Hotel Innovation Insights

From the Editor’s Desk Welcome to the first edition of 2026. What a perfect time to dive deeper into one of last month’s boldest predictions. In Issue #12, we declared 2026 the year hospitality technology becomes truly intelligent, entering the Augmentation Era: where AI and robotics don’t replace people, but free them to deliver the emotional, intuitive service that defines great hotels. Prediction #1 was clear: Humanoid robotics enters hospitality, but as partners, not replacements.

From the Editor’s Desk “When will robots clean our hotel rooms?” I’ve been hearing this question for 30 years. But in 2026, for the first time, the answer is genuinely: “Soon – but not in the way you think.” Last month I witnessed humanoid robotics demonstrations that fundamentally changed my perspective. Not because the technology is finally ready (it is), but because I finally understand how it fits into the hospitality principles we’ve been exploring

From the Editor’s Desk When I launched this newsletter ten weeks ago, I intended to share insights from 50 years in hospitality technology. What I didn’t anticipate was discovering a universal truth that transcends industries: Exceptional experiences aren’t about technology, they’re about understanding and fulfilling fundamental human needs, wherever people gather. This realization emerged through your responses. Hotel GMs implementing predictive hospitality. Energy companies reducing turnover. Festival operators commanding premium pricing. Corporate campuses improving productivity.

Issue #10 | Week of 10/27/2025 | The Universal Experience Economy: How Hospitality Principles Transform Every Industry From the Editor’s Desk “We run oil drilling operations, not hotels – but our worker retention problems sound exactly like your guest loyalty challenges.” This observation from an energy company COO in Houston led to one of the most transformative projects of my career. By applying hospitality-grade connectivity and experience design principles to remote drilling sites, we reduced

Issue #9 | Week of 10/20/2025 | The 2026 Vendor Selection Playbook: Choosing Partners Who Deliver Five-Year Loyalty Value From the Editor’s Desk “We have the capital budget approved. Now we need to choose vendors who won’t just install technology – they’ll help us create the compound loyalty effects you described.” This comment from a hotel GM captures the challenge facing properties nationwide: How do you evaluate technology vendors not just on features and price,

Issue #8 | Week of October 13th, 2025| The 2026-2030 Loyalty Multiplier: How Today’s Technology Capital Creates Tomorrow’s Competitive Moat From the Editor’s Desk “We approved the $850K technology capital budget you recommended. Now ownership wants to know: What’s this worth in 2030?” This question perfectly captures the challenge of justifying today’s technology investments with tomorrow’s loyalty value. After presenting last week’s capital planning framework, the follow-up question is always the same: Show us the

Issue #7 | Week of October 6, 2025 | The 2026 Capital Budget Challenge: Strategic Planning for In-Room Technology and IT Infrastructure From the Editor’s Desk “Our 2026 capital budget planning started last month, and I’m already fighting battles over whether in-room technology is a capital expense or an operational necessity.” This frustrated comment came from a hotel GM during our conversation in Florida last week. She’s facing the same challenge I’m hearing from properties

The Guest Feedback Loop: Turning Every Stay Into Competitive Intelligence From the Editor’s Desk “We’re not just collecting guest feedback anymore, we’re predicting guest needs.” This statement came from a resort general manager who has transformed how her property uses guest insights. Instead of waiting for post-stay surveys or online reviews, they’ve created a real-time feedback ecosystem that continuously improves operations while guests are still on property. The results? Guest satisfaction increased over 50% in

Issue #5 | Week of September 22, 2025 | Multi-Property Mastery: Rolling Out Innovation Without Breaking What Works From the Editor’s Desk “We nailed it at our flagship property, but it’s been a disaster at three of our other locations.” This confession came from a regional VP managing 18 hotels across the Southeast. Their guest experience technology pilot had delivered spectacular results at their premier property -significant boosts in both guest satisfaction and revenue, [EA1] with

Issue #4 | Week of September 15th | The Staff Success Formula: When Technology Makes Your Team Unstoppable From the Editor’s Desk “The housekeeping staff actually asked for more technology training.” That sentence stopped me mid-conversation during a property visit in Orlando last week. In my many years of hospitality experience, I’d never heard housekeeping request additional technology. Usually, it’s the opposite – resistance, frustration, or polite compliance at best. But this 200-room resort had

From the Editor’s Desk “We’ve been burned by technology vendors before.” I heard that exact phrase four times this week – from GMs in four major cities. Each had horror stories of overpromised solutions that under-delivered, implementations that disrupted operations for months, and partnerships that felt more like hostage situations than collaborations. After 50 years of watching technology partnerships succeed and fail spectacularly, we’ve learned that the difference isn’t usually the technology itself – it’s

From the Editor’s Desk The response to last week’s inaugural issue has been overwhelming. Many replies and conversations from hoteliers who want to discuss their own “Invisible Concierge” implementations. But one question came up repeatedly: “This sounds great, but what’s the real ROI?” Fair question. After 50 years in this business, we’ve learned that innovation without financial return is just expensive experimentation. Today, I’m sharing the hard numbers behind guest experience technology – data that will