Future Of Hotels (North America)

Access this research

Access all Real Estate Leaders content with a strategic subscription or buy this single report

Need help or have a question about this report? Contact us for assistance

Executive Summary

Travel, for both business and leisure, is undergoing deep structural changes, shaped by increasing competition, sustainability and evolving consumer demands. Hotels and hotel operators will be forced to abandon their risk-averse nature to adapt to emerging new states of travel. This report explores the barriers that must be overcome, and the technologies and innovations that will characterize the hotel of the future.
Summary for decision-makers
Hotels: business or leisure, and everything in between

Hotel segmentation is evolving to meet diverse traveller needs
Disruptive drivers will spark change in the traditionally slow-evolving hospitality industry
Rapid changes in hospitality and travel drive innovation
Hotel innovation: risk-averse, resource-short and resistant to change 
Future of hotels as an asset class
Hotels must change or be left behind
Hospitality will be forced to adopt more speculative tech
Automation and AI will provide the answer to staffing and labour shortages

Sustainability will be tackled holistically by efficiency technologies
Better use of data will enable personalized and seamless guest experiences

Figure 1. Spectrum of hotel classifications from business to leisure, and their characteristics
Figure 2. Spectrum of hotel classifications from budget to luxury, and their characteristics
Figure 3. Six barriers to technology adoption in hotels
Figure 4. Comparative innovation rates across hotel categories: a radar analysis of five key areas of innovation
Figure 5. Data-driven personalization: a vision for the future of hotels

About the Authors

Ben Readman

Ben Readman

Industry Analyst

Ben is an Industry Analyst covering the real estate sector, with a focus on data centres and hotels. His core research covers more than 100 vendors in the energy efficiency, s...

View Profile
Claire Stephens

Claire Stephens

Research Director

Claire Stephens is a Research Director at Verdantix, leading research into technologies and services shaping the real estate and the built environment, encompassing ...

View Profile

Other related content

Webinar
Built Environment Energy & Decarbonization
Decarbonizing Your Facilities: What Cor...

35% of real estate and facilities leaders identify ESG, sustainability, and decarbonization as the most influential market trend of 2025. Yet, only 25% rank decarbonizing their por...

Upcoming / 26 November, 2025

Webinar
Corporate Energy Leaders
How To Break Down Walls In Building Dec...

Buildings account for over one-third of global energy-related carbon emissions, making them a critical focus for decarbonization. Yet for many organizations, the path forward feels...

Upcoming / 29 October, 2025

Blog
Real Estate Leaders
How BMS And Digital Twins Are Transform...

UK data centres are expanding rapidly, fuelled by surging AI and cloud demand. Yet this boom faces infrastructure bottlenecks, from grid constraints to cooling limits. The integrat...

23 September, 2025

Webinar
Asset Maintenance Software & Services
Why Software Is The Key To Five-Star Fi...

Our research shows that field service leaders face three critical roadblocks to a superior customer experience: inefficient legacy systems, data silos, and insufficient technolo...

23 October, 2025

Webinar
AEC
Next-Gen CMMS: The Tech Transforming Ma...

Property and facilities leaders are being asked to do more with less — extend asset life, deliver reliable service, and keep tenants satisfied. At the same time, innovations like A...

14 October, 2025

Blog
Real Estate Leaders
A Double-Edged Sword For CRE: The Beaut...

In July 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA). For commercial real estate (CRE), it is both a glass slipper and a poisoned apple – promising tax relief while str...

10 September, 2025