It only took a few years for artificial intelligence to go from niche to normal in a wide range of businesses, including hospitality. And as hoteliers incorporate more AI into their daily routines, the technology is having a notable effect on how hotels operate.
While generative AI has not yet fully permeated day-to-day hotel operations, Regulus Collective Founder Deniz Dorbek said AI is already playing a meaningful role in specific, high-impact areas. “The most effective and widely adopted applications today are AI [in] pricing, revenue management and demand forecasting systems, as well as AI concierge tools focused on guest communication and service efficiency,” she said. “Rather than transforming the entire operating model overnight, AI is currently enhancing decision-making in areas where data density and speed matter most.”
One of the more meaningful impacts of AI has been its ability to save time across hotel operations, said Lisa Jane Wheaton, senior product strategist at Maestro PMS. “Tasks that once required manual coordination, interpretation of reports or back-and-forth between teams can now be handled in near real time,” she said. “AI has improved responsiveness in guest communication, reduced operational friction between departments, and given leaders clearer visibility into what is happening on property. The shift is less about replacing systems and more about turning existing operational data into actionable intelligence that managers can use day to day.”
Actabl CEO Steven Moore estimated that AI can help cut implementation time by more than 50 percent and noted the technology can help determine both the most important insights and the highest-priority action at any single hotel or portfolio of hotels. “AI can significantly improve the speed and accuracy of knowing the most important trends and what to do about them.”
Steve Woodward, VP of innovation, learning and development at Red Roof, said the “most common and efficient way” hoteliers are leveraging AI is through revenue management to optimize the value of each guestroom booking. “Red Roof announced a partnership with HotelIQ in April 2025 to offer HotelIQ Decision Cloud across our portfolio. We are in the process of implementing this technology to allow owners and operators to make faster, data-driven decisions and boost revenue without creating operational overhead. Automation and AI work wonders when used this way.”
“AI-powered revenue-management and forecasting models have revolutionized how hotels analyze market trends and predict demand,” said Ted Jabara, SVP of technical services at Meyer Jabara Hotels. “These advanced systems enable hotels to set optimal pricing strategies and maximize occupancy rates, resulting in improved profitability and more efficient business planning.” Jabara also noted benefits of AI-driven inventory optimization for improved accuracy and reduced over- or underbooking, scheduling (“by analyzing historical data and booking patterns”), fraud detection, invoice processing and energy management. “AI systems help reduce energy consumption and costs while supporting sustainability initiatives,” he added.
Similarly, AI can help automate task routing for housekeeping, maintenance requests and guest complaints. “These systems ensure tasks are assigned promptly and accurately, resulting in better workflow management,” Jabara said. “The implementation of AI further presents opportunities for notable cost savings, as automation reduces manual workload and optimizes resource allocation.”
Brad Brewer, founder & chief AI officer at Agentic Hospitality, argued in turn that AI’s biggest impact is not automation but exposure. AI surfaces how fragmented hotel operations really are. Content lives in one place, rates in another, policies in PDFs, and none of it stays in sync. AI highlights these gaps instantly because it cannot compensate for them the way humans do. The real change is forcing hotels to confront operational truth and fix the foundation.
Downsides
While technology can speed up some aspects of operations, every silver lining has its clouds, and AI is no exception.
“AI exposes weaknesses in process and data very quickly,” Wheaton said. “If workflows are unclear or data is inconsistent, AI will amplify those issues.” Brewer agreed: “AI does not hide dysfunction,” he said. “Poor data, unclear ownership and outdated policies become visible fast. AI rewards discipline and punishes shortcuts. That is uncomfortable, but it is also where the upside lives.”
Dorbek emphasized that AI is not a plug-and-play solution. “There is a necessary learning curve, and its effectiveness depends heavily on clean data, strong human oversight and continuous review,” she said. “Without proper governance, training and observation, AI can reinforce blind spots rather than solve them. The key is thoughtful adoption, not blind automation.”
AI is still “relatively new,” Woodward said, calling the technology “unproven.” At the same time, he noted, “AI grows more sophisticated within an organization or industry at an exponential rate. Airlines and [online travel agencies] that have invested heavily in AI are ahead of hotel companies.”
Jabara noted the “significant upfront investment in technology and training” of AI adoption, as well as the effect technology can have on one-on-one interactions. “For example, guests may experience frustration if they are unable to reach a human representative when contacting customer service,” he said.
Privacy also remains a critical issue, as AI systems rely on large amounts of data to improve their performance, Jabara continued. “This raises questions about the security and confidentiality of guest information.” The reliability and quality of AI-generated data can also be inconsistent, sometimes leading to errors or misinformed decisions, he added. “Finally, integrating AI solutions with older hotel systems can pose significant technical challenges, complicating the transition to more advanced operations.”
Terry Donnelly, chief revenue officer and hotel communication officer at HCN, acknowledged ongoing skepticism of AI. Those concerned about the potential risks should “take it slow, test a lot, learn a lot and roll out carefully, especially where guest-facing technologies are concerned.” Still, Donnelly said, “the hype underpins real benefits that hoteliers can and should take advantage of.”
Wheaton also noted the need to find a balance between efficiency and experience. “When AI is applied without intention, it can unintentionally remove the human touch that defines hospitality,” she said.
Looking Ahead
Leigh Holloway, chief strategy officer at Hospitality America, predicted that smart operators will leverage AI to build predictive models on trusted data and layer in agentic automation responsibly. “The future of hospitality is intelligent, automated and personalized,” she said. “And it’s closer than most people think.”
“I am excited for AI’s influence over data collection and management,” said Andrew Carey, CEO of Newport Hospitality Group, noting that operations teams currently spend too much time aggregating and analyzing data. “As we move forward, I believe AI will serve as a powerful aggregator.”
Moore, in turn, expressed interest in AI’s ability to “make everyone an expert at their job as quickly as possible,” which he thinks will give hotel team members more time to focus on the guest—as well as the profitability it will drive for hotel owners. “AI is not going to transform hospitality into something unrecognizable,” he said. “If done right, it will enhance the core humanity of it.”
Five Core Tenets
Actabl CEO Steven Moore suggested five core tenets for effective AI implementation:
- People first: “AI needs to augment, not replace.”
- Fits into an existing workflow: “Minimize forced process changes.”
- Human-in-the-loop: “Make sure that humans still have the ability to have the final say.”
- Iterative: “Don’t expect it to be an easy button that solves everything right away,” and
- ROI-driven: “Make sure it is tied to a specific metric you are trying to drive, not just for novelty’s sake. Ignoring any one of these will likely lead to disappointing results.”
This article was originally published in the February/March edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.