AI tools from hospitality conference

Last week I went to HITEC in San Antonio, one of hospitality's biggest technology events.

There is something about the people who work in this industry. They are warm. For many in the room, it felt like an old friends' reunion.

Monday morning was all networking. IT teams from hotels of every size. Vendors solving problems I never knew a hotel had.

AI startups everywhere.

One session paired Hyatt with replicant. David Mayer, Hyatt's AVP of Data, Analytics and Quality Strategy, presented with Marcus Anderson, Director of Sales at replicant, the AI automation company Hyatt selected.

That session set the tone.

Over the next few days one thing became obvious.

The big brands are not just exploring AI. They are already using it, iterating on it, and some are on their second or third vendor.

The tools sit on top of the existing PMS. They handle guest messaging, upsells, analytics, and the dozen time-eating tasks that still burden most hotels.

The exhibit hall was a whole new world. Too many companies to count. Familiar names like PriceLabs, Cloudbeds, and Mews. Dozens I had never heard of.

PMS, AI bots, analytics, procurement, distribution, energy tech. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

I don't go to events like this without a clear goal.

One of mine was to find the right AI tool. There were many. New ones, good ones, great ones.

The one that stood out, and that I had been eyeing for a while, was Akia, a guest messaging and experience platform.

Akia pulls every guest message into one inbox. Texts, WhatsApp, web chat, the messages from your OTAs. Its AI answers the repetitive questions on its own, so the front desk gets hours back. It also runs mobile check-in, arrival guides, upsells, and post-stay surveys, with no app for the guest to download. Over time it learns your brand voice.

For a small operator, that is one full person's worth of work, automated.

Two others stopped me.

Amazon was there with Alexa+ for hospitality. A screen device in every room, part tablet, part voice assistant. Guests ask for the pool hours, order towels, set the temperature, find a restaurant, even check out. Every request routes to the right team. It can be white labeled, so it carries your own brand and never feels like an Amazon box on the nightstand. It feels like your property.

Then the robots. Some poured cocktails for show.

The ones that mattered were cleaning rooms, already in thousands of them. The robot works alongside the housekeeper. It takes the floors, vacuuming the room while the attendant handles the bathroom and the rest. In an industry that struggles to staff housekeeping, those saved minutes per room add up fast.

One evening ended on a boat cruising the San Antonio Riverwalk, a networking ride open only to attendees. Two and a half hours on the water and under the trees with new friends. The best kind of business conversation. The kind that does not feel like business.

The last day brought the Women in Hospitality meetup. Some twenty years in, some just starting. All of them curious, all learning from one another.

As I was coming back home, I couldn't stop thinking about one thing.

For the first time in history, the small guy has the same options and solutions as the giants.

The cost of running a hospitality business keeps falling. The arena is leveling. And think how slowly decisions move inside a big company.

The small operator holds a clear edge. Speed, fewer constraints, a fresh view of things.

And this is my biggest takeaway from HITEC this year.

This is all for today,

Till next week, dear readers.