Five easy ways to use AI in your accommodation business

Every year there’s a new “game changer” for accommodation operators. I’ve been around the traps long enough now to see the newest fads come and go.

AI is not one of them, and it’s here to stay. I’m seeing it already embedded in the daily operations of properties across the globe, and it’s becoming clear that those using it are starting to put a gap between those who aren’t. It shows in the profitability of the business, occupancy, revenue, labour costs and review scores.

A lot of operators I talk to don’t know where to start, so I’ll give you some easy wins you can use AI for this month, with your existing staff and relatively low-cost budgets. Here are five practical ways AI is already reshaping how accommodation businesses operate—and where I’d focus first if I were starting from scratch.

This interview was first published in the August edition of Resort News. OUT NOW. Read it HERE

1. Responding to guest reviews

Review responses used to take forever. They rack up hours of work every week and, let’s be honest, most of the time we’re copy-pasting a generic reply that reads exactly the same. There’s very little, if any, customisation and, you know what? Guests can tell.

AI tools can now help you draft personalised, on-brand responses to reviews in seconds, pulling out the specific details a guest mentioned (like the noisy air conditioner, the great receptionist or the tasty breakfast) rather than pasting a templated reply.

The win here isn’t just time saved. It’s consistency.

Every review gets a thoughtful reply, not just the ones a busy manager has energy for at 4pm on a Thursday. And because search engines and OTA algorithms reward response rate and response quality, this quietly helps your ranking too. The properties getting this right are writing responses faster, without them looking automated. This is a super-easy win to start your AI journey.

2. Guest messaging

This is where most operators are already dabbling, even if they don’t call it “AI”. Pre-arrival messages, check-in instructions, local recommendations, check-out reminders—a huge share of guest communication is repetitive by nature.

AI-powered messaging tools can now handle the full guest journey conversationally, in the guest’s own language, at any hour, and escalate to a human only when something genuinely needs human intervention.

The practical impact? Your team stops answering “what’s the wifi password?” for the fortieth time that week (because we know the guest hasn’t read their compendium or digital guide!) and starts spending time on the guests who need attention.

Response time drops from hours to seconds. For short-term rental operators managing hundreds of properties, this isn’t a nice-to-have anymore. It’s the only way to manage guest messaging at scale without admin fatigue burning out your team.

3. AI phone receptionists

Phones are still the most under-automated part of accommodation operations, and also the most expensive to staff properly. A missed call could be a missed booking.

AI phone receptionists now handle inbound calls—answering availability questions, taking bookings and, most importantly, transferring urgent matters to a human.

This can help replace expensive late-night wages.

For smaller properties without a dedicated reservations team, this is genuinely transformative. You stop losing after-hours enquiries to whichever competitor picks up first. For larger groups, it means front desk staff aren’t torn between the guest standing in front of them and the phone ringing behind the counter.

Voice AI has improved dramatically in the last 18 months (we’re using it in our business). Guests increasingly can’t tell whether they’re speaking to AI or a human because the technology has become so good. More importantly, they don’t need to, because the system handles their query with ease.

4. Automated replies to guest requests

There’s a difference between messaging (the conversation) and requests (the action). “Can I get an extra pillow?”, “The shower is leaking,” “Can we get a late check-out?”—these all used to require a human to read, interpret, action with the right department and follow up.

AI systems can now read the request, classify it, action it directly where possible (like approving a standard late check-out against your availability), or escalate it straight to the right team member with full context attached.

The operational benefit compounds over time. Fewer requests get missed in a busy inbox. Maintenance issues get logged and assigned faster.

Owners and guests see quicker turnaround, which shows up directly in review scores and repeat bookings.

This is the unglamorous, back-of-house AI use case, but it’s often the one that saves operators the most real hours each week.

5 Revenue and pricing optimisation

This is the one I’d add to the list (hey, we’re the pricing gurus after all!), because it’s where I’ve seen AI deliver the clearest, most measurable return.

Dynamic pricing tools have existed for years, but the newer generation goes well beyond basic demand-based rate adjustment. They’re now factoring in competitor movements, event calendars, weather patterns, booking pace and more, adjusting pricing multiple times a day rather than relying on a revenue manager eyeballing a spreadsheet once a week.

For operators still setting rates manually or reviewing them fortnightly, this means leaving money on the table in both directions — under-pricing on high-demand nights and overpricing on softer ones.

The properties doing this well aren’t replacing their revenue manager with software; they’re using AI to perform the constant reviews and updates—hundreds of thousands of times a month. Put simply, it’s far more than a human can do, freeing the revenue team to focus on strategy, channel mix and the judgement calls AI still can’t make.

Read: Management rights explained: A practical guide for first-time buyers

Where this is heading

None of these five things require a tech overhaul or a six-figure investment. Most can be trialled using existing systems in a matter of weeks.

The properties pulling ahead right now aren’t necessarily the biggest or best-funded – they’re the ones willing to test, adjust and actually use what’s already available.

The uncomfortable truth for our industry is that AI adoption is no longer optional—it’s fast becoming the baseline guests expect and the standard competitors are setting. The question isn’t whether AI belongs in hotel and short-term rental operations. It’s already there. The real question is how far behind you’ll be if you wait for someone else to prove it works first.

Want to know more about the accommodation industry?

Resort News Editor Mandy Clarke will be at NoVacancy on September 23 and 24 at ICC Sydney. She will be available for a chat at the AccomNews stand, booth 708.

Get your free pass to NoVacancy HERE