Travel Advisor
Katherynne Santos
Director of Strategic Partnerships | Luxury Travel Designer
Serving Bay Area, Greater Sacramento
Recently inspected: Montage Healdsburg
Specialties
Certifications
My Why
Why I plan travel
My love for travel started with family. Growing up in a family of six with two working parents, travel wasn’t always easy, but my parents made it a priority. Every summer, my dad would take a full month off so we could travel together whether it was the Jersey Shore, Amish Country, the South, California, the Pacific Northwest, or Canada. Those trips taught me early that travel is really about the memories you create together. As I got older, I became the one helping plan our family trips and eventually combined my love of travel with more than 25 years in weddings and events. After studying Travel Marketing, I started working in travel in 2011 and opened KGS Events & Travel in 2013, now affiliated with Exquisite Travel Group and Montecito Village Travel, a Virtuoso Agency. Today, I believe luxury means something different to everyone. It can be a beautiful five-star resort, a private villa, or exclusive access, but it can also be time, ease, privacy, personalized service, or simply being fully present with the people you love. That childhood lesson still guides how I plan travel today. Travel is a feeling, an experience, and a collection of memories we carry with us for a lifetime.
Approach
Planning philosophy
I start by understanding why you’re traveling, what matters most to you, and how you want to feel throughout the journey. From there, I focus on bringing together the right hotels, experiences, pacing, and personal touches to create a trip that feels seamless and completely your own. Luxury travel should feel effortless, but never generic. My goal is to take care of the details so you can be fully present in the experience.
Difference
The Exquisite difference
The difference is in the relationships, access, and personal attention I bring to every client experience. I spend a great deal of time traveling, networking, and meeting with hotel partners, destination experts, and suppliers so I know who I’m trusting with my clients and can build relationships that truly add value to their travels. From personalized recommendations and special amenities to having trusted contacts I can reach when it matters, what that means for you is an experience that feels elevated, well cared for, and thoughtfully designed around you.
In the moment
A save-the-day story
One of the largest destination weddings I’ve worked on was a South Asian Wedding in Los Cabos with more than 250 guests. I was the couple’s Destination Wedding Specialist, working alongside their own wedding planner and focusing on the travel, hotel, and destination side. About 1½–2 hours before the ceremony, the groom realized he had left his black tuxedo bow tie at home in Oregon. Because I had the stronger local supplier network in Los Cabos, the wedding planner turned to me for help. I immediately started calling rental shops from San José del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas and finally found one bow tie available in downtown Cabo. Unfortunately, with the store closing soon and traffic building, there was no realistic way to get there and back in time. I then started thinking through who I knew locally who might have formalwear on hand and remembered a friend who is a Director of Sales at another resort. I called him, and sure enough, he had a black bow tie. Luckily, he was heading to a gym only about 15 minutes from the wedding resort, so I jumped in a cab, met him, borrowed it, and had it back in the groom’s hands well before the ceremony began. For a couple who cared deeply about every detail, especially their wedding photos, it was a small item that mattered in a very big way. That experience is a perfect example of why destination expertise and strong supplier relationships matter. Wedding planners and destination specialists bring different strengths, and when we work together, the couple benefits from both. You can’t plan for every unexpected moment, but you can build the relationships, experience, and resourcefulness to know who to call when it matters most.
Insider tip
What I tell every traveler
One of my favorite tips, especially when visiting a new city or destination, is to book a private tour or driver early in your stay. It gives you a great overview of the area, helps you understand where everything is, and lets you see a lot more when time is limited. What I especially like is that you can make note of the neighborhoods, restaurants, shops, or places that catch your attention and then go back to them on your own later. It’s a great way to get your bearings first, then explore more independently once you have a better feel for the destination.
