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Print, Content, Marketing strategy, Luxury, Travel

The future of luxury hospitality – Part 1: Personalisation and technology

Cathy Wood, Nov 10, 2025 4:32:26 PM

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Luxury hospitality is entering a new era – one shaped less by marble lobbies and more by data, design and digital intuition. Across the world’s most exclusive hotels, technology is no longer in the background; it is the backbone of service. Artificial intelligence, automation and analytics are quietly transforming how hotels anticipate, delight and retain their most discerning guests.

But progress brings paradox. The more intelligent the systems become, the more crucial human warmth feels. Guests may expect predictive precision – a room pre-set to their preferred temperature, a spa slot held before they ask – yet what moves them is still empathy, humour and grace. The task for luxury hoteliers isn’t just to adopt new tools; it’s to use them without losing soul.

This article opens a four-part series exploring the evolving codes of modern luxury.

The series continues with:

Part 2: Purpose and sustainability
Part 3: Wellness and the quest for meaning
Part 4: Exclusivity in an age of access

Together, these essays examine how the world’s most ambitious hotels are redefining excellence: combining innovation with intention, technology with tactility and data with design to create experiences that feel both seamless and profoundly human.

High-tech, High-touch luxury

Walk into the newest generation of luxury hotels and you may not immediately notice what’s different – that is kind of the point. The best innovations in personalisation and technology blend into the experience, making it feel more magical, intuitive and bespoke. In 2025, personalisation isn’t a perk; it’s the price of entry.

Guests across the spectrum now expect Netflix-style recognition of their tastes and needs, whether it’s the hotel remembering their preferred pillow type or an AI concierge crafting a custom itinerary on the fly. “Guests in 2025 expect more than just a comfortable room – they crave tailored experiences that cater to their unique preferences,” as hotel marketing expert Patrick Landman puts it. He’s not speaking hypothetically – Landman’s company has seen it directly: “AI-driven marketing [is] transforming outreach, hyper-personalisation is setting new guest expectations.”

In other words, technology has caught up to the vision of the ultra-personalised hotel stay and now it’s on hoteliers to deploy it thoughtfully.

As Agnieszka Rog-Skrzyniarz, Vice President of Luxury Brand Marketing at Marriott International, explains to the ILHA, the future of luxury hospitality lies in “balancing heritage with innovation.” Speaking to the International Luxury Hotel Association, she explained that “heritage is the soul and innovation is the bridge that brings it into the future.” Her view encapsulates the industry’s challenge: to use AI and digital tools not as replacements for human warmth, but as amplifiers of it. Under her direction, Marriott’s MLab team is already leveraging AI to anticipate guest needs and craft personalised experiences, while ensuring that “in luxury, the human touch is non-negotiable.”

AI as invisible infrastructure

Artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics are the workhorses behind this trend. They enable what one might call ‘mass personalisation’: using vast data on guest behaviour to tailor service for each individual. A simple example is AI chatbots – once a novelty, now practically standard. Luxury guests might not ever ring a traditional operator again; instead they message the hotel via WhatsApp at 2 a.m. and an AI-driven assistant answers instantly (with a human agent on standby for complex requests).

As Landman adds, this year, more than ever, “AI tools are no longer optional – they’re essential for streamlining operations and enhancing guest experiences.” They handle queries 24/7, manage simple requests (extra towels, restaurant bookings) and free up staff to focus on higher-value interactions. The payoff is faster response times, fewer dropped balls and happier guests.

Predictive empathy

But personalisation goes far beyond chatbots. The real power is in anticipating needs. Hotels are increasingly leveraging machine learning to sift through guest data (preferences, past stays, social media cues, etc.) and predict what will delight each person.

Did a guest crank the thermostat to 21°C every night during their last stay? Have the room pre-set to that temperature before they check in.

Are they a fitness enthusiast who booked spa treatments? Perhaps a surprise healthy smoothie awaits in their room after a long flight.

Modern luxury CRM systems aim to use AI to build a rich guest profile that captures these nuances. By mining this information, hotels can craft what feels like a uniquely curated stay. We’re talking hyper-personalised welcome notes referencing a guest’s birthday or recent achievement, or a chef’s tasting menu modified to an individual’s dietary needs before they even ask. The data is there; it’s about acting on it in creative ways.

From reactive service to proactive enchantment

Consider loyalty programs and pre-arrival surveys that ask for preferences. These aren’t new, but AI can connect the dots at scale. Marriott International, for example, uses analytics on its Bonvoy members to customise interactions – using loyalty data to tailor offers and experiences.

The industry is moving from reactive service (“call down if you need something”) to proactive enchantment (“we knew you’d love this”). There’s evidence that guests will pay a premium for it: a PwC study found 65% of customers consider personalisation key to their experience and are willing to pay up to 25% more for a highly personalised stay. That’s a compelling case to invest in personalisation – it drives both loyalty and revenue.

When done right, it creates a virtuous cycle: personalised service means happy guests which means great reviews and repeat visits which in turn means higher lifetime value.

The high-touch paradox

The risk, of course, is sterility. Algorithms can remember what a guest likes but not why it matters. The best hotels pair AI precision with human intuition. As Landman reminds us: “Personalisation isn’t just about technology; it’s about creating connections.” A sommelier’s timing, a concierge’s humour, a hand-written note – these remain irreplaceable. The future is high-tech yet high-touch: AI as the silent stagehand, humans as the emotional performers.

Abdul Baaghil, founder of hospitality group Harvest Cotton Tale and former CEO of Boutique Hotel Group explains: “Hospitality isn’t about personalisation anymore – it’s about intention and presence.” He reflected that true service “isn’t in the initials on the pillowcase or being called by name ten times before breakfast. Technology has made personalisation easier, but not more human. What defines hospitality now isn’t preference – it’s presence. It’s the quiet weight of sincerity, the connection you can’t automate and the emotion no CRM will ever capture.”

This is a reminder that technology can remember who a guest is and anticipation can sense what they need, but only humanisation understands why they’re there. That distinction marks where the next chapter of luxury hospitality begins – not in data or memory, but in meaning.

Tactility as emotional memory

Even in an age of AI precision, tangible gestures carry the deepest emotional weight. High-quality print – from bespoke welcome books to limited-edition brand magazines – offers a form of presence no algorithm can replicate. The feel of paper, the weight of ink, the craftsmanship in design all signal time and sincerity.

For luxury travellers accustomed to seamless digital convenience, that tactility becomes proof of care. A hand-bound itinerary on the desk, a beautifully printed guide to local artisans, or a collector’s magazine in the suite transforms communication into hospitality. These objects do more than inform – they slow time. They turn a transient stay into something that can be held, kept and remembered.

Print also extends the brand beyond the stay itself. A magazine on the coffee table months later, or a keepsake book mailed after departure, sustains the emotional thread between guest and property. It transforms marketing into memorabilia – evidence of a brand that values permanence over promotion.

For high-net-worth guests, who measure value through emotion and memory rather than novelty, that sense of lasting presence is the ultimate mark of distinction. In an industry racing toward digital efficiency, print quietly reminds them that true luxury still lives in touch.

Loyalty through emotional memory

There’s also a strategic motive behind all this personalisation: loyalty. In an era when even wealthier travellers have abundant choices (and comparison tools at their fingertips), building loyalty is gold. By catering to individual guest needs, hotels foster loyalty, which translates to higher retention rates and stronger reviews. A guest who feels a hotel truly knows them is not only likely to come back, but also to become an advocate. This is especially vital in the luxury segment where repeat guests and word-of-mouth from trusted peers carry tremendous weight.

So, personalisation is not a gimmick; it’s a modern form of hospitality craftsmanship. It’s the meticulous tailoring of an experience to fit like a couture suit. And like couture, it requires skill, measurement and sometimes hand-stitching by a person – AI can be the scissors and thread, but human insight is the designer.

The leadership imperative

For senior marketing teams, the imperative is clear: invest in the systems and training that enable this level of personalised service. It might mean integrating new AI-driven guest engagement platforms, re-training staff to interpret and act on guest data and even redefining roles (e.g., a “Chief Experience Officer” who oversees personalised offerings). As one trend report put it, those who capitalise on personalisation, sustainability and tech integration will be the “big winners” in the new era of luxury hospitality.

Data is now as critical as décor in creating a luxury experience. Or in the words of a Gartner researcher, “information is the oil of the 21st century and analytics is the combustion engine” driving hospitality decisions.

The brands that harness that engine – without losing the soul of hospitality – will set themselves apart.

Balancing data with humanity

But let’s address a counterpoint: could all this focus on AI and data risk making luxury too impersonal or too perfectly scripted? It’s a fair concern. An experience that’s overly data-driven could feel eerie or eliminate serendipity.

The key is to use technology to empower staff, not to eliminate authentic human interaction. If a guest’s entire stay is orchestrated by invisible algorithms, they might wonder if it was real. But if, instead, the tech handles the grunt work and frees staff to engage in genuine moments (a heartfelt conversation, an anticipatory gesture made by a real person), then you have the best of both worlds. Ultimately, high-end hospitality has always been about attention to detail.

AI simply allows us to attend to more details in parallel. It’s still up to us to infuse those details with warmth and personality. Luxury, after all, is a feeling as much as a product – and feelings flourish in human connection.