In the mid-90s, cucumber- or fruit-infused water felt like a novel indulgence at luxury spas. Today, those once-refreshing touches — delivered via clear acrylic dispensers — have become so common that they often fade into the background. This shift illustrates a broader phenomenon in hospitality: “amenity fatigue,” where once-exciting hospitality offerings become expected and forgettable.
The life cycle of amenities like this highlights a crucial principle in hospitality: the continuous need for meaningful service differentiation. Yet, the solution isn’t to simply keep adding new bells and whistles. Instead, it’s about rethinking how we, as hospitality professionals, deliver value to guests.
As Will Guidara, the former GM and owner of a famed New York City Michelin starred restaurant, champions through his “surprise and delight” philosophy, the goal should be to create moments that feel personal and meaningful. In this context, guest-facing artificial intelligence —when infused with human-like personalization and authentic storytelling — can help hotels break through the noise, charm guests and offer a service experience that’s not only novel, but memorable.
Generative AI agents and early excitement
Generative AI agents (also known as chatbots), with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot as common examples, are powerful tools that learn patterns from existing data to create entirely new content, such as text, images or code, in response to prompts. References to such tools are popping up everywhere — from corporate earnings calls to high school classrooms. Given their limitless applications, it is no surprise that they have become a cultural phenomenon.
Do not mistake these complex chatbots with the chatbots initially implemented around 2015 at hotels and other websites that used “decision tree” logic. While revolutionary at the time, they left guests frustrated with their questions unanswered due to the platform’s inherent lack of flexibility. This technology also differs from predictive AI, which will be explained at the end of the article. Generative AI agents allow for much more seamless interaction between the hotel and the guest.
These advanced platforms are in their “cucumber-infused water” phase of the amenity lifecycle. Their novelty has not worn off yet, and they will, in most cases, delight hotel guests. In a study conducted in 2020, a team in China determined that, “People tend to show more positive emotions and interact with service robots longer when the robots are highly humanized compared to less humanized robots.”
Incorporating an AI agent as an amenity via the hotel’s official website, mobile app or in-room tablets will allow guests to get many of their detailed and specific questions answered about a hotel and surrounding area quickly and easily. However, over time, this amenity, like many others offered in the hospitality industry, will become ubiquitous, and guests will grow underwhelmed without an intervention from the property’s management company or brand.
Overcoming amenity fatigue
Haphazardly mixing citrus slices of varying widths into a water dispenser offers a fine but unmemorable experience. Over time, generic, hotel-affiliated AI agents, though helpful and polite, also will suffer the same unmemorable fate resulting from amenity fatigue.
Here are two strategies that can help avoid this phase: human touch and a story. With infused water, a thoughtful pattern of oranges and kiwis pressed against a water dispenser's wall showcases the hotel's commitment to detail by using human touch. Adding Meyer lemons to flavor water and highlighting that they are in season locally is an excellent way to highlight a hotel’s connection to the surrounding area, amplifying its story. The goal for an AI agent should be to create a true digital representative that embodies the hotel brand’s mission and vision.
Find the AI agent’s “voice”
The prevailing AI agents are grammatically proficient, polite and endlessly patient, but without any intentional customization, it will not be an extension of the hotel experience. Creating a “voice” for a hotel through an AI agent is a way to ensure that the digital service experience matches the service experience offered by the hotel staff.
Personalize a hotel AI agent’s response by considering factors like its tone, vocabulary and adherence to the brand's best practices. For instance, will the hotel's tone be formal, using "sir" or "ma'am," or more informal, addressing guests by their first name, affectionate monikers or even a flexible blend based on the situation? For example, it may be useful to begin a conversation with an agent and guest using “Mrs.” and a last name, but shortly thereafter, progress to a first-name basis. These tiny nuances may seem trivial, but no detail is too small to differentiate from the competition.
Similarly, think about the bot's vocabulary. Should it incorporate local sayings like "y'all" in the South or "pie" for pizza in New York City, or is it better to stick to a neutral language to avoid any confusion? Carefully consider these elements when defining the chatbot's unique persona.
Hotels that already have a thorough, cohesive narrative reflected in their staff and surroundings will find this process much more intuitive. However, if that identity has yet to take shape, this process can help kickstart the redevelopment and redeployment of a hotel’s culture.
Infuse the hotel’s story
Another way to create a more distinct AI agent experience is by training the model to offer guests curated or bespoke responses, highlighting a commitment to service excellence.
A hotel that maintains a list of recommended restaurants, spas or activities can provide that information should a guest ask for suggestions. The property team can actively manage the database and include descriptors such as “fancy,” “work dinner” or “casual.” If a destination that once provided a superior experience sees a decline in standards, the team can remove it from the database in real time, ensuring that hotel recommendations stay current.
For a more personalized response, leverage guest data profiles to understand trends in past preferences from a sole property or others within the brand or management family. Assume that a guest always orders the same wine whenever they stay at a specific hotel and assume that this property has been able to successfully structure this data into usable information. The property team could incorporate this information automatically into its AI agent, which could either prompt the front office team to have a guest’s favorite glass waiting in their room upon arrival or suggest a new wine that has a similar profile to the guest on the in-room tablet. This level of personalized service hinges on having a robust and easily accessible guest data system.
AI agent’s implementation and refinement
An AI development company can build out the recommendations above, either by offering a turnkey solution or by aggregating B2B partners based on specific areas of expertise. Either way, look for a company or provider that specializes in the hospitality industry and leverages best-in-class language processing tools like GPT on Microsoft Azure or Gemini on Google, as well as a robust cloud infrastructure like IBM Cloud or Azure.
Like any part of the guest experience, once implemented, this will require testing and feedback. Monitor when the voice feels off-brand or unnatural and adjust accordingly. Aim for a level of authenticity versus over-scripting and update the model so that it is quickly adapting to current trends. While promoting the hotel’s offerings will be a strength of this platform, be mindful over how overt it comes through in regular interactions as it may come off as greedy and impersonal.
AI should empower, not replace
Lastly, this technology should not replace real human interaction. It should aim to improve the guest experience in situations when a one-on-one interaction would be unlikely or impractical. The hospitality business is fundamentally about people taking care of people.
That goes for the hotel staff as well. Ensure that the hotel’s executive team is championing this endeavor to the staff. It is critical that they reassure the team that this technology is not a job-security risk but a means in which to make their days more interesting.
Incorporate AI into a property with intention, and it will provide an exciting, sustainable and refreshing amenity to the asset for the years to come.
Brandon Stoller is a principal at Current Lodging Advisors, LLC.
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