🚀 Accor Launches ChatGPT App

Fray Group modernized its tech stack and unlocked a 15% ADR increase without sacrificing service or adding complexity. In a highly price-sensitive market, smarter operations made all the difference.

From back office to bookings, Cloudbeds gave Fray Group the tools to outperform the market and outpace the competition.

👉 See how Cloudbeds helps hotel teams win in competitive markets.

Accor has launched its ALL Accor app inside ChatGPT, allowing travelers to search hotels, view loyalty-member rates, and access detailed property info using natural language. This makes Accor one of the first major hotel groups to offer a multilingual AI-powered booking assistant directly within ChatGPT.

🎯 Why it matters: This move signals how major hotel brands are starting to treat conversational AI platforms not just as marketing channels but as core booking interfaces. By embedding itself in ChatGPT, Accor is aligning with shifting guest behavior and rising expectations for real-time, AI-assisted travel planning.

🔑 Key takeaway: Hotel owners in the Accor system should prepare for greater digital demand driven by AI-native guests, especially loyalty members expecting seamless access and personalization. Operators outside Accor should note: AI integration is no longer a future concept, it’s an active guest touchpoint driving conversion today. Read More →

MGM Resorts is significantly expanding its use of solar energy in Las Vegas, with large-scale solar arrays now helping power multiple MGM properties on the Strip. The initiative is part of a broader push to stabilize energy costs, reduce carbon emissions, and build resilience against long-term utility price volatility. MGM has positioned renewable energy not as a branding exercise, but as core infrastructure supporting operations at scale.

🎯 Why it matters: Energy is one of the largest and most volatile operating costs for large hotels, especially resorts with 24/7 demand. MGM’s move shows how sustainability investments are increasingly driven by economics and risk management, not just ESG optics. As energy prices fluctuate and regulatory pressure increases, hotels that control more of their energy inputs gain a structural cost advantage.

🔑 Key takeaway: Hoteliers should view sustainability tech (including solar, energy management systems, and smart infrastructure) as a long-term margin protection strategy. Even if on-site generation isn’t feasible, investing in energy analytics, demand optimization, and renewable procurement can materially improve cost predictability and future-proof operations as utilities and regulations evolve. Read More →

Under CEO Anthony Capuano, Marriott is rewriting the rules: racing into midscale with StudioRes and City Express, scrapping outdated restaurant mandates, and turning Bonvoy into a platform to capture travelers before AI assistants or banks do. The company is reshaping not just its tech, but its entire brand operating model for a more flexible, margin-aware future.

🎯 Why it matters: Marriott is shifting its growth engine from luxury to midscale, breaking with legacy brand constraints, and centralizing global decision-making. This signals a broader industry pivot: scale alone isn’t enough without operational adaptability and ecosystem control.

🔑 Key takeaway: Marriott’s transformation should make both owners and financiers reconsider what brand value actually means today. Is it still safer to fly a flag or is Marriott's aggressive repositioning a sign that old guarantees are fading? Operators need to ask whether they’re getting agility, tech leverage, and direct customer access from their brand partner—or just paying for legacy overhead while the market moves on. Read More →

✅ Cloudbeds: All-in-one hotel management software at the speed of AI.

✅ Tripleseat: Manage hotel group bookings, catering and event sales with AI.

✅ Actabl: Turn powerful BI data into actionable insights that maximize profits.

✅ Journey Rewards: Drive repeat visits & upsell revenue with targeted perks and rewards.

✅ Canary Technologies: Powerful but simple AI powered digital guest journey platform.

✅ ROH: Automate sales and finance to save time and capture more revenue.

✅ Vouchercart: Turn gift vouchers into prepaid revenue across rooms, dining, and spa.

✅ Sertifi: Simplify hotel check-ins and payments with secure digital solutions.

1️⃣ See How Linchris Hotels Transformed Hospitality Operations with Canary

Learn how ChatGPT and similar tools are fundamentally changing the way guests plan their trips and discover hotels and how you can secure visibility and bookings today.

2️⃣ Bluesun Hotels Doubles Revenue with HubSpot

Since implementing HubSpot Marketing, Sales and Service Hub, Bluesun doubled direct revenue, enhanced customer support and satisfaction while improving operational productivity and efficiencies.

3️⃣ Hotel payment systems explained: Security, convenience, and cost-saving strategies

Read the ebook to see how hotels are leveraging advanced communications tools & AI to enable next-generation guest and employee experiences.

🤖 AI will drive massive productivity gains in hospitality operations, says expert forecasting AI’s major impact.

🔑 Canary Technologies acquires OpenKey to unify mobile access and guest experience tech globally.

🇪🇺 OpenAI outlines AI policy priorities for the EU, focusing on safety, innovation, and global competitiveness.

💡 Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin reveals how AI will shape loyalty and travel in 2026.

🧑‍🔬 Voice AI company ElevenLabs raises $500M at an $11 billion valuation

🌍 Google expands AI travel inspiration with city guides and comic postcard features.

💳 Affirm inks a deal to be Expedia’s exclusive buy now, pay later option.

📉 Hotels face stagnation as the industry adjusts to slower growth and cost pressures in ‘the new normal’.

🧠 A new report argues AI isn’t coming for your job, instead augmenting human roles.

💼 U.S. hotel investment climbed to $24B in 2025, signaling continued capital inflows, per JLL.

What if hotel technology isn’t being disrupted by AI but quietly becoming one of the most AI-resilient industries in the world? In this episode of Hospitality Next, Jordan Hollander (yep, that’s me) breaks down why hospitality tech is entering its most consequential decade yet and why many hoteliers are still underestimating the shift.

I challenge the industry’s obsession with “direct bookings at all costs,” arguing that distribution strategy needs to be treated holistically based on economics, guest value, and downstream revenue, not ideology.

Key Takeaways:

👉🏼 Check out the interview on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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