The hotel lobby is getting a serious upgrade. From AI concierges that never sleep to digital room keys that live in your guests’ smartphone wallets, the latest wave of hospitality tech is turning properties into smart, connected experiences rather than just places to sleep.
Here’s a rundown of some of the most exciting new hospitality tech products and what they mean for your hotel or accommodation business.
1. Next-Gen Property Management: From PMS to “Hotel OS”
Traditional PMS platforms are evolving into full-blown “operating systems” for hotels, designed to sit at the center of every guest and staff interaction.
Prostay is a good example of this new breed. Launched in April 2025, it’s a cloud-based, all-in-one platform that unites operations, distribution, and guest engagement in a single interface, targeting hotels, resorts, and vacation rentals. This isn’t just about managing reservations; it’s about centralizing everything from rate management and housekeeping workflows to communication and payments.
You’re seeing similar moves across the industry:
- Daylight PMS (Shiji), positioned as a next-gen cloud PMS for large hotel groups, aims to connect multiple properties and brands within a single platform.
- Stayflexi has been expanding aggressively, recently partnering with Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) to deploy its AI-powered property management and automation tools across more than 30 properties.
- Hotel Superhero, a newly launched AI-powered hotel management system from Treebo Hospitality Ventures, is delivered as SaaS and uses voice and chat interfaces to streamline operations for independent hotels.
One particularly futuristic development: Apaleo’s MCP server. In September 2025, Apaleo became the first PMS to launch a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI agents talk directly to hotel systems and carry out complex cross-system operations (think: changing a room, adjusting rates, updating housekeeping status) without weeks of custom integrations.
What this means for you:
If your Property Management System (PMS) still “just” handles reservations, you’re behind. The new benchmark is a platform that:
- Integrates easily with AI tools and guest apps
- Automates routine tasks
- Provides real-time visibility into operations across departments
2. Frictionless Arrival: Contactless Check-In, Wallet Keys & Kiosks
The check-in desk is quickly becoming optional.
Contactless solutions have been around for a few years, but 2025 products are polishing the experience:
- Contactless check-in platforms now let guests check in via mobile apps, web links, or lobby kiosks, often with ID verification and payment in one flow.
- Self-service kiosks, like those integrated with Mews, let guests skip lines entirely, scan, sign, pay, get key. They also reduce paper usage with digital registration cards, which helps properties hit sustainability goals.
A major recent leap: Mews’ digital keys in smartphone wallets. Announced in August 2025, Mews became the first PMS to natively issue room keys directly into guests’ phone wallets, eliminating the need for separate key apps or middleware. Guests can head straight to their room and tap to unlock, just like using Apple Wallet or Google Wallet for boarding passes.
Why it matters:
- Shorter queues and less front-desk stress
- Fewer lost physical keys
- A more “premium” experience that feels on par with modern airlines and mobility apps
If you’re refurbishing your lobby or planning capex for 2026, contactless check-in and wallet-based keys should be near the top of your list.
3. AI Guest Experience Platforms & Virtual Concierges
The new standard for guest communication is always-on, AI-assisted, and omnichannel.
Platforms like Duve offer a white-label guest app that covers digital check-in, upsells, guest information, and messaging. On top of that, Duve now layers in generative AI “agents” that automatically respond to guest messages across channels like email, WhatsApp, SMS, and OTAs, while still tailoring content to each guest.
Other players include:
- Canary Technologies, which was named the #1 Guest Experience Platform at the 2024 HotelTechAwards, combining contactless check-in, digital upsells, and guest messaging in a single suite.
- TouchMenu, positioning itself as a leading AI hospitality platform for “next-level guest engagement,” with tools for personalized recommendations, upselling, and automated communications.
Across the sector, AI chatbots and digital concierges are no longer experimental; they’re mainstream. 2024–2025 wrap-ups show hotels using AI to provide 24/7 instant responses, personalize recommendations, and automate repetitive queries.
Use cases you can implement today:
- Pre-arrival messages that adjust based on booking source, stay length, or party type
- In-stay AI concierge that handles FAQs, restaurant bookings, and maintenance requests
- Automated upsell flows for late checkout, parking, or room upgrades
Done right, this doesn’t replace your team, it frees them from FAQ duty so they can focus on high-touch moments.
4. Robots in the Lobby (and the Hallways)
Robots have shifted from gimmick to genuine operational tool.
Hotel-specific robotics providers are now offering:
- Concierge robots placed in lobbies to answer basic questions, direct guests, and create a bit of wow-factor
- Room-service robots that deliver towels, amenities, and F&B orders directly to rooms
Industry reports highlight robots now handling check-ins, deliveries, and even cleaning tasks like autonomous vacuuming in some properties, freeing up staff for more specialized service roles.
Early fully-robotic hotels sometimes struggled with reliability and guest comfort, and many shifted back toward hybrid staffing models. But the lesson learned is powerful: robots are best when they handle narrow, repetitive tasks (like deliveries or corridor cleaning), while humans handle empathy and complex problem-solving.
Where robots make sense:
- Large properties with long corridors (delivery robots)
- Labor-short markets where basic tasks are hard to staff
- Brands that want to stand out with a visually memorable experience
5. Smarter Feedback & Reputation Intelligence
Collecting surveys is easy. Turning them into action is harder.
That’s where upgraded reputation and feedback platforms step in. TrustYou, for instance, recently rolled out an enhanced Customer Experience Platform (CXP) that lets hotels collect, analyze, and act on guest feedback in a more targeted and customizable way.
These tools now:
- Aggregate reviews and surveys from multiple channels
- Use AI to detect themes and sentiment (e.g., “weak Wi-Fi in rooms,” “slow breakfast service”)
- Help prioritize fixes and track how changes impact satisfaction scores over time
Combine this with guest-experience platforms and your PMS, and you get a closed feedback loop: you spot an issue, adjust workflows or standards in your operating system, and measure the impact automatically.
How to Choose the Right New Tech for Your Property
With so many shiny new tools dropping every year, it’s easy to fall into “demo fatigue.” Here’s a simple framework to keep you grounded:
- Start with your pain points, not the product.
- Is check-in a bottleneck? Look at contactless and wallet-key solutions.
- Are you drowning in guest messages? Prioritize AI guest experience platforms.
- Insist on open APIs and integrations.
Any new tech should talk to your PMS (and, ideally, your channel manager, CRM, and POS). Solutions built for the cloud era, like the newer PMS platforms launching now, tend to be stronger here. - Run a pilot with clear success metrics.
For example:- Reduce average check-in time by X minutes
- Increase upsell revenue per stay by Y%
- Improve review scores for “staff helpfulness” or “check-in experience”
- Don’t forget the team experience.
The best tech in the world fails if staff hate using it. Look for intuitive interfaces, mobile-friendly tools, and solid training and support. - Think scalability.
Even if you’re an independent boutique today, choose tools that can scale across multiple properties or brands. Many of the latest platforms are explicitly designed to support multi-property growth.
The Bottom Line
The latest wave of hospitality tech is moving beyond one-off tools and toward connected ecosystems:
- PMS platforms that behave like full hotel operating systems
- Seamless, app-free arrivals with contactless check-in and wallet keys
- AI-driven guest experience platforms that handle communication, upsells, and personalization
- Robots quietly taking on repetitive tasks in the background
- Feedback intelligence engines showing you exactly where to improve
You don’t need to adopt everything at once. But if you pick one or two areas, like arrivals and guest messaging, and modernize them with these new products, you’ll feel the impact fast: happier guests, less stressed staff, and operations that finally feel like they belong in 2025, not 2005.
