Welcome to RemoteHotelier!
I’m posting this earlier than usual (again) due to New Year’s Eve. From next week (January 8th), we’re back to Thursdays.
Wishing you an early Happy New Year.
In today’s newsletter:
🧼 You’ll be able to book a room while doing the dishes very soon
📊 HNR breaks down the trends that shaped hospitality in 2025
🤖 The technology that helps AI understand hotel systems
🏨 + 3 deals & updates
💼 + 3 new jobs in hotel tech
💭 What 2025 looked like from inside RemoteHotelier
#1 You’ll be able to book a room while doing the dishes very soon
Expedia plans to plug its hotel inventory into Amazon’s Alexa+ in 2026, so people can search, compare, book, and manage stays just by talking.
Alexa+ is Amazon’s new AI assistant, and will be launched in 2026.
Users can ask Alexa+ to suggest, compare, book, and manage hotel rooms.
Tripadvisor, Uber, Yelp, Angi, and Square will also join Alexa+.
Results adjust based on price, room type, and location.
Alexa+ is basically Alexa on steroids. When the OG Alexa was launched back in 2014, it already felt like magic. My bet is that this new version is going to blow our minds.
Booking a hotel room while doing house chores sounds like a joke, but it's not. Tripadvisor will also be there, so you can compare options while Alexa reads rates and reviews out loud. It can even describe the pictures (and make comments about it, if you want to).
#2 HNR breaks down the trends that shaped hospitality in 2025
2025 shows a split world where guests don’t have the same ability to spend anymore, and hotels lean on data and AI to keep up.
Spending power splits more between high income guests and everyone else.
Luxury hotels pull ahead, mid-scale and budget feel more pressure.
People still travel, but they watch their budgets more closely.
AI use in trip planning grows fast, especially with younger guests.
Automation grows because teams are short-staffed and time is limited.
To me, the best part of this article is simple, people still want to travel despite everything that’s going on. Demand is not gone, it just looks different. That gives hotels something real to work with. Also, AI keeps showing up again, especially in how people plan trips. We’ve seen this in the last few editions too.
#3 The technology that helps AI understand hotel systems
This interesting article by Skift explains what MCP is and why it’s becoming the standard that lets AI actually understand and use data.
MCP stands for Model Context Protocol.
It helps AI read hotel data like rates, availability, and amenities.
Without MCP, systems are hard for AI to access or understand.
With MCP, AI agents can perform actions like comparing rooms and prices in real time.
While I write this, and you read it, most major PMS vendors are already adapting their tech to this model. That’s why it’s worth knowing what it is.
THE RESOURCE HUB
📍 Next Event: Fitur Madrid (21–25 January 2026).
📅 2025/2026 hotel tech event calendar.
💼 Hotel tech companies offering remote jobs.
💻 Cloud PMS comparison list.
🏨 DEALS & UPDATES
DerbySoft and Trip.Biz launch an automated RFP solution for corporate travel, using data analytics to boost efficiency, transparency, and achieve a 99.7% hotel response rate for business clients.
According to this article, travel needs open platforms to replace legacy systems, encourage innovation, and open new markets.
This report lists the world's busiest flight routes in 2025. Domestic routes dominate overall passenger volume.
💼 HOTEL TECH JOB BOARD
💭 What 2025 looked like from inside RemoteHotelier
As the year ends, I think it’s a good time to pause and reflect on what this year has meant for RemoteHotelier and for me.
I published the first edition back in March. I still remember hitting publish and thinking “let’s see where this goes”.
I honestly thought running a newsletter would be easier, but it takes work and demands consistency.
However, the best part aren’t the numbers, it’s you, the people. The conversations and the messages from the readers saying “This made me think” or “I couldn’t agree more”.
That’s what I’ll remember from this year. The people this project is bringing into my life. That alone makes it worth keeping going.
I’ll leave you with two small insights from 2025:
I’ve got a few ideas in the pipeline for 2026. As I’m a one-man army, please bear with me.
Thank you for being here every week. Wishing you a very Happy New Year.
See you next year (sorry, I had to do it 🙂).
Jose