AI Baby Steps: What Hotel GMs Are Learning First-Hand

After more than 35 years in hotel leadership, I've seen our industry evolve through major technological shifts. I began my career as one of the youngest leaders in the hotel, and today I'm often the person with the deepest institutional knowledge and operational experience. That perspective has given me a balanced view of AI.

My first lesson was that AI is not a replacement for hospitality, it's a tool that helps us practice hospitality more effectively. I've used it to streamline administrative tasks, draft communications, support training, and organize information more quickly. The result isn't fewer leadership responsibilities; it's more time to focus on guests, employees, and the overall operation.

What worked was starting with simple, practical applications. What didn't work was expecting AI to understand the nuances of our culture, people, or guest expectations without direction. Human judgment, experience, and emotional intelligence remain essential.

For hotel leaders unsure where to begin, my advice is simple: start small and focus on solving one real problem. The biggest takeaway from my first experience with AI is that, like every meaningful innovation I've seen throughout my career, its value comes not from the technology itself, but from how thoughtfully people use it.

My first honest lesson with AI was this: the technology was never the hard part. The people were. Our earliest AI applications were practical — sentiment analysis and review response support, demand forecasting tools, and pre-arrival personalization. The tools worked. What I underestimated was how much communication and change management was required before the team would trust them. Team members hear "AI" and immediately wonder what it meant for their jobs. Until we addressed that directly — making clear that AI was absorbing administrative tasks so they could focus on the human moments that no algorithm can replicate — adoption can be hesitant and uneven. What I would do suggest is: lead with the "why" before the "what." Show the team what AI gives back to them before asking them to change how they work. The second lesson was restraint. Not every process needs an AI layer. We learned to ask first: does this actually improve the guest experience, or does it just feel innovative? Start small. Communicate relentlessly. Let the results make the case.

As a General Manager, my biggest learning has been that AI is not a replacement for hospitality—it is an enabler of better hospitality.

Our first steps with AI focused on improving productivity rather than replacing people. We have used AI to support content creation, communication, brainstorming, data analysis, guest feedback summarisation and operational planning. This has allowed managers to spend less time on routine administrative work and more time with guests and their teams.

One lesson became clear very quickly: AI is only as good as the questions we ask. The quality of the output depends on the quality of the prompt and, more importantly, the judgment of the person using it. Human oversight remains essential.

The biggest challenge has not been the technology—it has been helping teams embrace it with confidence rather than fear. Once associates see AI as a tool that makes their work easier instead of replacing them, adoption becomes much more natural.

Ultimately, hospitality is a people business. AI will make us more efficient, but empathy, emotional intelligence and genuine human connection will continue to define exceptional guest experiences. The hotels that succeed will be those that use AI to empower their people—not replace them.

My first experience with AI reinforced a lesson our industry has always understood: technology should enhance hospitality, not replace it.

Rather than introducing AI across multiple functions, we started with a single application that could deliver immediate value. At our property, we implemented an AI driven dining reservation service to manage enquiries and bookings. The transition has been seamless, providing guests with faster responses and 24/hour availability, while allowing our team to focus on delivering more personalised service.

What surprised me most was how readily our associates embraced the technology. Once they understood that AI was designed to eliminate repetitive administrative tasks, not replace human interaction, it quickly became viewed as an enabler rather than a threat.

My advice to fellow General Managers is to begin with a clearly defined business challenge, not the technology itself. Start small, measure the results and bring your people on the journey from the outset.

Luxury hospitality will always be defined by genuine human connection, intuition and emotional intelligence. AI cannot replicate those qualities, but it can remove friction from the guest journey and free our teams to spend more time doing what matters most, creating exceptional guest experiences.

As a General Manager, I began using AI for practical, everyday tasks such as drafting communications, analysing guest feedback, preparing presentations and summarising reports. Tasks that once took hours can now be completed in minutes, allowing me to focus more on guests, team development and strategic decision making.

The biggest surprise was how quickly my leadership team embraced it once they saw its practical value. Initial concerns about AI replacing jobs quickly shifted to seeing it as a tool that enhances productivity and supports better decision making.

The key lesson is that AI is only as effective as the person using it. It cannot replace experience, judgement or genuine hospitality. Instead, it provides a strong starting point, while leaders remain responsible for validating information, making decisions and maintaining the human connection that defines our industry.

My advice to other General Managers is simple, start small. Use AI to solve everyday challenges, encourage your teams to experiment and learn together, and focus on practical applications rather than the hype. Those who embrace AI today will be better positioned to lead the hotels of tomorrow.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a practical tool for hotel general managers, helping them improve operations without replacing the human side of hospitality. Most GMs begin by using AI for simple tasks such as drafting emails, summarizing guest reviews, preparing reports, and organizing meeting notes. These small improvements save valuable time and allow managers to focus more on guests and employees.

One of the first lessons GMs learn is that AI performs best when given clear instructions and accurate information. Well-written prompts produce better results, while human review remains essential to ensure accuracy and maintain the hotel's standards. AI supports decision-making but should never replace professional judgment.

Another important discovery is that successful AI adoption depends on people as much as technology. Training staff, encouraging experimentation, and addressing concerns help teams embrace AI with confidence. Managers also recognize the importance of protecting guest data and using AI responsibly within company policies.

The biggest takeaway is that AI is most effective when introduced gradually. By starting with small, practical applications, hotel general managers build confidence, improve efficiency, and create better guest experiences while preserving the personal service that defines the hospitality industry.

Personally, I would have welcomed Ai in helping me writing one of those long essays in school!

AI is a tool. A powerful one, certainly, but a tool in enhancing productivity, supporting better decision-making, and removing time-consuming administrative tasks.

I use AI to help analyse data faster, improve planning, communication, however, the true opportunity is giving our colleagues back something increasingly valuable: time.

This raises what I believe is the most important question. As technology continues to advance, will it finally help our industry address one of its greatest challenges, achieving a better work-life balance for hospitality professionals?

I believe it can.

Managers (GMs) are taking their first steps with AI, which does not replace their judgment but amplifies it, helping them make better decisions and reduce repetitive tasks by up to 40%. AI uncovers hidden structural issues, such as complaints related to maintenance, food and beverage, and staff attitude, enabling more transparent and prioritized management.

Additionally, AI frees up between 6 and 10 hours weekly for GMs to focus on internal culture, guest experience, and strategy. However, successful AI integration requires a cultural shift within the team, with digital training and data-driven protocols to reduce fear of job replacement.

In summary, the AI revolution in hospitality arrives step by step, with small daily victories transforming hotel management toward more informed and efficient leadership. It's like having a team of apprentices doing the heavy lifting, but you always need to supervise by contrasting results (by now...).

We started with recruitment. Opening a 200-plus-room resort in a small-island labour market means thousands of applications and a hiring window measured in weeks. AI helped us structure CVs, compare experience and surface gaps in hours rather than days.

Its limitation became equally clear. It could read what someone had done. It could not judge who would still bring warmth in month nine of a pre-opening, when the work is hardest and recognition is scarce. Several of the people we chose did not rank highest on experience alone.

The firmer boundary was guest recovery. AI produces a polished reply, but a guest feels immediately when an apology has not been owned. In luxury, the apology is part of the product. We stopped letting the tool lead those responses.

What I would do differently: introduce it where the cost of error is low, and keep human judgment closest to the moments carrying the most trust.

The real finding was not about technology. It was that we had confused administration with judgment. That is a management problem, not a software one.

My first experience with AI taught me that making decisions wasn’t the hardest part of my job. Getting all the information together before making them was.

In revenue management, I already had forecasts, historical performance, competitor rates and market data. The problem wasn’t a lack of information. It was that everything sat in different systems. Before changing a pricing strategy, I spent more than an hour pulling it all together.

Now I use AI to organize that information into one view and highlight anything unusual. It doesn’t tell me what rate to set, but it gives me a much clearer starting point. What used to take more than an hour now takes about twenty minutes.

I also learned very quickly not to trust AI blindly. Early on, it surfaced outdated competitor information, and I almost acted on it. Since then, I always verify the output before making a commercial decision.

That was my biggest lesson. AI isn’t replacing my judgment as a General Manager. It’s giving me more time to use it.

My first lesson with AI was realizing that it is not a magic solution, it is a productivity tool. In hospitality, where personal service remains at the heart of everything we do, AI has not replaced human judgment, it has simply helped me work more efficiently.

The first value I found was in communication. AI helps organize ideas, improve emails and create greater consistency, while every message is still reviewed personally and guest confidentiality remains paramount.

I also use AI as a business intelligence tool. It helps me analyze market trends, competitor activity and broader economic factors alongside STR data and operational insights. Rather than making decisions for me, it connects information more quickly and provides a stronger foundation for sound judgment.

Looking ahead, I believe the greatest opportunity lies in the hospitality technology ecosystem. As property management, revenue management, distribution and guest engagement platforms become more connected through AI, hoteliers will gain better insights and greater efficiency.

Ultimately, AI should enhance the human element. Used thoughtfully, it allows hotel leaders and teams to spend less time on administration and more time creating exceptional guest experiences.