There’s a famous quote often attributed to Henry Ford: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Whether he actually said it is almost beside the point.

A beautiful mobile menu with bad UX kills sales. Discover proven design principles - high-impact item placement, one-tap reordering, dietary filters

Reading Time: 2 minutesSouth Korea: Retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group has partnered with OKO Group, the real estate development company led by Vlad Doronin, to develop Aman hotels and residences globally.
The post OKO Group and Shinsegae launch $500 million Aman JV appeared first on Boutique Hotel News.

Reading Time: 2 minutesWorldwide: Xavier Mufraggi, former CEO of Club Med, has been appointed chief executive officer of hostel brand Generator as the company plans to double its footprint by 2030. 
The post Generator names Mufraggi as CEO appeared first on Boutique Hotel News.

Generator announced the appointment of Xavier Mufraggi as chief executive officer. Read more. RMS announced the appointment of Rich Steers as chief product & technology officer. Steers joins RMS with more than 25 years of experience building and scaling SaaS platforms across product, engineering and technology. Most recently, he served as CPTO at ROLLER. In his new role, he will lead the global product and technology strategy at RMS. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection announced the appointment of Tatiana Ferreira […]
The post This Week’s Comings & Goings appeared first on LODGING Magazine.

NEWTON, Massachusetts—Sonesta International Hotels announced significant portfolio expansion during the first half of 2026, with 22 new hotel openings and the execution of 28 new franchise agreements. “Our strong performance in the first half of 2026, punctuated by over 2,000 new rooms, demonstrates the resilience of our growth strategy and the deep trust our franchisees place in Sonesta,” said Keith Pierce, co-chief executive officer of Sonesta International Hotels. “We are seeing sustained interest from owners who value our nimbleness and the […]
The post Sonesta Executes 28 Franchise Agreements and Opens 22 Hotels in H1 2026 appeared first on LODGING Magazine.

Kings III has acquired elevator intelligence technology from Lift AI, expanding its capabilities to provide more connected elevator monitoring solutions for hotels and other commercial buildings.

Kylie Chen writes that Google's move toward more automated advertising solutions is reducing the level of manual control hotel marketers have over campaign targeting and budget allocation, requiring hospitality businesses to adjust their digital marketing approaches to maintain visibility and cost efficiency.

Hotel Designs
GROHE launches flow-intensifying AquaBooster shower technology
GROHE launches flow-intensifying AquaBooster shower technology
Stuart O'Brien.

Hotel Designs
Domes unveils Helestia Pocket Hotel on Santorini
Domes unveils Helestia Pocket Hotel on Santorini
Stuart O'Brien.

Barcelona, Spain — New data from SiteMinder, the world’s leading hotel commerce platform, reveals strong hotel demand within Europe where a total solar eclipse is set to pass this August. In Spain, bookings for the days leading up to the August 12 phenomenon have risen by as much as 76% year-over-year and prices by as […]

How do AI platforms book hotels? 8 in 10 travellers now want AI assistance when searching for their next hotel. By most projections, this number is only set to increase. Tools like Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT present a shortlist of relevant hotel options based on a user’s stated needs and desires, complete with live rates […]

CHICAGO, IL (July 20, 2026) – Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of Me and All Hotel Leipzig, a 282-room hotel that combines Bauhaus-inspired design, local culture...

CHICAGO & LONDON (July 16 2026) – World of Hyatt is taking its place courtside as the official hotel sponsor of Laver Cup London 2026, bringing World of Hyatt members and tennis fans elevated...

A fixed rate, a package-only clause, a wholesaler who could pull a rule-breaker — the parts of the deal you never worried about. They were built for a world with edges, and the edges are gone.

The stale wholesale rate frozen since last winter is real, and dynamic connectivity fixes it. The fix is a live wire into your systems that switches on with a click and off with a project — and that trade never makes the sales sheet.

Yes, you can rest during a Houston layover. The terminals stay open overnight, Terminal C has private suites you can book by the hour, several lounges offer showers, and there’s a hotel connected right to the airport. George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) is one of the country’s busiest connecting hubs, so whether you’ve got three hours […]

A day-use hotel is a hotel room booked for a set daytime window, usually around six hours, instead of overnight, often at up to 75% off the nightly rate. For couples, it’s one of the simplest ways to trade a crowded café or a busy house for private, uninterrupted time together. You get the room, […]