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Every major hotel group is rolling out the red carpet for AI. They plan to save a few bucks by automating your stay and turning the concierge into a cyborg. But a handful of hotels are giving chatbots the boot and doubling down on the human touch.
“We’ve all had those experiences where you’re yelling ‘representative’ or ‘real person’ into the phone,” moaned Kelly Ronalds, general manager at Historic Hotel Bethlehem. “It’s people who make the difference.”
Built in 1922 by steel mogul Charles M. Schwab, the Beaux-Arts hotel is one of the nimble, indie-owned inns that sees AI as an opportunity to stand apart. It recently spent five months developing a “Real People Promise.” The premise? Avoid guest-facing AI and chatbots at all costs. This means training every member of its roughly 200-strong team, including dishwashers, to be concierges.
The hotel’s concierge curriculum includes eight hours of classroom instruction, role-playing, even field trips. All employees, whether they’re a housekeeper, line cook, or bartender, are sent on walking tours of downtown and to dine at local restaurants. They’re expected to have personal recommendations at the ready should a guest ask.
Ronalds didn’t receive any pushback when she proposed the anti-AI approach. Everyone, including the hotel’s owners, managers, and associates, was excited. Still, she admitted some back-of-house staff are skeptical.
“They say, ‘When will I ever get to interact with a guest?’ I tell them, ‘You never know. But if a guest asks, ‘Where should I go?’ you need to be able to answer that question.’ ”
As for questions asked online, Ronalds estimates one chatbot would cost the hotel just $400 per month. Still, she’s happy to pay substantially more for a human pulse behind the website’s live chat feature.
In typical German fashion, Munich’s Hotel Europa is as blunt as it gets. “No AI in customer communication” reads its promise, in bold, on the hotel website’s homepage. Soko Hotels in France, meanwhile, dedicates an entire webpage to its ethical charter on artificial intelligence. The property admits to using AI for spelling, grammar, and minor edits to human-drafted emails. But it promises to never feed it personal data or use it to translate languages its staff doesn’t speak.
On Florida’s Treasure Coast, the movement against AI isn’t limited to accommodations. It’s a county-wide affair. Martin County’s marketing campaign invites visitors to “escape the algorithm” in its “human-powered paradise,” where AI stands for active immersions, angler instincts, and aquatic itineraries, among other things.
“If you go to NoAINeeded.com, you’ll see our authentic influencers,” said Nerissa Okiye, Tourism Director at Martin County. Okiye isn’t using AI-generated itineraries or hiring social media influencers. She’s leveraging locals.
And Stuart, Florida’s Old Colorado Inn is completely AI-free. Manager Christopher Vitale says his team recently made the conscious decision not to use it at all.
“I don’t see us using AI as it exists now in the future,” said Vitale. “At a Hilton or Marriott, you expect an AI bot as the first line of defense, but for a boutique hotel, that totally shatters the image if you have to be communicating with a robot or AI.”
Statewide, Tennessee’s tourism agency is speaking out against using generative AI photos. It debuted its “Yeah, It’s Real” campaign in June, introducing the travel industry’s first photo-certification program to help travelers determine whether an image is real or AI. Destination Canada has held a similar stance since 2025, when it launched its “Canada, naturally” initiative.
On the flip side, major players like IHG eagerly embraced AI only to backtrack — after it backfired. In 2021, IHG’s Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs rolled out an AI-enabled smart room.
“We expected guests to love the convenience and novelty of being able to control so much of the room with their voice, from adjusting lighting and scheduling an alarm to changing TV channels and opening the shades without getting out of bed,” said Christine Delgado, Kimpton Rowan Palm Springs’ Director of Sales & Marketing.
Guest feedback told another story, revealing complicated technology that was more of a hassle than a help. The property eventually pulled the plug on its hotel room of the future.
“We realized we were asking guests to adapt to the technology rather than having the technology make their stay easier and more comfortable,” recalled Delgado. “Our guests come to Palm Springs to slow down, relax by our rooftop pool, have dinner with friends, soak in the mountains and scenery, and connect with the destination. We don’t need to put another screen or digital interaction between them and that experience.”
