Before you sign: Who sets the room rate at a soft brand hotel - Both 2026 agreements say the owner sets her own rates. The same documents add member discounts, a rate guarantee with penalties, and limits on which OTAs she can sell through..

Oct 30, 2026 • Hospitality

Read before the guest: Booking.com delivers your upgrade offer - Since September 28, the guest's phone number no longer reaches your PMS, so the upgrade offer travels on Booking.com's rules.

Oct 30, 2026 • Hospitality

Expedia shipped the AI that answers for your hotel. It also offers your guest the extra night. - Expedia's October 28 release lets its AI answer your guest's questions before and after she books, using her own reservation, and has Hotels.com offer her the extra night as her stay ends.

Oct 30, 2026 • Hospitality

Hilton, Marriott and IHG each built a travel desk for small companies - Hilton's October 22 update lets one administrator book, change and track her whole team's stays, and every hotel she can book is a Hilton.

Oct 30, 2026 • Hospitality

Before you sign: What a soft brand pays you for a free night - When a loyalty member stays on points, the chain pays the hotel for the room. Two of the largest chains' 2026 agreements don't say how much, and owners of nearly 1,000 hotels asked this summer for more..

Oct 28, 2026 • Hospitality

Read before the guest: Gmail's AI skips your newsletter - Google's AI Inbox reads only the Primary tab, where your booking confirmation lands and your newsletter doesn't.

Oct 28, 2026 • Hospitality

Meta’s AI agent will book hotels direct. Nobody has named the price. - From early 2027, Cloudbeds hotels in the US can take bookings from Meta's Muse straight into the PMS, sold in the same product line as their Google Hotel Ads, on terms neither Cloudbeds nor Meta has published.

Oct 28, 2026 • Hospitality

China's top chatbot won't sell hotels a better ranking. It takes 12% instead. - When Doubao, the chatbot from the company behind TikTok, sends a guest to book on its sister app, the hotel now pays 12% instead of 8%.

Oct 28, 2026 • Hospitality