Where travel strategy meets experience and event design.

After more than a decade working across destination management, hospitality, and event design, I saw firsthand how often programs default to what’s easy, familiar, or expected.

Merit & Miles was built as an alternative to that.

A more intentional, design-forward approach, where each experience is shaped by the destination, the people, and the purpose behind it.

Meet Chelsea Kennelly

Founder, Experience Designer & Strategic Travel Advisor

For over a decade, I’ve led destination events, corporate retreats, and high-touch hospitality programs for Fortune 500 brands, global companies, and luxury-focused clients, working across leading DMCs, event agencies, and hotel partners.

Throughout that time, I was responsible for the concepting, programming, and execution of multi-million-dollar experiences around the world. But more importantly, I developed a clear point of view:

The most impactful experiences aren’t defined by scale.
They’re defined by intention, setting, and how they make people feel.

That perspective is what led me to create Merit & Miles.

Each experience is designed as a complete journey, where travel, environment, experience and event design work together to support a specific outcome, whether that’s alignment, connection, celebration, or transformation.

I’m especially drawn to places with a strong sense of identity, boutique hotels, storied properties, and destinations that bring depth and character to the experience itself.

Whether designing a leadership retreat in the desert, an incentive program in the Caribbean, or a milestone gathering in wine country, my role is to translate goals into experiences, and to ensure every detail feels seamless, considered, and elevated from start to finish.

Industry Recognition:
Smart Women in Meetings Innovator Award, 2019

Our Approach

Travel is a powerful connector — for teams, leaders, families, and communities. We believe in designing experiences that feel elevated yet effortless, purposeful yet relaxed, strategic yet human.

We also believe the setting shapes the experience.

That’s why we prioritize properties and destinations with a strong sense of identity, whether it’s a restored historic estate, a design-led boutique hotel, or a place with cultural depth and character.

We look beyond availability and rates.
We consider flow, atmosphere, service style, and how every detail contributes to how the experience feels.

Rather than defaulting to what’s expected, each program is shaped by its setting, creating experiences that feel distinct, considered, and impossible to replicate.

Because the best journeys don’t just take you somewhere — they transform how you feel together.

A multi-story building with ornate architectural details and decorative moldings. Numerous balconies with black wrought iron railings hold blooming red and orange flowers. Bright red awnings extend over some of the balconies, providing shade. The building's exterior is light-colored with intricate carvings and floral embellishments.
A person in a white bathrobe with a towel wrapped around their head, sitting on a bed, reading a menu with a building picture, in a room with a curved black headboard and red wall with three white circular lights.

What Makes Merit & Miles Different

  • A group of people practicing yoga or meditation on wooden decks underneath a thatched roof by a lake, with trees and blue sky in the background.

    Strategy First

    Every experience begins with a clear intention, whether that’s alignment, celebration, or connection.

    The destination, property, and program are selected to support that outcome, not the other way around.

  • People enjoying a meal at a restaurant, with a waiter serving drinks to a group of five seated patrons.

    Hospitality-Driven

    Rooted in luxury service principles, every detail is considered through the lens of how it feels to the guest.

    From arrival to departure, the experience is designed to be seamless, personal, and memorable in ways that aren’t always visible, but always felt.

  • Elegant event space decorated with white flowers, greenery, and modern lighting fixtures, featuring tables set with glassware and floral arrangements.

    Design Meets Logistics

    Travel advisory, experience design, and operational execution live under one roof.

    This ensures the vision carries through every stage, from initial concept to final moment, without dilution.

  • People walking along a trail on a hillside, with a fence lining the path, under a clear blue sky with some clouds.

    Curated Global Network

    Trusted partnerships with luxury hotels, storied properties, and vendors around the world.

    Not just access, but alignment with teams who understand the level of detail and care each program requires.

Why Clients Choose Us

Because they’re not looking for a standard approach.

They want:

  • A point of view, not a template

  • A setting that elevates the experience, not just accommodates it

  • One partner who can manage travel, design, and execution seamlessly

  • A program that feels cohesive, intentional, and worth the investment

We design experiences that are as thoughtful behind the scenes as they are impactful in the moment.

Ready to design your next destination experience?
Let’s create something extraordinary.

Two women laughing and holding hands in a hallway with red walls, a checkered floor, and elegant furniture.
A yellow luxury car parked on a city street in front of yellow storefronts with striped awnings. The storefronts have black shutters and decorative wooden accents. There are potted plants, a streetlamp, and a palm tree in the scene.
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