Technology
Lodging Lowdown: Mews launches POS in North America, Borgata announces $107M tower renovation project
This week's hotel industry highlights: Mews launches POS system in North America; Borgata announces $107 million tower renovation; Hotel Equities partners with Lodgic Hospitality to manage three Austin hotels.
Aimbridge launches AI-powered staffing management tool
Hotel management company Aimbridge Hospitality has announced the launch of its proprietary Labor Insight & Forecasting Tool (LIFT), which combines advanced data science with AI-assisted forecasting to consolidate workforce data from multiple systems into a unified view, helping owners and operators optimize staffing. Pilot hotels achieved measurable efficiency gains in housekeeping and laundry departments, and scheduling accuracy also improved.
Google introduces AI Mode hotel booking
Google announced the launch of a hotel booking feature in AI Mode for Search, enabling users to discover, compare, and book hotels through natural language conversations, with support for Google Pay. Initial partners include 10 travel websites and hotel groups such as Choice Hotels, Hilton, and Wyndham. This move comes as travelers increasingly rely on AI to plan trips, and the hotel industry is also advancing its own AI strategies.
How hotels can adjust to the evolving AI search landscape
Travelers are moving from browsing search results to obtaining AI-generated synthesized answers, which changes the distribution logic for hotels. Hotels are no longer just competing for rankings but face the risk of being interpreted by invisible systems. This article analyzes the behavioral shift, the risk of distribution loss of control, and introduces agentic AI as a new tool to help hotels monitor and optimize their presence on AI platforms, ensuring they are accurately understood before decisions are made.
Hotels optimize every step to the booking. What happens after it?
Hotels invest heavily in optimizing the booking funnel, but optimization strategies often break down once guests click "Book." This article points out that the booking confirmation page carries too many competing objectives, diluting the value of this high-intent moment. It suggests drawing on e-commerce incremental thinking, making precise decisions about relevance in the post-booking phase based on the destination and dates revealed by the booking, and measuring true incremental value through experiments, rather than merely filling space or chasing clicks.
4 AI-powered hotel search tools that have launched so far in 2026
As travelers increasingly use artificial intelligence to plan trips, multiple hotel companies including Marriott International, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have launched conversational search tools this year. Hilton's generative AI digital concierge service is still in the testing phase. These tools are part of the hotel industry's technology strategy upgrade, with executives revealing related plans in Q2 earnings calls.
Booking Holdings’ connected trip strategy boosts loyalty
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel stated during the Q2 2026 earnings call that the company's 'Connected Trip' strategy has made progress: transaction volumes across travel verticals grew at a low double-digit rate, more than double the overall transaction growth of Booking.com. Engagement among higher-tier Genius loyalty members increased, with Level 2 and Level 3 members accounting for over 30% of active customers and contributing approximately 55% of room nights. AI customer service now handles the majority of eligible calls, with service costs continuing to decline by double digits. The company also tested an AI-driven discovery experience and launched Agoda Gallery View and Priceline's agentic AI assistant, Penny.
Choice Hotels raises full-year US RevPAR, global net rooms growth outlook
Choice Hotels International released its second-quarter 2026 financial results, showing global RevPAR up 1.7% year-over-year and U.S. RevPAR up 1.3%. Driven by improved demand and the FIFA World Cup boost, the company raised its full-year U.S. RevPAR and global net room growth guidance. U.S. room openings increased 27% year-over-year, marking the highest second-quarter level since 2019.
Why did the AI travel company relaunch the Sonder brand?
Last week, the news that the Sonder brand was acquired by TravelAI and transformed into an AI travel guide surprised the industry. The Vancouver-based company saw the residual brand value left by the tens of millions of dollars in marketing that Sonder invested before bankruptcy. TravelAI co-founder and CEO John Lyotier explained the acquisition decision, brand positioning, and the role of AI in travel planning in an interview.
IHG Hotels & Resorts Launches AI-Powered Conversational Search Tool
IHG Hotels & Resorts announced on Tuesday the launch of an AI-powered conversational search tool (beta) on its official website and mobile app. The tool is designed to help guests more easily discover and book stays at its more than 7,000 hotels worldwide, while enabling owners to enhance their properties' visibility in AI search. This move follows IHG's launch of an app in ChatGPT last month and is part of its broader AI strategy.