# Before buying AI for your hotel, find the friction

Canonical-URL: https://notitur.com/en/digest/ai-hotels-operational-friction-application
Text-Version: https://notitur.com/en/digest/ai-hotels-operational-friction-application.txt
Markdown-Version: https://notitur.com/en/digest/ai-hotels-operational-friction-application.md
Language: en
Published: 2026-09-22T17:01:02.076Z
Modified: 2026-09-22T17:01:02.076Z
Author: Joan Sanz
Topics: Hotel Technology
Summary: Most hotels don't have a technology problem but an application one. The first step isn't the software, it's knowing which process actually hurts.

## Article

Most hotels rushing to buy AI don't have a technology problem. They have an application problem. Hospitality Net makes the point in [The Friction Finder](https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4134501/the-friction-finder) and it reads like the most honest diagnosis I have seen in weeks, because it puts the focus where it hurts: software doesn't fix a process nobody has looked at first.

The argument is simple. Before signing with any platform, a hotel should identify **which operational workflows are worth improving** and which are not. Check-in, incident handling, group billing, post-stay complaints, upsell at the front desk. They don't all weigh the same on the P&L or on the guest experience, and many can be streamlined without spending a cent. Out there, hotels are buying AI tools to patch a badly designed process they have been dragging along for years.

My read is that this opens an interesting door for the industry: **the upfront operational audit becomes a competitive edge**. A revenue manager who knows which friction to remove is worth more than one who only knows how to configure a pricing engine. Before asking which AI to buy, the useful question is what I stop doing by hand. And only the person walking the property has that answer.

## Sources

- Hospitality Net: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4134501/the-friction-finder

## Citation

Before buying AI for your hotel, find the friction. Notitur. 2026-09-22. https://notitur.com/en/digest/ai-hotels-operational-friction-application