Hi, I'm Gonzalo 👋
Today I bring you a well-rounded edition on the hotel industry: I'll tell you about an experiment I ran this week with AI, we'll talk about why the fullest hotel isn't always the one that earns the most, share a reflection on what makes a guest come back, and show you how our event with Cloudbeds went. Let's go.
🧪 The lab: I turned ChatGPT into the toughest guest
This week I ran a simple experiment and it left me thinking. I asked ChatGPT to act as a skeptical guest —the kind who compares everything, asks lots of questions and doesn't make decisions lightly— and to put to the test the typical replies of a hotel that doesn't use WeSpeak. I gave it the standard answers (price, availability, services) and told it: «now insist, object, look for reasons not to book».
The result was revealing. Faced with a guest who wants to be convinced, textbook replies collapse right away. A «the rate is X» doesn't survive even two questions. What did work was when the reply connects with the experience: why that place, who it's for, what the guest will take away.
What I learned from this experiment, and I share it with you:
- You have a free training tool. Ask the AI to act as your most demanding guest and put your replies (or your team's) to the test. In five minutes you see where your sales conversation falls apart.
- Selling isn't informing. The guest doesn't book because of the data; they book because of how you make them feel what they're going to live. If your replies only give information, you're leaving bookings on the table.
Trying it costs five minutes and shows you how prepared you are for the guest who hesitates.
📊 Why the fullest hotel isn't always the one that earns the most
There's a number we love to look at: occupancy. A full hotel feels like a successful hotel. But I'm going to tell you something uncomfortable: being full and being profitable are not the same thing.
Think about it for a second. You can reach 100% occupancy on the back of giveaway rates, aggressive discounts and bookings coming through channels that keep an enormous commission. The «no vacancy» sign looks beautiful, but once you subtract the commissions, the costs of operating every occupied room and what you stopped charging by lowering the price, what's left is much less than it seemed.
And on the other side, the opposite happens. A hotel at 70%, with well-held rates and a good share of direct bookings, can end the month with more money in its pocket than the neighbor who hung the «fully booked» sign. Fewer guests, less wear on the team, lower costs… and more profitability.
The problem is that occupancy is an ego metric: it lifts your spirits, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Filling the hotel is easy if the price is low enough. What's hard —and what truly sustains a business— is filling it well.
That's why the best mindset shift a hotelier can make is to stop asking «how full am I?» and start asking «how much do I keep of what I sold?». Occupancy is one part of the picture. Profitability is the whole picture.
🏨 The details a guest remembers (and the ones that cost you dearly)
A guest rarely remembers the price they paid. They remember how you made them feel. And that almost never depends on how expensive it was or how much they spent, but on the details.
I think of the moments that truly mark a stay: the welcome from someone who seemed to be expecting you, the spot-on tip about the best places to eat, the quick, drama-free solution when something went wrong, the small gesture nobody asked for. None of that is in the brochure, but it's exactly what people talk about when they get back home.
And then there are the details that cost dearly, almost always out of carelessness: the endless check-in after a long trip, the «that's not my department», the unanswered message, the feeling of being just another number. A single detail like that can overshadow an entire stay.
The good news is that most of these details don't cost money, they cost attention. My suggestion for this week: pick one single moment of your guest's journey —the arrival, for example— and think of one small detail you could add so they feel expected. That's where —and not in the price— the recommendation and the return visit are earned.
🎥 Our event with Cloudbeds, now on video
A few weeks ago we got together with Cloudbeds to talk about what defines a hotel's revenue today: artificial intelligence, revenue management and direct sales.
It was a morning of great industry conversation and good takeaways.
If you couldn't make it, I have good news: it was recorded and it's now available on our Youtube channel — I invite you to watch it.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
What did you think of this edition?
If you think it could help someone else, share it with them. And if you have doubts, suggestions or a question for me, I'd love to hear from you.
See you in the next edition!
Gonzalo.
