In this insightful interview, Scott Dahl and Mercedes Blanco discuss the evolving landscape of upselling and cross-selling in the hotel industry heading into 2026. They highlight how traveler preferences have shifted away from just prices and views toward meaningful, personalized experiences, emphasizing the emotional story behind offers. Mercedes shares her extensive expertise in digital marketing and hospitality technology, underscoring the fast-paced integration of AI in enhancing guest experiences, marketing strategies, and direct booking channels.

Scott and Mercedes explore the challenges hotels face, including data ownership conflicts between hotels and OTAs, the generational and cultural differences in traveler behavior, and the critical need to balance personalization with privacy and regulatory compliance. They also note how AI, particularly channels like ChatGPT, is rapidly transforming travel research and hotel distribution, urging the industry to adapt quickly or face disruption similar to the past digital revolutions.

Throughout the conversation, the importance of putting the traveler at the center, embracing technology while not losing the human touch, and experimenting with new solutions is emphasized. Scott Dahl and Mercedes Blanco provide rich, practical examples of AI applications in upselling, operational efficiency, and guest engagement, leaving a clear call to action for hospitality professionals to move decisively with innovation to thrive in a complex and changing market.

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About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

Jessica Gillingham, founder and CEO of Abode Worldwide, joins Simone Puorto for an engaging discussion about her recent book, "Tech-Enabled Hospitality." As a seasoned communicator with nearly a decade of experience in the hospitality and short-term rental technology space, Jessica explores the profound transformation underway in the industry, where technology is reshaping both operational delivery and the very nature of guest experiences. Her work brings together insights from over thirty-eight leaders in technology and hospitality, giving the book a rich, multifaceted perspective.

The conversation goes beyond the nuts and bolts of innovation, delving into how digital transformation in hospitality is fundamentally a cultural and strategic shift rather than simply a technological one. Jessqica challenges common assumptions about the role of technology, emphasizing that thoughtful integration can foster greater personalization and trust, rather than diminish the human element. Examples from her research illustrate how new approaches such as letting guests opt into room cleaning can boost both efficiency and customer satisfaction, while highlighting the essential need for leadership-driven change.

As boundaries blur between hotels, serviced apartments, and rental units, Jessica observes that the modern guest increasingly seeks convenience and authentic experiences irrespective of traditional property categories. With the rapid evolution of tech stacks, artificial intelligence, and platform interoperability, the hospitality sector faces both significant opportunities and new challenges. Through this interview, readers are invited to reflect on a timely question: how can operators harness technology to serve humanity and elevate every guest journey in a world where hospitality itself is being redefined?

Download a complimentary first chapter of the book here.

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About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

Hospitality Net Innovation Benchmarking Framework (IBF)

Hospitality Net is launching a pioneering benchmarking framework designed to objectively evaluate and showcase all forms of innovation within the global hospitality industry. This initiative addresses a critical gap: the absence of a unified, neutral, and transparent resource that distinguishes true innovation from incremental improvements, providing the industry at large with timely and actionable insights to navigate an increasingly complex innovation landscape.

About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

This interview with the visionary Chris Norton, CEO of Equinox Hotels, explores how the brand is redefining modern luxury hospitality through a foundation of health, wellness and high-performance living. His team's leadership is helping make Equinox Hotels a platform for a new generation of travelers who prioritize longevity and vitality by looking for those brands that can meet this lifestyle. Health really is the new wealth. With the utmost attention to detail with the development and launch of the brand's first hotel in New York, Equinox Hotels is creating experiences that elevate guests' physical and mental well-being across every single in-room and onsite amenity.

Throughout the conversation, Norton emphasizes the science and intent behind Equinox Hotels' design principles. He details innovations such as sleep-optimized rooms developed with input from specialists, custom showers that double as wellness experiences and the subtle integration of technology that enhances comfort without overwhelming the user. They went so far as to customize the HVAC so that it would never start-up intermittently throughout the night and remain perfectly silent for the best possible sleep. Aside the sleep-centric in-room experience and how the spa incorporates the latest in welltech, the discussion also highlights how Equinox merges the vitality of its fitness clubs with hospitality, fostering communities that unite locals and travelers through shared values of movement, nutrition, rejuvenation and connection. This model positions Equinox Hotels at the crossroads of hospitality and holistic living, where physical space becomes an extension of personal performance.

To close, Norton reflects on how staff wellbeing and thoughtful operations are essential to delivering this elevated guest experience. He describes efforts to design ergonomic uniforms, smart workflows and hotel environments that benefit employees as much as guests. In a virtuous circle, these seemingly subtle improvements augment the staff experience, which then positively halo onto the guest experience. The conversation closes on the brand's vision for global expansion with projects across the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. By linking innovation, science and the human touch, Equinox Hotels is defining the very future of luxury hospitality as a lived expression of health, balance and purposeful design.

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About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

This interview features Niko Karstikko, the Co-Founder & Group CEO of Bob W, an innovative hospitality company blending the comfort and consistency of hotels with the authentic local experience and affordability of short-stay rentals, designed for modern, tech-savvy travelers who mix business and leisure stays. Founded in 2017-2018, Bob W operates in commercial properties under appropriate legal frameworks and emphasizes scalability, flexibility, and sustainability through technology - such as app-enabled self-service amenities, partnerships with local gyms and restaurants, and a tech stack for guest and operational services. Their average stay length is about 4 nights and they have expanded across 19 cities in 11 European countries

Niko describes how personal experience with travel and short-term rentals revealed major pain points in the industry: lack of standardization, trust issues, amateur operations, and inconsistent guest experiences. Bob W aims to resolve these issues by developing their own technology and brand standards, providing guests with reliable, autonomous hospitality and a trusted experience irrespective of city or property. They cater to a variety of segments, especially corporate and need-based travelers, and utilize data and automation for efficiency, customer service, and sustainability reporting.

Sustainability is a core brand pillar for Bob W, with initiatives like renewable energy, circular economy furniture, and transparent emissions reporting down to the apartment level. The company strives to be the "most honest player in hospitality," pushing for industry-wide standardization of sustainability metrics. The tech stack not only lowers operational costs and resource usage but also enhances customer experience and allows the company to scale rapidly and profitably. Looking forward, Bob W plans further expansion in Europe and eventually globally, continuing to focus on tech innovation and diverse travel segments.

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About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

Ori Kafri introduces J.K. Place as a family-founded boutique hotel brand that defines "boutique" not by design trends, but by personal, tailor-made hospitality. With three intimate properties in Capri, Rome, Paris, and soon Milan, each averaging around 30 rooms, Kafri describes the brand"s essence as creating "homes" rather than hotels - spaces where guests feel personally known and individually cared for. He contrasts J.K."s approach to larger hotel chains, which he likens to luxury fashion houses, while J.K. Place aspires to be the "tailor-made suit" - a bespoke experience built through genuine human connection.

Kafri recounts the story of how the brand's philosophy of personal warmth was inspired by an eight-room guesthouse in Amsterdam, where the host's generosity - offering tea and conversation without expectation - became a lasting model for hospitality. He explains how J.K. Place strives to bring that same sense of generosity and intimacy into every interaction, such as offering guests a coffee upon arrival. This simple act, he says, captures the brand's belief that luxury lies in authentic human gestures rather than in grand amenities. The conversation also touches on how J.K. Place maintains its small scale intentionally, ensuring each property remains deeply personal and human-centered.

Reflecting on the brand's evolution, Kafri shares that J.K. Place grew slowly and organically, beginning with a 20-room townhouse hotel in Florence in 2003. Despite having no prior hotel experience, the family"s creativity and intuition led to early recognition from the fashion and media worlds, helping the brand grow by word of mouth - a principle Kafri still sees as their strongest marketing tool. He emphasizes that J.K. aims to become its own category, much like Aman Resorts, recognized not as a "boutique brand" but as "J.K." itself. For Kafri, the brand's soul lies in sincerity, personal touch, and the courage to remain small in a world chasing scale.

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About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

Simone Puorto recently sad down with Brian Reeves, Founder and CEO of the roomangel Foundation where Brian shared his thoughts on how hotel distribution has evolved, and why it needs a serious rethink.

Brian, who previously founded Avvio, spoke about the early days of digital booking. Long before the AI boom, his team was already working on personalization, conversion science, and machine learning to improve how guests search and book hotels online. At one point, they were even adjusting hotel websites and rate displays based on the user"s location and weather, showing a warm fireplace to someone browsing from a snowy New York, for example.

But even with these early innovations, Brian says the core structure of online hotel distribution has remained deeply flawed.

The guest experience in booking is still stressful and full of friction, he said. And hotels are spending billions on commissions and marketing just to stay visible.

His new project, the roomangel Foundation, picks up where Avvio left off. The idea is simple, but ambitious: create a more efficient, transparent, and fair way for guests to search and book hotels directly. At the heart of this is a shift away from how OTAs rank hotels, often based on commission, and toward a model that puts value for money and guest relevance first.

Brian also pointed out that today's search and booking systems are not designed for the guest. You start a search on Google, get pulled into an OTA, and have to start over. It's not efficient, and it's not fair to the consumer.

With the rise of generative AI and conversational agents, Brian sees even more urgency to rethink the system. He shared an example of a client who received a booking for a room that didn"t exist, generated by an AI tool pulling outdated information from an OTA. These AI booking hallucinations, as he called them, could become a serious risk if the industry does not regain control over its own data and inventory.

Looking ahead, Brian hopes hotel search will become more guest-centric and transparent, without unnecessary intermediaries.

If we meet again in ten years, he said, I"d like to see a booking experience where the results are actually for the guest. Not shaped by urgency tricks or hidden costs. Just clear, useful, and direct.

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About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

In this HNtv INSIDERS conversation, Simone Puorto and Adam Mogelonsky explore how artificial—or “alien”—intelligence is reshaping hospitality, showing that AI goes far beyond an everyday “tool.” From conversational reporting and data integration to new guest-segmentation strategies (such as catering to wellness-focused “gray nomads” and intermittent fasters), the two experts explain why it’s crucial for hoteliers to adapt their tech stack, rethink F&B offerings, and adopt hyper-personalized service. Their discussion reveals how liberating managers from menial data tasks frees them to reimagine commercial strategies, design more profitable room types, and anticipate lifestyle changes—ultimately painting a future where harnessing AI’s pattern recognition powers drives both revenue growth and a richer guest experience.

About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

In this [AI augmented] discussion, Ian Millar of EHL and Terence Ronson of Pertlink examine the integration of advanced technologies like spatial computing and AI in hospitality, noting a gap between tech potential and current industry practices. Millar stresses that many leaders must be more tech-savvy to implement these innovations effectively.

 The conversation highlights the need for updated hospitality curricula emphasizing tech skills and hands-on learning to prepare students for a tech-driven future. Beyond education, they discuss how technology can improve employee experiences, making hospitality more appealing to new talent. Ultimately, Millar and Ronson envision a future where technology enhances the human touch, enabling richer guest interactions and a more satisfying work environment.

About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.

This discussion is a collaborative effort between Pertlink and the Bookallil Advisory and provides practical advice for technology vendors on effectively selling their products to the hotel industry. The episode, part of a more extensive series focusing on different tech topics, outlines a list of "do's" and "don'ts" for tech salespeople to consider. These guidelines are based on Martin and ’Terence’s decades of experience managing technology deployment across hotels in the Asia-Pacific region and aim to help vendors successfully navigate the complexities of the hospitality industry. The advice focuses on understanding hotel business needs, demonstrating the benefits of the technology, and highlighting the positive impact it can have on guest experience, operational efficiency, and the hotel's bottom line.

About Hospitality Net

For more than 25 years, Hospitality Net has been at the center of the global hotel and hospitality industry. Over this time, it has built a unique and trusted ecosystem where professionals come to share knowledge, insights, and perspectives. As a neutral and independent platform, Hospitality Net is respected by industry leaders worldwide for providing reliable information and a space where diverse voices in hospitality can be heard. Visit hospitalitynet.org.