Spend, Savings and Control: Where AI Is Really Landing for Hotel Owners

I see AI as a tool, not a strategy in itself. Today, its greatest value for us is business intelligence: helping our teams analyze information faster, identify patterns, challenge assumptions and give owners better insight into performance. If that means our people spend less time processing information and more time focused on the guest, that is a real benefit.

I’m cautious about headline claims of 20% savings. The question for an owner isn’t whether a brand becomes 20% more efficient, but whether those savings actually reach the hotel P&L. That remains to be proven.

Loyalty data is clearly valuable, but having 283 million members doesn’t necessarily mean you know your guest better. Independent operators can combine personal relationships with technology and their own data to build genuine loyalty.

I’m particularly interested in what AI does for owners. It gives them better tools to question performance, test assumptions and make informed decisions. That could shift the balance of power. AI doesn’t replace experience or judgement; it gives everyone access to better information.

The AI conversation has now evolved beyond experimentation and into practical application. AI has the potential to reshape how capital is deployed across a hotel; from cost estimation and value engineering to project scheduling, risk management, design and operational decisions. But despite the attraction of this oh-so-convenient always-on assistant, be wary of using it for its own sake, particularly as token costs are starting to increase. The focus should remain on where AI can create measurable value, which we think is in reducing wasted time, improving decision-making, identifying risks earlier and helping ensure that every pound invested in a property delivers the right return.

AI can process large amounts of information, compare scenarios and identify patterns far faster than a human team, potentially reducing project costs and avoiding expensive mistakes or delays. But the greatest savings may come from knowing where not to spend. Brand standards, refurbishment cycles and consultant recommendations can all create pressure for investment, yet AI can help owners test those recommendations against the property's history, performance, condition and future strategy. Used properly, it becomes another tool for value engineering; determining where investment creates the greatest value and where it can be deferred, reduced or avoided.

Within this is control. AI should not replace the experience and judgement of the owner, asset manager or project director; it should strengthen it. The real advantage is having better information, more scenarios and earlier warnings available when decisions need to be made. Those who use AI well will not necessarily be those who automate the most, they will be those who use it to maintain control over capital, challenge assumptions and make better-informed decisions about their assets. The technology may change how we work, but the responsibility for deciding what is right for the property still sits with people.

Chris Nassetta was right to call this AI’s “early days.” However, we are seeing consistent evidence that shows great promise for owners and operators.

First, AI improves data consolidation and presentation. For decades, we have been trying to organize and bring data into clear, actionable reports. AI tools make this possible across platforms, giving our hotel leaders time back to wow guests!

General managers and their teams spend too much time behind a desk. AI can reduce that burden and get teams back into the hotel to spend time with guests, build relationships, and create experiences that drive business.

Second, AI enhances distribution. Brilliant minds are working at the OTA, brand.com, and search levels, but no one is pulling ahead. Brand loyalty programs have the greatest advantage and opportunity by gathering relevant guest information, but this game is still being played.

Lastly, AI impacts ownership by serving as an analyst and assistant, making teams more productive and decisions more precise. It also provides clearer summaries of complicated contracts and agreements.

The bigger promise isn't that AI helps us process information faster, but that it eliminates arduous work and gives people more time to be present and hospitable.

Owners are increasingly approached by tech companies promising significant productivity gains through AI. Many solutions are compelling, but most remain highly specialized across sections of the production chain. One distinction is critical: productivity improvement, cost saving and NOI increases are not the same thing. A 15–20% efficiency gain matters only if it ultimately improves NOI.

Most of these AI initiatives will be brand-led. Centralized deployment features economies of scale and lower implementation risks, but if ultimately these costs will be allocated to hotel P&Ls, owners will scrutinize.

USALI 12 will help. The Annual Mandatory Brand and Operator Costs schedule provides greater visibility over mandatory programs required by brands. While this will not measure AI profitability directly, it will give owners a view of the cost side and a basis for assessing profits: if AI materially decreases reservations, marketing, finance, procurement or shared service costs, owners should expect those savings to reduce system charges and centralized costs. Otherwise, AI risks improving brand economics rather than hotel economics.

The key question will shift from “What can technology do?” to “Does it create measurable owner-level profit/value? What is its expected shelf life and payback period? And, ultimately, who captures its economic benefit?”

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for major hotel brands to voluntarily pass the benefits of AI cost reductions to hotel owners, certainly not outside the USA.

At hotel level, AI is already improving revenue management, scheduling, procurement, administration and reporting. I also see significant potential in marketing and sales. AI agents can generate and qualify leads, personalise outreach and dramatically increase sales activity at very low marginal cost.

At distribution level, I expect the OTA-brand battle to continue largely unchanged, at least initially. If either becomes more efficient but system charges and fees remain unchanged, the owner has funded the transformation without necessarily capturing the benefit.

Loyalty data is a genuine moat, but not an impregnable one. Marriott's 283 million members give it an enormous advantage because AI becomes much more powerful when it knows the customer. But AI may also reduce the importance of the traditional booking journey as it increasingly becomes the interface through which consumers plan, search and transact. I think we are already seeing indications of that.

For me, the most interesting shift is at ownership level. AI gives owners analytical capabilities that historically sat with brands, operators, consultants and advisers. It doesn't replace expertise, but it makes informed ownership much cheaper.

That is where I think the balance of power could genuinely move.

There are several questions wrapped up in this topic, each probably deserving a master’s thesis of its own. So, in 200 words, three brief thoughts.

First, I see real potential for AI at the asset level, but I don’t think the gains are necessarily low-hanging fruit. The value will come from fairly specific tools solving fairly specific problems: better rota management, reducing food waste, improving purchasing, or optimising individual lines of the P&L. Individually these may look incremental; collectively, they could materially improve hotel economics.

Second, loyalty remains one of the brands’ strongest cards. It can undoubtedly drive direct business and reduce reliance on intermediaries. But owners need much greater transparency around what loyalty actually costs them—not just what it delivers.

Finally, will any of this shift the balance of power between brands and owners? Brand-level efficiencies alone probably won’t. AI, however, could give capable local operators better tools to compete and capture more value at the asset level. But loyalty may ultimately be the difference-maker. If brands continue to own the guest relationship, their position remains formidable.