AI is no longer a side project in hospitality. New research from Mews shows that 98% of hoteliers have used AI across their operations in the last six months. On average, it is involved in 11 of the 19 most common hotel tasks and handles more than half the workload in those tasks. Adoption spans front office, commercial, F&B and leadership, and is highest in upper-midscale, upscale and luxury properties.
Despite this widespread adoption, 59% of hoteliers say the front desk welcome and check-in should stay human-led. The finding is most pronounced among properties already using AI extensively, suggesting that hands-on experience with AI sharpens hoteliers’ instinct for where the human touch is irreplaceable.
The Mews Hotelier Survey 2026, conducted between December 2025 and March 2026 across more than 500 properties globally, gives a clear picture of where the hospitality industry currently stands on AI, and where it is drawing the line.
“The data tells a consistent story: hoteliers are optimistic about AI and willing to use it broadly, but they are also precise about its role,” said Wouter Geerts, Director of Market Research at Mews. “Comfort with AI goes up with experience, and so does the conviction that certain guest moments should stay human. That is not resistance to AI. It is a mature understanding of what it is for.”
Advertisements
The survey plots 19 common hotel tasks across a matrix of usage and comfort with full automation:
Optimism and trust in AI are high across the board
92% of hoteliers are optimistic about AI in hospitality, and 83% trust AI tools to support decision-making. But governance has not kept pace. Forty-one percent of hoteliers have no formal AI policy in place, relying on verbal guidelines or nothing at all. The data shows a direct relationship between governance and trust: properties with a formal AI policy report 92% strong trust in AI, compared to 49% among those with no guidelines.
Revenue is emerging as the next priority. Among the most AI-proficient properties, 52% identify revenue growth as the primary outcome they want AI to support, ahead of efficiency or cost reduction. Properties with strong AI skills index significantly higher on revenue outcomes: increased revenue, higher spend per guest, improved upsell.
This shift toward revenue is also pushing hoteliers to demand more from their AI tools. Responses need to reflect how a specific property operates, not just industry averages. Pricing decisions need to account for that property’s data, not generic signals. To support this, Mews is building a semantic layer – a foundation that gives AI tools access to the institutional knowledge that currently lives in spreadsheets, in people’s heads and across disconnected systems. The goal is AI that understands a property’s context, not just its data.
“Hotels have spent the last few years getting the operational foundations right. What we are seeing now is a shift in how hoteliers think about AI,” said Matt Welle, CEO of Mews. “The question is no longer whether to use it, but where it creates the most value. And that requires AI that understands how a specific property works. That is what we are building with the semantic layer: a foundation that gives every AI tool the context it needs to act correctly for that hotel, not just for hotels in general.”
The AI-enabled future of hospitality will be a central topic at Mews Unfold, taking place on May 27 in Amsterdam.
Guest Contributor
2026-05-19 01:40:00