Hotels: Stop Thinking You Are Tech Companies!

I am calling the big elephant in the room.. and stop acting like its not here.

Sonder went all-in on being a “tech-driven hospitality company.”
They built their own booking engine, PMS, app, RMS, ... everything. Raised a ton of money. Hired like a startup. And talked like one too.

Now?
They have filed for bankruptcy. Marriott just pulled out.

This is what happens when a hotel company forgets it's a hotel company... serving real guests.

Don't make the same mistake

Building Tech Doesn’t Make You Worth More

A lot of hotels think: “If we build our own tech, investors will give us a better valuation.”

No.
Investors want strong operations, solid margins, and real growth. Not half-baked software built by teams who’ve never run tech companies before.

You’re not Google. You’re running hotels.

Tech Is a Tool, Not the Business

Focus on what actually drives revenue:

• Serving guests very well
• Optimising pricing and distribution
• Running smooth operations
• Growing profitably

Building your own software(s) takes time, money, focus, and energy away from that.

And for what? A booking engine worse than what you could buy off the shelf?

Use the Tools Already Built for You

There are world-class tech providers whose only job is to build hotel software. Let them.

• Better product
• Faster updates
• No internal maintenance
• No wasted headcount

Buying great tech is smart.
Building average tech is a distraction.

And now you can actually plug and play with most of them. You try, you experiment. If you like it, then great you continue, if not then you move on and try something else. Easy peasy.

Sonder’s (and other similar players..) Big Mistake: Thinking Tech Could Replace Hospitality

They thought tech would scale their model.
But in the end, what broke them wasn’t tech, it was service.

Tech is useless if:

• Your operations suck
• Your pricing is off
• Guests aren’t coming back

Final Point: You’re Not a Tech Company

If you are spending your time building software, you are not spending time:

• Improving guest experience
• Training staff
• Driving conversion
• Maximising RevPAR or GOP

Focus on what moves the needle.
Let tech companies build tech.
You build your hotel business.

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