🚫 The Resort Fee Ban is Official

Insider Highlights

• FTC mandates upfront hotel pricing by July

• Expedia’s new Instagram Reels trip planner

• Get a first look at the 2025 HotelTechIndex™ Market Leaders Report

• Now you can book a private chef or trainer on Airbnb

• 🛠️ 6 Tech tools you should try

• 🎧 Podcast: Brittain Resorts CMO on Omnichannel Guest Acquisition | Listen here

BIG STORIES

Big headlines this week

🔒 Hotels use AI to boost security, flagging threats and streamlining investigations in real time.

🏡 Airbnb’s 2025 Summer Release introduces Airbnb Services (private chef, personal training, etc.) and a revamped app.

🤖 Meet Bell, your hotel’s new AI hotel technology consultant.

💵 FTC’s new rule requires hotels to include all fees in advertised prices by July.

🍽️ Extended Stay America partners with Grubhub for in-room food delivery at 470+ hotels.

🧪 Expedia launches new Instagram Reels tool that builds itineraries from social posts

🔐 A surge in high-profile data breaches underscore the need for hotel operators to prioritize data privacy.

🌳 New Choice Hotels Sustainability report claims they now track all pollution even from suppliers

TOGETHER WITH CLOUDBEDS

The Sunlight Group was losing out on direct revenue due to limited online visibility and manual pricing decisions across its growing property portfolio. Cloudbeds solved this by helping The Sunlight Group with integrated marketing, pricing, and POS tools.

• Activated the Cloudbeds Digital Marketing Suite to boost visibility next to OTAs on Google

• Used dynamic pricing tools to track competitors and automate rate adjustments

• Integrated POS and gift voucher tools to save time and create new revenue streams

The result? A 329% surge in direct bookings in just 90 days—driven by smarter marketing and pricing automation.

👉 Learn how they did it here

GOING DEEPER

1. Google Starts Testing Hotel Ads in AI Search

Google has started testing travel ads in iAsk, a rising AI search startup. The pilot includes ads for flights and hotels, sourced via Google's Travel API and powered by its AdSense for Search product. Though still small-scale, this move suggests Google is exploring how to monetize AI-driven search results beyond its core platform — and keep travel advertisers plugged in no matter where the query happens.

🎯 Why it matters: AI-native search is becoming a serious contender in how consumers discover travel information. Google's foray into AI search startups signals a long game — one where it expands its AI travel ad ecosystem into third-party platforms, not just its own search box. Think of this like Google Display Network on steroids with far higher intent.

🔑 Key takeaway: Google is obviously working on its own AI search products to preserve its dominant position but it’s important to remember that Google’s moat isn’t just search queries - it also has the ad infrastructure and advertiser network. Smaller startups like Perplexity or iAsk will have trouble building out dedicated sales teams until they are at a massive scale which means even if they steal share from Google, Google could still provide the underlying infrastructure to power all of these niche platforms. Read More →

2. 2025 HotelTechIndex™ Market Leaders Report Drops

The HotelTechIndex™ is HotelTechReport’s annual data-driven report that ranks and highlights the top-performing hotel software solutions like Cloudbeds across all major operational categories—from Property Management Systems (PMS) to Revenue Management, Guest Messaging, Housekeeping, and beyond.

🎯 Why it matters: The best-performing hotel tech solutions are those that excel not just in features, but in ROI, user satisfaction, and integration strength, as proven by thousands of peer reviews. In a crowded market, choosing tools with verified real-world impact is the clearest path to success.

🔑 Key takeaway: Use the 2025 HotelTechIndex™ Report to evaluate whether your current software partners are top performers or holding you back. Prioritize tools that are customer-validated, well-integrated, and aligned with your market segment segment—because in 2025, smart tech adoption is your competitive advantage. Read More → 

3. Airbnb Reveals Ambition to Be ‘Amazon for Services’

With its 2025 Summer Release, Airbnb is no longer just a place to book a stay—it’s positioning itself as a full-service hospitality platform. The update introduces “Airbnb Services” like private chefs, spa treatments, and personal trainers, many bookable without a lodging reservation. For hoteliers, this signals rising guest expectations and a need to compete not just on rooms, but on lifestyle-driven, tech-enabled experiences.

🎯 Why it matters: Airbnb’s expansion into services blurs the line between lodging and lifestyle, encroaching directly on traditional hotel territory. By offering vetted, on-demand amenities that rival those of full-service hotels, and making them accessible to non-guests, Airbnb is redefining what travelers expect from their stay. Hoteliers who don’t adapt risk losing share not just on rooms, but on the high-margin experiences that drive guest satisfaction and revenue.

🔑 Key takeaway: For years, brands like Marriott and Accor have chased the vision of delivering everyday lifestyle services—like fitness, food, and wellness—to their loyalty members, even outside hotel stays. Airbnb’s new approach takes a bold swing at that same goal, offering home-market hospitality at scale without owning a single piece of real estate—though pulling it off sustainably will be its biggest test. Read More →

TOOLS & TACTICS

⚒️ Hotel Tech Tools You’ve Gotta Try

✅ Cloudbeds: Turn powerful data into actionable insights that maximize profits

✅ MeetingPackage: Simplify MICE bookings and boost event revenue.

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

✅ Hireology: Find and hire reliable staff faster to fill key hotel roles.

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

✅ Otelier: Optimize hotel budgets and forecasts with precise, data-driven insights.

AROUND THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

Other hospitality happenings this week ​

📈 Group business travel remained strong in Q1 2025, with bookings and spending on the rise, per new report

📉 Hotel CEOs say tariffs and trade policy are weighing on international demand and profits.

🤖 Airbnb pilots AI chatbot in U.S. to automate guest support and reduce wait times.

🚧 Wynn Resorts pauses $375M in capital expenditures amid uncertainty around tarriffs.

🔍 Apple’s rumored AI search tool for Safari dents Google’s stock, signaling rising competition.

🎟️ Viator drove Tripadvisor’s Q1 growth, with experiences revenue up 20% year over year, while Tripadvisor leans into AI partnerships.

💼 Sabre’s CEO seeks to reduce debt after selling hotel tech division for $1.1 billion.

🍷 Hilton redefines loyalty by offering culturally resonant experiences that align with modern traveler values.

🍔 Tech-savvy ordering and social media presence bring in Gen-Z diners

🏨 Chef José Andrés plans to build a hotel brand focused on food, design, and storytelling.

PODCAST OF THE WEEK
🎙 Brittain Resorts CMO on Omnichannel Guest Acquisition

Is your property management system really the heart of your hotel’s technology ecosystem? In this episode, Patrick Norton, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Britain Hotels and Resorts, challenges conventional wisdom and reveals how a customer data platform (CDP) can transform your marketing strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover why Patrick believes the PMS should not be the center of your technology stack and how a CDP can enhance your marketing efforts.

• Learn actionable strategies for leveraging AI-driven business intelligence to create personalized guest experiences that drive revenue.

• Understand the importance of a product-agnostic technology matrix that allows for seamless integration of various tools, enabling your team to focus on growth without being bogged down by operational challenges.

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

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