A robot guides guests to their rooms in a high-tech hotel, showcasing the growing use of AI and automation in the hospitality industry.
Credit : MONOPOLY919, Shutterstock
Will a robot one day charge you for that stain? How AI could soon change your next hotel checkout forever…
Picture this: You’ve had a lovely city break, packed your bags, and are wheeling your suitcase out of the hotel room, ready for one last full English before you catch your flight. But at checkout, you get a text from the front desk. “Dear Guest, you’ve been charged €50 for damage to your room.” What damage? You’re baffled. You barely spent any time in the room! Welcome to the brave new world of AI-powered ‘algorithmic audits’ – a trend that’s quietly moving from car rentals to the hospitality industry, and could soon hit hotels.
If this sounds a bit sci-fi, you’re not alone. But for anyone who’s hired a car recently, you might already have experienced it. Hertz and Sixt have started using AI scanners to check for damage when you return your vehicle. No more awkward squinting at scratches with a clipboard-wielding rep. Instead, cameras do a 360-degree sweep, logging every chip, ding, or mark – and sometimes adding surprise costs to your final bill.
How the hotel industry is flirting with Algorithmic audits
Now, the hospitality world is eyeing up the same technology, and experts reckon it’s only a matter of time before hotels join the game. Jordan Hollander, who runs Hoteltechreport.com, says the change is coming fast: “Hotels are testing AI across lots of areas, from monitoring air quality to checking if towels meet the standards, but the day when a computer automatically charges you for a mark on the carpet isn’t far off.”
For now, most hotels are still using these AI systems as smart assistants – flagging possible problems for a real person to investigate. For example, some hotels have already installed AI-powered sensors that sniff out smoke or vaping in supposedly non-smoking rooms, sometimes resulting in instant fines. Hollander warns that things don’t always go smoothly: “We’ve seen cases where using a hairdryer or a spritz of deodorant accidentally triggers the system – and then guests get slapped with a €500 fine, even if they never lit up. Imagine the customer service headache!”
But what if AI takes the next step? Imagine hotel cameras that spot a tiny wine stain or a scratch on the mirror, and automatically bill your card – no questions asked, and no human in sight. According to industry insiders, the technology is already available. All that’s stopping a full rollout is the hotel’s fear of alienating their guests.
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Here’s where things get tricky. Hotels thrive on trust – that sense you can relax, knowing you’re in good hands. If customers start to feel they’re being watched, measured and judged by a machine, that trust could evaporate overnight.
Chuck Reynolds of L.E.K. Consulting puts it bluntly: “The moment a guest gets a charge and can’t get a straight answer from a real person, you’re in dangerous territory. Guests need to know there’s always a human in the loop, someone who can review their case and override the system if needed.”
The key, he says, is transparency. “If you want guests to accept AI, you need to be fair, visible, and use a little empathy. AI should be a co-pilot, not a police officer.”
It’s not just about trust, either. AI can be too clever for its own good – spotting ‘damage’ that no reasonable person would care about. Professor Shannon McKeen from Wake Forest University warns that “the real problem is the loss of common sense. Businesses need to ask: is this scratch worth billing for, or is it just ordinary wear and tear?”
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Not everyone’s convinced AI will make life better for guests. Daniel Keller, a tech CEO, calls it “absolute overkill” and says the trend is more about wringing extra pounds out of customers than improving service. “This kind of technology scrutinises customers for tiny issues, trying to squeeze more money from every stay. It doesn’t make the experience better – it just makes people feel they’re being ripped off.”
But there are some upsides if it’s handled right. AI could mean fairer, faster damage checks, less human error, and maybe even lower prices if hotels save money on repairs. As Hertz points out, over 97% of car returns show no billable damage at all – and AI can make things more consistent and transparent for honest customers.
David Rivera, hospitality professor at Flagler College, believes that “the real aim is operational efficiency, not punishing the customer. It’s about automating boring tasks and making things smoother for everyone – but only if it’s done with a human touch.”
So next time you check into a hotel, take a good look around your room – and don’t be surprised if, in the not-so-distant future, your checkout is a high-tech affair. Maybe you’ll breeze through with no problems. Maybe you’ll get a notification about a mystery mark. Either way, you can bet the big hotel chains will be watching guest reactions closely before making AI the new normal.
For now, keep an eye on your receipts – and if a robot ever charges you for that wine stain, you’ll know you read it here first.
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