Our Podcast Interview with The Lobby Talk
- 15 hours ago
- 2 min read
We recently joined The Lobby Talk podcast to talk with host Camille Jammeron about how Quinta Camarena came to be, and the myriad of decisions that led us from New York to the Portuguese countryside.
Before this, our careers were in fashion and photography, work that looked exciting from the outside but ran at a pace we no longer wanted to sustain. Leaving it wasn't just a career change. It was closer to an identity shift, and one that felt disorienting even once we were sure it was right.
What came next wasn't a retreat from ambition. It was a different kind of work: building a hospitality concept from the ground up, rooted in slowness, authenticity, and real connection rather than scale.
That intention shaped Quinta Camarena from the start. Sustainability and regenerative thinking weren't added on later, they were part of the founding vision. In the conversation, we talked about how Kiss the Ground, the documentary on regenerative agriculture, shaped how we think about the land itself and the experience we build around it. We also talked about Will Guidara's Unreasonable Hospitality, which shaped how we think about guest care: attention, generosity, and a willingness to go further than seems necessary for any one person.
Those two things together, care for the land and care for each guest, are really the whole idea behind Quinta Camarena.
If you're thinking about your own reinvention, we hope you find our story inspiring.
You can hear the full conversation on The Lobby Talk. And if you'd like to experience Quinta Camarena for yourself, we'd love to host you.
Listen to the full episode: "From New York to Quinta Camarena: Vera & Cam Camarena's story of building a sustainable boutique hotel" on The Lobby Talk.