Redefining the Core: What Mews Unfold 2026 Is Really About

The hospitality industry has spent the past few years learning to move faster. The harder question now is what a hotel's operating model actually needs to look like to make that speed possible. That is the question behind Mews Unfold 2026.

Now in its seventh edition, Unfold takes place on Wednesday, May 27 at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam. It brings together more than 700 hoteliers for 12 sessions across a single day, and what the event promises will be one unforgettable afterparty. The agenda runs from a keynote by Duncan Wardle, former head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney, through sessions on AI and the technology shifts shaping the next era, the 2026 outlook for high-performance hospitality, finance automation, connected ecosystems, and modern hospitality leadership. The Mews innovation session sits at the center of the day, and the Unfold Awards close it out before the party begins.

Ahead of the event, we caught up with Richard Valtr, Founder of Mews, to go beyond the agenda and understand what this year's edition is really about. Here is what he shared.

From Agility to Operating Model

We started by asking how his thinking has evolved since Unfold 2025, and how that shapes this year's agenda.

Last year, Richard says, the Unfold conversation was largely about agility, about how hotels could shift from reacting to evolving in a market shaped by political uncertainty and unpredictable travel patterns. The point was to stop asking why and start acting, supported by data and technology rather than instinct alone.

A year on, he considers that argument settled. Most operators now accept that they need to stay flexible and responsive. The harder question is what the operating model has to look like to make agility, AI and automation possible in the first place. For Richard, this is not a debate about fragmented stacks versus all-in-ones, and he is wary of any system that describes itself in those terms. It is about redefining what counts as core in a hotel system. That shift is what sits behind this year's agenda, which focuses on AI, agentic systems, connected ecosystems, finance automation and new business models.

It also reflects a broader view of where the industry is going. The most interesting operators, Richard says, are no longer thinking about a narrow PMS conversation. They are thinking about how pricing, distribution, guest communication, payments and invoicing work together as one operating model.

The Questions the Industry Keeps Dodging

Unfold has a reputation for getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. We asked which harder questions Richard hopes to put on the table in Amsterdam.

The ones the industry cannot keep avoiding, he says. Are we using technology to create more human connections in hospitality, or just adding more noise? Are we building tech stacks that connect operations, revenue and guest experience, or are teams still being asked to work across fragmented systems? As AI moves from novelty to utility, how do leaders tell the tools that simplify work apart from the ones that add complexity?

He also wants a more honest conversation about the hotel operating model itself. What happens when finance processes run themselves? What does an API-first stack look like in practice? How should hospitality respond when search, distribution and guest expectations are all changing at once? Those questions sit behind this year's sessions on finance automation, connected ecosystems, AI and the next era of hospitality.

What to Watch For

Unfold has always been the moment when Mews shares what is next. Without giving the game away, we asked what attendees should look out for, and what people who cannot make it to Amsterdam will be reading about afterward.

Attendees should expect a much clearer picture of where the Mews Operating System is heading and what that means for how they run their properties, Richard says. The case Mews is making is that the definition of a hotel system's core capabilities is changing. Pricing, distribution, guest communication, payments and invoicing belong inside the operating system, not bolted onto it.

The Mews innovation session is the one to watch this year. For those not in the room, the story afterward will be about that operating system direction and the launches and partnerships that support it.

Measuring Success Beyond the Day

Finally, we asked Richard what would make this year's edition a success in his eyes, not just on May 27 but in the months that follow.

Success on the day matters, he says, but the real test comes afterward. He wants people to leave Amsterdam with a stronger sense of where hospitality is heading, a clearer view of which technologies are worth acting on now, and practical ideas they can take back to their own businesses. If the conversations on stage continue inside hotel leadership teams, partner ecosystems and trade media long after the event, it has done its job.

From the Mews side, success also means the story holds together. Unfold is the biggest moment of the year for the company. The event, the summary release and the launches that follow are all meant to tell a single story about where the business and the industry are going next. If that narrative still feels coherent and relevant in the weeks and months after Amsterdam, Richard considers that a strong outcome.

Looking Ahead

Hospitality Net is proud to once again support Mews Unfold as its media partner. Having covered previous editions, we know how much ground a single day in Amsterdam can cover, and we will be there for all of it on May 27, with our recap to follow shortly after.