Hotel tech adoption shifts toward specialized best-in-class systems

Growing investment and rising expectations push hoteliers to prioritize flexibility, performance, and integrations

The new NYU SPS Tisch Center report highlights a decisive shift among hoteliers toward Best-in-Class technology stacks, driven by the need for flexibility, advanced functionality, and better guest outcomes. The research, based on insights from more than 300 hotel professionals, shows that All-in-One systems are increasingly viewed as limiting due to usability gaps, integration issues, and higher rates of guest-facing problems. As hotels plan significant tech upgrades over the next two years, the trade-off between simplicity and performance is becoming central to strategic decision-making. The report underscores that scalable integrations and strong vendor partnerships will define the next phase of hotel technology maturity.

Key takeaways

• Shift toward best-in-class solutions: Thirty percent of All-in-One users plan to switch to specialized systems, more than double the rate moving in the opposite direction.
• Usability and support as decision drivers: Ease of use and training quality are top priorities, with only 34% of All-in-One users planning to switch expressing satisfaction with support.
• Higher satisfaction with specialized tools: Best-in-Class systems lead in PMS and RMS satisfaction, indicating stronger long-term retention and perceived value.
• More guest-facing issues with unified platforms: All-in-One users report higher rates of booking errors, missed preferences, and check-in delays, reflecting the risks of single-platform dependency.
• Technology maturity varies by property size: Larger independent hotels prefer Best-in-Class stacks for scalability and data precision, while smaller hotels lean toward All-in-One for affordability and simplicity.
• Integrations remain the industry’s biggest pain point: Thirty-eight percent of respondents cite integration challenges, highlighting a major opportunity for vendors to improve APIs and ecosystem compatibility.
• Strong industry-academic partnerships emerging: The collaboration between NYU SPS, Stayntouch, and IDeaS reflects growing alignment around innovation, integration, and long-term tech strategy.

Download the full report at Stayntouch