Innovation

🏥 Gilda Perez-Alvarado, CEO of Orient Express and Group Chief Strategy Officer at Accor, discusses technology and innovation in hospitality on April 22, 2025. She provides insights into the future of luxury travel on the "Hospitality Daily Podcast.

📈 Group bookings drive significant revenue for hotels, but forecasting occupancy and pricing is complex due to "group wash"—unused reserved room blocks. Gerhard Wasem, Director of Product Management, Group Business, remarks on the difficulty of predicting group occupancy. US hoteliers anticipate higher group sales by 2025. In June, an investment was made in BlockBuster, a solution that optimizes revenue and introduces group wash forecasting. This feature uses historical data to predict unbooked rooms within group blocks, helping hotels avoid overestimation, manage availability more efficiently, and enhance rate strategies. Four use cases demonstrate how group wash forecasting allows hotels to adjust pricing and inventory proactively, thereby maximizing revenue and occupancy. Best practices include data accuracy, consistency, and utilizing BlockBuster for real-time adjustments.

🏡 Caesars Republic Scottsdale Hotel by Hilton opened in March 2024 in Scottsdale, AZ, boasting 11 stories, 20,000 sq. ft. of event space, two pools, bars, two signature restaurants, and technologically advanced services. It equipped over 700 PoE automated roller shades from PowerShades across 265 guest rooms and common areas. These shades are integrated with the Hotel’s BMS for energy conservation, adjusting to room occupancy and seasonal conditions. True PoE shades offer up to 6Nm torque, fitting windows up to 171” wide x 117” deep, introduced in 2024.

🔊 At MURTEC 2025, SoundHound AI's VP of Partnerships Mike Lauricella presented AI solutions for restaurant drive-thrus and phones. 50% of restaurant operators plan to implement voice AI, as highlighted in HT's 2025 Restaurant Technology Survey. AI assists with staff shortages, allowing employees to focus on food quality and customer service. Insights were also shared from Domino's Pizza at the 30th MURTEC anniversary event.

💳 ROH, a hospitality industry payments platform, secured $9.2 million in financing led by Highgate Technology Ventures and Acrew Capital, aiming for rapid expansion. The hotel industry sees over 80% of its $4 trillion annual payments requiring manual processing. ROH's solutions offer automation that minimizes errors and boosts efficiency. Highgate's portfolio piloted ROH, leading to this investment and broader roll-out. In 2024, ROH managed nearly $250 million in invoices and saw a 523% increase in bookings through its AI tool.

🌿 Pandan, a Southeast Asian herb described as having vanilla and coconut flavors, is gaining popularity in American cuisine. Thoa Nguyen of Banh & Butter Bakery in Aurora, Colorado, uses it in desserts and drinks. Sweet Piglet Bakery & Cafe in Randolph, Massachusetts, offers pandan cupcakes, while chef Carlo Lamagna serves Basque-style pandan cheesecake at Magna Kusina in Portland, Oregon, and Magna Kainan in Denver. Wanderlust Creamery in Los Angeles created pandan tres leches ice cream. Pandan is sold fresh for under $1 per kilogram, dried leaves for $3 to $4.50 per kilo, and pandan powder between $7 and $13. Upscale pandan offerings include Matcha Pandan Mille Crêpes cake for $100 and Pandan Pistachio Royale for $84.50 at Lady Wong Patisserie in New York City. Drinks featuring pandan, such as pandan lattes and pandan-flavored cocktails, are also on menus, as seen at Hood Famous Bakeshop in Seattle and the Welton Room’s Monkey Bar in Denver.

❄ Castle Peak Holdings acquired Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo., joining the Trailborn brand. This is their largest transaction to date. In late 2020, Trailborn partnered with Marriott International for bookings and Marriott Bonvoy points. The portfolio includes 559 rooms across five locations, with more in development. Snow King features eight acres, ski-in/ski-out, meeting spaces, and proximity to national parks. Renovations will upgrade public areas and amenities. Trailborn's current operations are in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.; Williams, Ariz.; Estes Park, Colo.; Highlands, N.C., and soon in Mendocino, Calif.

📘 Ongoing training for hourly hospitality employees has dwindled to a mere one hour per month, according to the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART). AI-powered training platforms are changing the game, providing employees with simulations of real-world service scenarios. Traditional training methods fall short due to lack of personalization and adaptability, leading to high turnover and guest dissatisfaction. By contrast, AI training has 72% of learning and development professionals reporting improved work quality, with teams completing projects up to 4 times faster than with conventional methods. AI also standardizes training across locations, offering cost-effective solutions that enhance operational efficiency, guest satisfaction, and brand loyalty.

📍 Gilda, a leader in the hospitality industry, emphasizes adaptability as crucial during times of change. She advocates for resilience and confidence when disrupting norms with new projects, stressing the importance of being nimble and making swift corrections after wrong decisions. Emphasizing teamwork and clear communication, she highlights the goal of creating an extraordinary global Orient Express community, with guest satisfaction serving as the ultimate measure of success.

🏨 Located in Jakarta's business district, Mangkuluhur Residences by LORIN faced inefficiencies with manual distribution techniques, leading to errors and poor revenue optimization. Integrating STAAH's platform enabled seamless operations, better analytics, and dynamic pricing, resulting in a 50% jump in online revenue. The platform's 500+ integrations increased online visibility and booking rates while saving manual hours in rate and inventory management.