Welcome to RemoteHotelier!
It’s been a hectic week in hotel tech, packed with great news and stories (maybe you’ve noticed too). So instead of overthinking the intro… let’s jump right to it.
In today’s newsletter:
🤔 HBX hacks Gen Z travel behavior
🌕 Would you stay in a hotel in the Moon?
📉 Why AI doesn't scale in hotels
🏆 The 2025 HotelTechAwards winners are here
🧠 The mind behind Llama joins Airbnb
🗞️ + 4 extra news
💼 + 3 new jobs in hotel tech
MAIN NEWS
🤔 HBX hacks Gen Z travel behavior
HBX Group just released a study about Gen Z travel behavior. Younger generations see technology as a partner for finding authentic experiences rather than a tool that makes all the decisions for them.
Gen Z includes people born between 1997 and 2012.
Most of these young people like personalized suggestions for local food and activities but hate generic ads and pushy emails.
Many Gen Z spend a big chunk of their budgets on trips and experiences each year.
There’s no doubt this generation is the future (and almost present) of hospitality. Gen Z grew up with a phone in their hand, but they don't want an algorithm to dictate their entire trip. They want tools that offer inspiration while leaving them in the driver’s seat.
🌕 Would you stay in a hotel in the Moon?
A startup is selling reservations for a hotel on the Moon. And you can reserve a spot now with a “modest” deposit of $250,000… even though the hotel doesn’t exist yet.
This company is called GRU Space, and its founder is a recent college graduate.
They plan to use bricks made from local lunar soil to build the property.
The first stay could happen in about six years, and it can host up to four guests at a time.
This project has backing from Y Combinator, which is one of the world's most famous startup accelerator.
I mean, this is either one of the best marketing campaigns I’ve seen in years, or a genius move. Selling a hotel before it exists is wild, but worth mentioning. Only time will tell, but this proves that hospitality stories capture our attention in the past, present and seems that future as well.
📉 Why AI doesn't scale in hotels
PwC released a report showing how hospitality leaders and executives are using AI, based on a survey of decision makers across the tourism and hospitality industry.
AI is sold as “guest experience”, but it’s mostly used behind the scenes: 97% say guest experience drives adoption, yet AI shows up in personalization, forecasting, and revenue tasks, while many guest facing areas stay underused.
Legacy systems are the real bottleneck: 85% confirm that old tech is what’s stopping AI from scaling, while regulation barely shows up as an issue. The problem isn’t fear or compliance, it’s stacks that don’t connect whatsoever.
It’s funny how AI is very often sold as a way to impress the guest, but the reality is much more boring. The data shows it’s mostly doing the heavy lifting in the back office. At the same time, it’s sad to see how the real villain in this story is the clunky tech collecting dust in your server room.
Source: PwC
🏆 The 2025 HotelTechAwards winners are here
Hotel Tech Report releases the 2025 HotelTechAwards winners, naming the top software and companies in the hotel tech industry based on user reviews.
Mews was named the best PMS for the third year in a row.
Cloudbeds took the first place for best HMS and was a top finalist for best PMS.
Canary Technologies dominated the guest experience categories
RoomPriceGenie was named best RMS and also ranked among the best places to work in hotel tech.
A very honorable mention goes to ALL the small startups (less than 50 employees) in the rankings. Just to mention a few: Event Temple, eTip and HiJiffy.
I’ve got to be honest here, I love how Mews and Cloudbeds fight every year tooth and nail (to the point where each win in similar categories). And I truly think that’s the best possible news for the industry. Also, props to the HTR team for doing this amazing work every year.
🧠 The mind behind Llama joins Airbnb
Airbnb has a new Chief Technology Officer, and he is the person who led the team behind Meta’s Llama AI models.
He spent 16 years at Apple before Meta, working on the original iPhone's multitouch systems.
He’ll lead one of the most prestigious engineering and data science teams to build a system that acts more like a human travel agent than a chatbot.
Why would Airbnb make this move? Brian Chesky (Airbnb CEO) has been very clear about how much he hates generic chatbots that just spit out text. By hiring the guy who helped build Meta’s massive AI infrastructure, Airbnb screams they want to build something much deeper.
RESOURCES
📍 Next Event: Fitur Madrid (21–25 January 2026).
📅 2025/2026 hotel tech event calendar.
💼 Hotel tech companies offering remote jobs.
💻 Cloud PMS comparison list.
HOTEL TECH EXTRAS
💰 Trybe, a spa management software, seems to be on a roll. After last week’s new integration, they got $30 million in Series A investment to expand globally and roll out new AI tools.
🏨 Yipy, a hotel standards management platform, raises $850,000 in pre-seed funding. It’ll use the funds to automate hotel compliance and enhance service quality for global hotel brands.
💳 Klearly, a payments platform for restaurants, raises €12 million to improve its tech and expand to new markets.
👍 I really liked this conversation because, despite coming from different backgrounds, these two hospitality tech leaders agree on how AI in hotels should be used. (Spoiler: It's NOT replacing people).
JOB BOARD
Client Success Specialist French / English | Remote (based in Barcelona, Spain) | Lighthouse.
Program Manager, Strategic Sales | Remote (based in the UK) | Mews.
Business Development Representative | Remote (based in the UK) | Mews.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
If you use WhatsApp on your Windows PC, you’ve probably noticed its recent poor performance (I certainly have). Well, I’m afraid I don’t have good news because it seems like Meta doesn’t like people looking away from their phones. They might be bloating the Windows versions on purpose to force users to use the mobile version instead… If this is true, this is all I have to say:
It will impact negatively hospitality businesses, as it clearly increases the friction for its users.
Shame on you, Meta 🫵
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See you next week!
Jose