OUTLOOK 2027 · CHAPTER 2 OF 6 · THE GUEST

Guest Experience Trends 2027: People and Sleep

These guest experience trends for 2027 change what a hotel is paid for. Personal service from people becomes a premium, and rest becomes a reason to stay.

Edited by Alon Shkuri · Updated 8 Nov 2026This chapter is open for a partner. Partner this chapter

Human service becomes the luxury

Pablo Torres, a hospitality consultant, expects human talent to become the luxury, while lower-tier hotels run mostly on technology. The demand data points the same way. Isaac J. Collazo, vice president of analytics at STR, sees demand growing in luxury and to some extent in upper upscale, while everyone else is flat to down.

Klaus Spiekermann says he would pay €300 to €500 a night for a recommendation from a person. At the other end, Théodore Boschmans of Christie & Co sees hotels that cut operating costs by making the whole guest journey digital, down to a check-in screen. Stephan Stokkermans adds that the room for individual experiences has nothing to do with the price of champagne or caviar.

“Human talent is gonna be the luxury. So I see, like, a split between lower tier hotels with mostly installed by technology. So you check-in on your mobile, check out on your mobile. There's maybe one person on the desk just in case, but there's no real human interaction.”
Pablo Torres, Hospitality consultantListen from 20:54
“We are really bumping along in, demand growth. Certain, like, higher tier hotels are doing better. Luxury, even upper upscale to a certain extent, are seeing demand growth. Everyone else has been, flat to down.”
Isaac J. Collazo, Vice President, Analytics, STRListen from 24:18
“I wanna have a recommendation of a human being. And then for this, I'm willing to pay €300, €500 a night.”
Klaus Spiekermann, General Manager, Dolce by WyndhamListen from 18:24
“We also see some types of hotels that reduces as much as possible their operational costs. So think about staff to make the entire guest journey digital and to have them check-in at a check-in desk, at a check-in screen.”
Théodore Boschmans, Hotel broker, Christie & CoListen from 25:30
“I think there is a lot of room for those who can create those individual experiences, which have nothing to do with the price of a bottle of champagne or the, how you call it, a kilo or two kilo of caviar or whatever or the next linen type.”
Stephan Stokkermans, Managing DirectorListen from 24:03

Isaac J. Collazo in Smith Travel Research: Unlocking Hotel Data Power

Sleep and recovery become the product

Javier Suarez, a luxury wellness and hospitality strategist, points out that not every guest goes to the restaurant or the spa, but every guest sleeps. Keith Dickey, chairman and COO of YouMind, argues that hotels design experiences without understanding what a person needs to rest and recover.

Patrick Fernandes, CEO of Alchemy Wellness Resorts, saw his guests realise that wellness could run through every part of their stay, beyond the treatment rooms. Adam Mogelonsky goes further and calls longevity the future of luxury. For 2027 that turns sleep from a mattress question into a question of light, noise, temperature, the arrival and the staff who shape all of it.

“Sleep is the very one thing that every guest is going to do in your hotel. Not everyone is gonna go to your restaurant. You hope so, but not everyone is going to the restaurant. Not everyone is going to the spa, but everyone is going to sleep.”
Javier Suarez, Luxury wellness, spa and hospitality strategistListen from 43:42
“We're designing experiences absent of the biological understanding of what the human being needs in order to rest and recover.”
Keith Dickey, Chairman & COO, YouMindListen from 14:27
“Our guests began to realize that wellness wasn't just confined to the treatment rooms. It could be woven to every single aspect of their stay.”
Patrick Fernandes, CEO, Alchemy Wellness ResortsListen from 12:23
“Longevity, wellness is the future of luxury because longevity gives us more time and more cognition, and therefore, it gives us more appreciation for our surroundings and more time for experiences, if that makes sense.”
Adam Mogelonsky, Luxury hotel adviserListen from 15:54

Patrick Fernandes in Redefining Luxury: Wellness, Leadership, and Lasting Impact

What to do in 2027

Decide whether your hotel competes on self-service and price or on personal service, and staff for that choice.
Walk one guest room at night: check the light through the curtains, the noise from the corridor and the temperature control.
Train every department on sleep, from the night shift at the front desk to housekeeping.

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All six chapters with every quote and the steps for 2027, in one PDF for your team or your board.

How we made this

We read the guest contributions in the 131 episodes of the Future of Hospitality podcast, recorded with hotel operators, owners, investors, consultants and suppliers. AI helped sort the transcripts by topic. The editor chose the trends and checked every quote and every number word for word against the transcript.

Quotes are verbatim. Only words that were said twice in a row, such as “the the”, are left out, and names the transcript misspells, such as ChatGPT, are spelled correctly. Nothing is added or reworded. Every quote links to the moment in the episode where it was said. Edited by Alon Shkuri; see our editorial policy.