americas. In conversation with Monica, who is marking her 32nd year with the firm, we explore how the Americas teams are shaping how people live, travel, and connect through innovation, collaboration, and a continual commitment to thoughtful design.

We started in Honolulu in 1945 as a small practice with a big vision, and today our work spans more than 170 countries on six continents. From the beginning, our founders instilled in us a drive to design destinations that lift the spirit, a purpose that continues to guide us.

The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel was our first project in California and marked our presence on the mainland. Now, we have come full circle, with Wimberly Interiors completing the renovation of its Club Lounge, guestrooms, and suites, along with other properties we originally helped bring to life.

We’ve always served North America from our California and New York studios, but the Sun Belt region is experiencing immense growth, and we wanted to be part of that momentum. The Dallas studio mirrors the integrated approach of our other locations, bringing together architecture, landscape architecture, master planning, interior design, and advisory services, a combination that has been a hallmark of our success for decades.

Creativity and commitment to design have always been at the core of our firm’s ethos. As we continue to evolve, we bring in tools that strengthen both vision and delivery. BIM has been essential in improving coordination, streamlining construction administration, and supporting a smooth delivery process. Ideas are only part of the journey. It begins with design, but success also depends on building well.

We are also advancing our creative process through research and insight. This year, WATG and Wimberly Interiors established an internal Research Team dedicated to ongoing study and trend analysis. Their insights help inform culturally attuned strategies that anticipate what guests and communities value most.

In addition to designing projects from the ground up, we find tremendous value and satisfaction in repurposing and breathing new life into existing properties through renovation and adaptive reuse.

Being able to restore and update places with rich history, icons such as the Hotel del Coronado and the Omni Homestead Resort & Spa, is a true honor. And it is not just architecture. These efforts bring together our advisory, master planning, landscape architecture, and Wimberly Interiors teams as well, creating a fully integrated approach that revitalizes legacy properties for a new generation of guests.

We are excited to see our global Advisory team continue to grow, with a dedicated group now in the Americas working closely with colleagues in EMEA and APAC. This collaboration supports clients as they identify the best uses for new developments and rethink existing properties through reflagging and repositioning. Our work with tourism agencies and government partners worldwide gives us insight that informs future-focused thinking for projects in the Americas.

As part of this growth, we have also strengthened our planning and landscape architecture teams. Our leaders in Dallas, California, and Hawaii are serving emerging markets and working closely with clients to envision properties that align with their brand, respond to evolving guest expectations, and adapt to changing environmental conditions.

For me, mentorship at WATG has always been about learning by doing. In my early years, my mentors brought me into meetings, took me on site visits, and gave me opportunities to see and do as much as possible. Those experiences were invaluable.

That is the culture we still have today. We sit at the same table, share ideas, and support each other. It is about putting our arms around the next generation, just as our mentors did for us. An exceptional team is key and working alongside people who genuinely care makes all the difference, and I am grateful for the team we have built.

We see opportunity in expanding beyond traditional hospitality into experience-driven residential and mixed-use environments. Our portfolio continues to grow in multifamily, mixed-use, Senior Living, and Active Adult, bringing the character of resort life into daily living. Our hospitality perspective and experience in branded residential position us to create welcoming communities with a strong sense of place.

We also remain committed to gaming and entertainment, partnering with leading operators who continue to reimagine the guest journey. Renovation will remain a priority as we support owners in repositioning and revitalizing existing properties to stay competitive and strengthen ROI.

As we look to the next decade, our focus is on delivering places that lift the spirit and bring people, nature, and community together, carrying WATG’s legacy of timeless, experience-led design into the future.