The most meaningful technology shift for hoteliers today isn’t a single new tool or technology—it’s the accelerating ability to connect data across every corner of the hotel. Modern systems are finally making it possible for operators to break down long standing silos and give front and back of house teams access to the same timely intelligence about guest demand, booking behavior and operational needs. That’s the word from Klaus Kohlmayr, chief evangelist and development officer, IDeaS.
According to Kohlmayr, advances in automated forecasting and decision support technology now provide a clearer picture of who is booking, when and why. When these insights flow beyond the revenue office, they become operational levers: front desk teams can anticipate arrival surges, housekeeping can schedule more efficiently and food and beverage leaders can better plan labor and inventory.
“Even small improvements in these areas reduce friction for staff and create a more seamless guest experience,” Kohlmayr said.
Looking ahead, Kohlmayr predicted the biggest innovations in the hospitality industry will be driven by deeper commercial connectivity.
“Hotels are beginning to embrace shared data environments where marketing, revenue, operations and finance all draw from the same intelligence to inform decisions,” Kohlmayr said. “This transparency helps teams align around the same performance goals, react faster to market shifts and focus their energy where it matters most.”
He added that in 2026, the most valuable technologies for hoteliers will be those that translate complex data into clear, coordinated actions across the property.
“The result is a more agile hotel, better equipped to serve guests while operating with greater efficiency and confidence,” he said.
Don't Hesitate to Update and Upgrade
Relying on legacy systems is a common hurdle for independent hoteliers looking to streamline front-of-house/back-of-house operations. Hesitation to update and upgrade legacy systems often stems from a fear of the unknown—or worse, a fear of being left without support during the transition.
John Boatner, business development manager, Yanolja Cloud Solutions, noted that when operators stick with familiar systems to avoid a learning curve, they often end up compromising on the very features that drive revenue.
“Hoteliers shouldn't have to choose between ‘easy’ and ‘advanced,’” Boatner said. “The right partner makes the transition seamless by owning the technology from the ground up.”
Unlike providers who “white-label” third-party software, Boatner said Yanolja develops and supports its entire suite in-house. This proprietary approach ensures that when a client calls for help, they are speaking directly to the experts who built the platform.
Boatner added that with teams based in both the United States and Surat, India, Yanolja leverages a dual-shore support model that literally speaks the language of their clients.
“For the significant population of Indian-American hoteliers, this means being able to communicate in specific dialects and across time zones with a team that understands their business culture,” Boatner said.
Sagar Mahadik, Yanolja’s regional sales manager for North America, emphasized that a growth mindset is a key component of a successful technology transition, and that mindset is easier for hoteliers to adopt when the technology feels like a partnership rather than just a product.
“We see cloud-based solutions as the ultimate game-changer for revenue,” Mahadik said. “By combining front-of-house and back-of-house operations into one intelligent platform—and backing it with a team that understands your background and your business—we aren't just selling software: we’re helping hoteliers reclaim their time.”
Providing a Service in a Tough Labor Market
“The hotel workforce of the future is going to be a combination of robots and humans working together to achieve the objectives of the organization,” said Michael French, founder and CEO of RoomRunner. “It’s going to change the way hotels are operated.”
This human/robot collaboration will be particularly apparent, French said, in combined front-of-house/back-of-house endeavors such as those exemplified by RoomRunner.
RoomRunner is designed to enable hotel operators to replace outdated and costly room service and mini bar systems with a fully automated, 24/7 delivery model with no cost to the hotel owner or operator.
The problem traditionally faced by hotels is very simple, French noted: Either a human does something, or it doesn't get done. When costs rise, hoteliers must decide between raising prices or cutting services.
“If you don’t have the labor to provide a service, you cut out the service,” French told Hotel Management. “RoomRunner eliminates having to make that difficult choice.”
According to French, RoomRunner automates and operates the entire room service program. This was done simply by following the societal trends of younger guests being familiar and comfortable with using their smartphones for just about everything, including ordering food to be delivered. In this case guests order directly from RoomRunner’s menu, which includes approximately 150 items.
French found that hoteliers liked RoomRunner’s concept but were having a difficult time figuring out how to pay for the technology.
“So we came up with the idea of doing it on a revenue share basis: we will own the equipment, we will operate the business on behalf of the hotel as a third-party operator and we will pay the hotel a revenue share,” French said. “So the hotel has no upfront capital costs. We operate it, we take all the risk and we pay all the capital.”
Over time, he added, RoomRunner intends to develop its own network as it brings more properties on board. And the service won’t be limited to food and drinks.
“We can offer a full range of products and merchandise,” French said. “If a guest would like to buy a souvenir, or last-minute gifts for his or her kids, we can easily take care of that and get everything delivered to the room before the guest checks out. Basically, we can sell anything that the hotel wants to sell.”
Embracing New Ways to Pay
Frictionless payments, guest messaging and proactive monitoring systems are just a few of the technologies helping hotels streamline both front-of-house and back-of-house operations, said Brian Gurley, CEO of Enseo.
Gurley noted that on the front-of-house side, frictionless payment solutions are evolving beyond traditional card transactions to support the ways guests increasingly prefer to pay, including digital wallets such as Apple Pay, payment apps such as Venmo and even loyalty points.
“Enabling guests to securely settle balances through familiar, mobile-first options creates a faster, more intuitive checkout experience while reducing lines, manual processing and front desk workload,” Gurley said. “Solutions such as Enseo’s Folio Review and Guest Checkout extend this convenience by allowing guests to review charges and complete checkout directly from the guestroom TV.”
Gurley noted that Enseo Messenger enables hotels to communicate important updates, events and personalized messages directly to guests through their in-room TVs, keeping them informed while minimizing calls to the front desk.
For back-of-house operations, remote monitoring capabilities such as Enseo’s SITE and MySite enable hotel teams to track outages and identify emerging issues in real time, ensuring services are delivered consistently and efficiently, Gurley said.
“Enseo continues to enhance its platform through proactive AI-powered monitoring, powered by telemetry data across its property portfolio,” he added. “By detecting anomalies early and anticipating failures, hotels can reduce downtime, improve staff efficiency and deliver more seamless operations across every property.”
Automating Routine Processes
AI-enabled procure-to-pay platforms are helping hotel teams eliminate manual tasks, improve spend visibility and enforce controls across purchasing, invoicing and payments—areas where accuracy is critical to daily operations, said David Schloss, CRO, BirchStreet Systems.
Schloss noted that for procurement teams, this shift enables greater consistency in vendor selection, pricing compliance and approval workflows across properties, reducing “maverick spend” and manual oversight.
“By automating routine processes and surfacing actionable insights in real time, hoteliers can reduce friction between departments, strengthen accountability and allow both front-of-house and back-of-house teams to focus more fully on service delivery and operational priorities,” Schloss said.
Reducing the Handoffs
Lee Bridges, chief product officer, Inn-Flow, said the biggest upside of optimizing front-of-house and back-of-house operations for hoteliers occurs when accounting and labor analytics run in one shared workflow, giving teams the same visibility into the data with fewer handoffs.
“Finance teams are still rightly cautious about full automation, because small errors can compound and accountability is unclear,” Bridges said. “That’s why AI is most valuable as a controlled support layer: speeding up repetitive work, flagging anomalies and surfacing trends early so teams act sooner with confidence.”
When financial insight is faster and clearer, it creates stronger alignment between back-of-house decisions and front-line operations, Bridges added.
Taking the Connected Approach
Front- and back-of-house teams are increasingly prioritizing integrated infrastructure that replaces siloed systems with more efficient and responsive operational environments,” said Mike Scott, director, Solution Engineering Americas, Vingcard.
According to Scott, across areas such as energy management, asset tracking and access control, hotels are adopting scalable solutions that allow data and task updates to be shared in real time with appropriate staff members, exactly where and when they are needed.
“This connected approach is becoming critical for streamlining staff workflows, maintaining operational consistency and supporting faster, higher-quality guest service that meets modern expectations,” Scott said.
The bottom line for hoteliers is that collaboration is the key to optimization: both the front of the house and the back of the house benefit from being in one big house.
This article was originally published in the April/May edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.