Hotel personalisation starts with tidy data, not with buying AI

Hospitality Net has published a practical guide on how a hotel can start personalising the full guest journey, from anonymous website visits to post-stay follow-up, blending data, AI and staff judgement. The piece lays out a phased approach with concrete touchpoints at each stage, and one message I fully share: technology on its own personalises nothing. What personalises is tidy information and a team that knows how to use it.

In my view, the most common mistake at boutique hotels and mid-sized chains is starting with the tool. You buy a CRM, a recommendation engine or an AI module and expect the delighted guest to appear. It does not. What appears is a website with generic banners and an email calling "María" a guest who booked under another name. The Hospitality Net guide is right to insist on this: first define what data you have, who touches it and why, then decide what to automate.

For an independent hotel or a small chain I would focus on three things before spending a euro on AI:

• Unify reservations, PMS and loyalty into one single guest profile.
• Pick two moments of the journey where personalisation genuinely matters (pre-stay and check-in, for instance).
• Train the team so the information reaches the front desk, not only the back office.

The opportunity is there. Whoever tidies their data this year will hold a concrete edge once AI matures. Whoever buys the tool first will just hold another subscription.