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I immediately thought of the stories I had heard about fellow hertelier contributors Lan Elliot and Stacy Silver who had described being only one of a handful of women attending hotel industry conferences when

For example, Stacy Silver, the President of Silver Hospitality Group was one of the first women speakers "Stay true to yourself and be passionate about your work.

Still, even the rainy, gloomy weather did not damper the optimism this year, hertelier contributor Stacy Silver reports.

panelists and speakers were bullish on the prospects for the hotel industry reports hertelier correspondent Stacy Silver. The pandemic is a fading memory as earnings are well beyond where they were pre-COVID, Extended-Stay new extended-stay brands in the segment. guests seeking longer stay accommodations in the US & Canada.

Stacy Silver, president, Silver Hospitality Group, also heads to the bar, but with a more intentional opener, “Hi I am Stacy and I promised myself I would meet three people and learn something about them Stacy claims this method, “Works like a charm! And half the time they introduce me around as well!” Something to relate to and if it is a convention where everyone is staying at the hotel, then comment

What surprised me most about MEWS Unfold last year was that it didn't feel like a typical hotel tech conference. That's why I wanted to come back. Well, this year, that feeling only got stronger. The day opened with a high-energy musical performance, this time with a Lenny Kravitz look-alike grinding hard on an electric guitar. That quickly shook off any lingering jet lag and woke up the crowd. MEWS Founder Richard Valtr and CEO Matt Welle followed with a look at where hospitality is headed. Their message was that technology should help move travel from mechanical to magical and hospitality professionals from administrators to memory makers. They touched on everything from set-jetting and social media's growing influence on travel decisions to the role AI will play in helping hotels create more personalized experiences. Then came Duncan Wardle. Creativity Is a Skill, Not a Talent Having spent 25 years at Disney, most recently as Head of Innovation and Creativity, Wardle is now on a mission to help organizations think differently. He is one of the highest-energy keynote speakers I've ever seen. Within minutes he had the audience on its feet role-playing with complete strangers, drawing pictures (pads and pens provided at entry) and challenging some of the assumptions that often get in the way of innovation. Duncan Wardle with his creative flip chart He opened with a relatable fact: most people don't feel they have time to be creative at work. Between meetings, emails, deadlines and endless to-do lists, creativity gets pushed aside in favor of getting through the day. Wardle's belief is that creativity isn't a talent reserved for artists, designers or a lucky few. It's a skill. And like any skill, it requires practice and space. One of the simplest exercises involved replacing "No, because..." with "Yes, and..." The difference was remarkable. "No, because..." shuts down ideas before they have a chance to develop. "Yes, and..." builds on them. It's a technique borrowed from improv comedy, and now that I've tried it, I can see how it is equally useful for business meetings and brainstorming sessions. Wardle also made a compelling case for diversity of thought. Diversity isn't just about representation, it drives innovation because people with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives see opportunities others miss. Best quote of the day. "If somebody doesn't look like you, they don't think like you." My favorite takeaway was his challenge to become more curious. Innovation often starts when someone notices something and asks the simple question: What if? Don't Forget Human Intelligence Charlie MacGregor, Founder and CEO of The Social Hub, opened with a quote from Conrad Hilton that I'd never heard before: that Hilton's mission was to create world peace through international trade and travel. He even showed an early Hilton advertisement from 1959 that captured this ambition. Hilton's words inspired MacGregor's own mission with The Social Hub: bringing people together to build a better society. He built the company around an idea many people said would never work. Instead of separating students, business travellers, leisure guests and local communities, he brought them together under one roof. The result is a blend of student and traveler accommodation, co-working spaces and community events designed around connection rather than segmentation. Far from failing, the concept has been a massive success. Today, The Social Hub operates 21 hubs across Europe, with another 11 in development. The model delivers strong commercial results alongside its social mission, with properties generating eight times the economic impact for their cities compared to traditional hotels. Charlie MacGregor CEO of The Social Hub Yet his point wasn't really about the numbers. MacGregor kept coming back to something much simpler: human connection. From the power of saying hello to creating spaces where people from different backgrounds can meet, learn and belong, his message was that we miss countless opportunities every day because we don't engage with the people around us. At a time when everyone seems obsessed with AI, MacGregor challenged us to focus on HI instead: Human Intelligence, and yes, actually saying "Hi" to people as a way to connect. Such a refreshing and optimistic reminder that business can be a force for good, something we don't hear nearly enough! Business Can Be a Force for Good That theme continued in one of the most unexpected sessions of the day. Jan van Hövell, a former lawyer and founder of KLABU, shared how volunteering in refugee camps inspired him to create sports clubhouses for displaced communities. What began as a simple observation, that sport creates connection, belonging and joy, has grown into a nonprofit operating clubhouses across Africa, Jordan, Bangladesh and Brazil, with more communities waiting to participate. Jan van Hövell, founder of KLABU I loved that MEWS chose to give KLABU a platform. At a conference filled with discussions about AI, automation and operating systems, it would have been easy to focus exclusively on technology. Instead, we spent time learning about refugees, community and the role business can play in making a positive difference. Hang on, tech bros can be a force for good?! Yes, apparently, they CAN! The Big News: MEWS New Singular Operating System for Hospitality Of course, this was still a tech conference, and the biggest news of the day was the launch of the MEWS Operating System. The premise is straightforward: the average hotel runs on eight to ten different software vendors, from PMS and RMS to channel manager, guest messaging, POS, check-in, payments and receivables. Each tool may solve one problem, but together they often create a much bigger one. MEWS wants to solve that by bringing the major layers of hotel technology into one AI-native operating system. The platform includes MEWS RMS for dynamic pricing, MEWS Channel Manager powered by SiteMinder, Guest Messaging across channels including WhatsApp, SMS, OTA messages and email, Automations that can turn guest insights into action, and Accounts Receivable to bring the B2B invoice-to-cash workflow into the platform. In plain English? One system that connects everything. More time focused on the guest. That idea surfaced repeatedly throughout the day. During a session on AI and the future of hospitality, Julie Linn Teigland of EY shared that she prefers the term "augmented intelligence" to artificial intelligence. The goal isn't replacing people. It's helping people perform at a higher level. Experiences, Access and Making Your Own Table Some of the most interesting conversations explored what guests will value most in an increasingly automated world. Amber Asher, former CEO of The Standard Hotels and a MEWS board member, made the point that experiences are becoming more important than ever. Guests may forget the room number, but they'll remember the rooftop party, the birthday celebration, the restaurant, the people they met and how the experience made them feel. L to R: Margritte Verkruijsse-Reiner, Kamalesh Patel, Lou Zameryka, Amber Asher and Richard Valtr Meanwhile, Halima Aziz, Head of Hotels at Criterion Hospitality, offered a compelling counterpoint. Not every traveler is looking for luxury. Not every traveler can afford it. Her argument was that hospitality also has a responsibility to think about accessibility and value. As she put it: "We're not selling indulgence. We're selling access." Her concept, Zedwell, is doing just that in London. One of the most inspiring leadership conversations came from a panel moderated by Danica Smith on what it takes to build something new in hospitality. The panel featured Eljesa Saciri, General Manager of The Mandrake; Niko Karstikko, Co-Founder and CEO of Bob W; and Jim Deters, Founder and CEO of Gravity Haus. Each is challenging a different part of the traditional hotel model, from tech-enabled autonomous hospitality to community-driven outdoor experiences. L to R: Danica Smith, Eljesa Saciri, Niko Karstikko, and Jim Deters. Eljesa, however, gave the line I kept thinking about. Speaking openly about not fitting the industry's traditional image of a hotel leader, she acknowledged that she is not welcome in every room. Rather than trying to squeeze herself into someone else’s version of leadership, she said: "I make my own table." Her comments reflected a broader theme that ran through the discussion: the future of hospitality will be shaped by leaders willing to challenge convention, create their own opportunities and build concepts that do not fit neatly into traditional industry categories. The Conversations Were the Conference One of my favorite moments of the day was sitting down with Jessica Snavely, Director of Marketing at MEWS. Our conversation jumped from career growth and self-advocacy to using AI to manage kids' sports schedules and tackle elaborate baking projects. One minute we were discussing leadership, the next we were talking buttercream. A full interview is coming soon. The day ended with awards, then the KalentuRa drum band led the crowd of 700 out to a sunny reception deck for hotelier-themed cocktails and dancing. Hard to argue with that as a conference close. The technology was impressive, but the conversations I found myself thinking about on the flight home were about creativity, curiosity, community and connection. Needless to say, I hope to be back in 2027.

Stacia Harvey Randall started her hospitality journey 22 years ago at the age of 21 as a Front Desk Agent Stacia shares herstory of how she kept going even when her path was blocked and how she learned to pivot As I climbed the ladder and stayed in the role of Assistant Director of Human Resources for six years So inspiring, thank you, Stacia!!

The trips that stayed with her were the ones spent in colleagues’ homes, where she got a taste of real Then came the clincher: an Airbnb stay in Lausanne that hadn’t been cleaned and came with an unexpected People shouldn’t have to gamble on quality or safety when they stay in a home. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was the creation of NHS Homes. alone can’t meet growing demand, and short-term rentals currently make up less than five percent of all stays

If you’ve spent the last decade obsessing over SEO keywords, meta descriptions, and domain authority… take a deep breath. According to a new white paper from Spotlight Communications, search as we know it is officially over. The new power metric? Machine-Readable Credibility — or MRC — the trifecta of trust, authority, and consistency  that AI now uses to decide which hotel brands deserve to be seen. Spotlight’s study, Invisible or Influential? Luxury Travel in the Era of AI Search , makes one thing clear: as AI becomes the world’s newest travel advisor, hotels are no longer battling for clicks. They’re battling to be understood by algorithms. As CEO Lucy Clifton puts it: “ AI-driven search no longer just directs travellers, it decides who deserves to be found. Visibility now depends on the quality of storytelling, the authority of coverage and the independent voices PR establishes. PR is no longer just what happens when the story is told – it is how AI learns to tell it .” Lucy Clifton, CEO, Spotlight Communications AI-driven search no longer just directs travellers, it decides who deserves to be found. –– Lucy Clifton, CEO, Spotlight Communications The Big Reveal: What Actually Matters Now Spotlight, along with digital agency Make Lemonade Fizz, audited 15 luxury brands — from global icons like The Dorchester Collection and Corinthia Hotels to boutique gems in Italy, Shanghai, and the Maldives. Using SEMrush, Google PageSpeed Insights, and a sweep of ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI, the team measured exactly why some hotels show up in AI summaries… and others vanish. They also conducted executive interviews and cross-checked every brand’s public-facing data to understand how AI “reads” each property. And as Maria Sze, Founder of Make Lemonade Fizz, explains:“AI search rewards what it understands, what it’s fed, and what it sees repeated. AI-driven summaries now shape what we see online...every article, quote and story feeds the algorithm deciding who gets seen.” The implications? Big — and remarkably consistent. Eight Insights Hotels Can’t Ignore 1. MRC > SEO AI now surfaces the brands it trusts , meaning those with authoritative citations, consistent data, and strong editorial presence. 2. Even Iconic Hotels Are Invisible In the study, AI visibility scores ran from 0 to 70, and most properties showed up in less than 40% of the AI searches where they truly belonged. That’s the shocker:AI is skipping well-known luxury hotels simply because it doesn’t “see” enough credible, consistent information to recommend them. 3. Website Speed Is Not Destiny Fast sites didn’t guarantee visibility. Slow ones sometimes dominated.What mattered most was domain authority + credible coverage. 4. Gorgeous Websites ≠ Discoverable Websites Most properties had visually impressive sites, but lacked the structured data AI needs to understand amenities, awards, sustainability credentials, and differentiators. 5. Editorial Coverage Outperforms SEO Properties with 1,000+ citations performed dramatically better than those with fewer than 100. 6. Credibility Is Now Currency Algorithms filter options through perceived reliability — surfacing brands with strong PR, positive sentiment, and clear reputational signals. 7. The AI Readiness Gap Most hotels are unprepared for the way AI ingests and prioritises information. 8. AI Discovery Is Earned, Not Bought Press coverage, backlinks, expert endorsements, and reviews matter far more than paid marketing. As one participant put it:“AI doesn’t read your ads — it reads your reputation.” Where Luxury Travel Goes From Here The shift to AI-driven discovery marks a major change in how hotels are surfaced online. Instead of relying on keywords or traditional SEO, AI pulls from a hotel’s broader digital presence: data accuracy, media coverage, sentiment, and structure. Visibility now comes from how well these pieces work together. For many brands, this is an opportunity to bring PR, digital, and content into one coordinated strategy that reflects the reality of how AI learns. Because in an algorithm-driven world, visibility is not bought. It is earned through trust, authority, and clarity. Or as Lucy Clifton concludes: “AI is only as good as the information it is given. Hotels that invest in credible, consistent storytelling will shape the future of discovery because that is what AI learns from.” Read the full study here: https://spotlightcoms.com/white-paper-download/

It’s important to stay focused on the present.” Well worth a read! Link here .

Stacey Brown originally planned for a career in sports medicine, but after struggling through a kinesiology Instead, Stacey switched to pre-law after some encouragement from her mother, followed by law school. Building on that experience Stacey then took human resources roles at a variety of large corporations Less than a year ago Stacey joined First Hospitality, a Chicago-based hotel development and management We chat with Stacey about her foray into hospitality, important lessons she learned in her legal career

We check-in with founders Stacia Harvey-Randall and Johnetta Johnson to get the scoop. 1.