The hotel industry has never stood still. Over the past 150 years, it has reinvented itself again and again—surviving world wars, adapting to economic cycles, responding to new traveler demands, and embracing waves of innovation. Through it all, the essence of hospitality has remained the same: creating unique experiences that make people feel connected, cared for, and inspired.
In my 30-plus years in this business, I’ve had a front-row seat to some of the most dramatic changes our industry has ever seen. What’s different today is the pace of that change—and the shift from a world where managers made decisions by looking backwards, to one where they’re expected to anticipate and act in real time, looking forward. At Pebblebrook, we’ve embraced that shift. For us, success comes from pairing smarter tools with empowered people—because data and information are only powerful if the right people have the ability, and the confidence, to use them.
From Hindsight to Real Time
Not that long ago, a general manager might not see a hotel’s financial results until weeks after the closing of a month. By then, it was too late to change course. Decisions were reactive, not proactive. Today, that feels like a relic.
Now, our teams have real-time dashboards showing daily occupancy, revenue, guest feedback, labor productivity, utility consumption, and even profitability by department. A restaurant manager can adjust staffing mid-shift based on reservations, covers and labor costs. A revenue manager can pivot instantly when bookings trend differently than expected. And a general manager has the visibility and control to see how today’s decisions affect tomorrow’s results.
It’s not just more data. It’s a whole new way of operating—faster, more informed, and more empowering for the people on the ground who know their guests and their properties best.
Turning Managers Into Owners
That’s why at Pebblebrook, we think of our general managers as the CEOs of their hotels, running their own operating businesses. Each of our 46 hotels is a separate division of Pebblebrook. Our job as owners is to give them the tools, data, and flexibility to lead—not to tie their hands with red tape. And we share the best learned practices from one hotel to another, and one operator to another.
When managers understand the economics of each department, when they can measure the return on a new program or initiative, they stop thinking like employees and start thinking like owners. They become more engaged, more creative, and more accountable. Mistakes will happen—and that’s okay. In fact, that’s how innovation takes root. Let’s just not make the same mistakes over and over again. Experimentation is encouraged. Testing the limits of markets and operating standards is not only necessary but celebrated.
One of the proudest parts of my career has been watching the transformation in people. I’ve seen sales managers, restaurant operators, revenue managers, and department heads grow into strong, confident general managers and leaders. To see them step into those roles, lead their teams, and shape the identity of their hotels—it’s incredibly rewarding. It continuously reminds me that this business is ultimately about people realizing their potential, just as much as it is about running great hotels and businesses.
High-Tech Meets High-Touch
Technology has also reshaped what guests expect. Mobile check-in, smart room controls, contactless payments—these aren’t extras anymore, they’re table stakes. And behind the scenes, predictive analytics, AI-driven labor scheduling, and smarter energy systems are changing how hotels operate every day.
But here’s the important point: technology isn’t replacing the human side of hospitality. It’s amplifying it. By making operations more efficient, it frees up time for staff to focus on the interactions that guests actually remember—the warm welcome, the thoughtful recommendation, the personal touches that make a stay special.
Efficiency Without Cutting Corners
Of course, the pressures on hotel operations are real. Wages, benefits, food and beverage costs, insurance, and property taxes have increased significantly since the pandemic. Some might be tempted to solve that by cutting back. We’ve taken a different view.
For us, efficiency is about working smarter, not offering less. It’s about auditing every expense, rethinking long-held operating assumptions, and investing where it makes sense—whether that’s smart energy-efficient systems, new revenue streams, or fresh approaches to guest amenities. This isn’t about short-term cost savings. It’s about building a sustainable model that works through cycles and keeps hotels financially strong for the long run.
Independence With Scale
At Pebblebrook, we’ve also learned a lot about what makes lifestyle hotels successful: authentic guest experiences, distinctive food and beverage, anticipatory service, strong community connections, and smart, efficient operations. Those lessons became the inspiration for the Curator Hotel & Resort Collection.
We created Curator because we saw how independent lifestyle hotels and resorts could benefit from the scale and shared knowledge we had developed across our own portfolio. By banding together with other independent owners, small brands and operators, properties can benefit from the power of economies of scale through access to better vendor contracts, shared technology, increased marketing support, and other resources that are nearly impossible to achieve alone. At the same time, they retain the independence and creativity that make lifestyle hotels so special.
Today, more than 80 hotels are part of Curator, and the collaboration among them is as valuable as the cost savings. We share best practices and extensive benchmarking, compare notes on technology and operations, and push each other to innovate. Everyone benefits. It proves that independence and scale don’t have to be at odds. Done right, they can work hand in hand to strengthen each other.
Looking Ahead
The hotel of the future will be defined by both high-tech and high-touch. Technology will continue to make us faster, more efficient, and more precise. But people—our general managers, our associates, our teams—will remain at the center of it all.
Our role as owners is to empower them. To trust them to act like owners themselves. To give them the freedom to experiment, to take risks, and yes, sometimes to fail—because that’s how innovation happens.
The next 5 to 10 years will likely bring even more change than the last 150 years. For the next generation of hoteliers, the challenge—and the opportunity—is clear. Embrace new tools, especially AI and robotics, but never lose sight of the human side of our business. Lead with curiosity and courage. Be relentless. Don’t be afraid to take risks or make mistakes. Let customers help define their own experiences -- what they view as high service, or luxury, how they embrace and even prefer new technologies. Push boundaries but stay rooted in what makes hospitality timeless: people serving people.
If we do that, this industry will not just keep up with change—we’ll help set the pace for it. And we’ll continue to do what hotels have always done best: create meaningful, memorable, unique experiences that help bring people together.