News Briefs

Travelers can now explore hotel rooms like never before with the launch of Room Cougar, a groundbreaking platform offering organic and unfiltered user-submitted video room tours and reviews. Unlike traditional websites that rely on staged or outdated content, Room Cougar sources content from its community of everyday consumers and influencers so users can “look before they book.” With more than 3,000 reviews already available on the website, Room Cougar is poised to revolutionize how travelers choose accommodations. 

Room Cougar is completely free to use and is currently rewarding its users for contribution to the platform. Travelers can upload video reviews of hotel rooms across the globe, and once verified as an authentic review, contributors will be paid up to $50 USD per submission.

"Travelers deserve honest, up-to-date insights before booking their stays, and that's exactly what our platform delivers," said Ada Miller, Chief Marketing Officer of Room Cougar. "Unlike traditional review sites that rely on outdated pictures or polished promotional videos, we offer real, user-generated video reviews that show the truth about hotel rooms. We’re not just empowering travelers with transparency — we’re giving users the opportunity to earn money for their contributions. This is more than a platform; it’s a movement to redefine how people trust and book accommodations, much like how Amazon transformed retail reviews."

Currently available via its website, Room Cougar is poised to launch a mobile app in the coming months to expand accessibility and convenience for travelers searching for insights while booking on the go. In addition to its commission-based structure, the platform also offers users additional monetization opportunities through referral commissions. When travelers book stays through Room Cougar’s links, contributors can earn a share of the commissions, making it a versatile tool for casual reviewers and travel influencers alike.

With Room Cougar, hotel research is no longer a gamble. Travelers can explore rooms across countries such as the U.S., U.K., Thailand, Canada, Spain, Japan, and more, giving them the confidence to book stays that meet expectations upon arrival.

FreshAir Sensor, an innovator in indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring, launched FreshAir Certified™, a low-cost, high-margin bookable room attribute that allows hotels to leverage air quality as an exclusive guest purchase option. While odors and lingering smells remain a common guest complaint, hoteliers are often challenged to pre-empt any complaints before they arise. FreshAir Certified addresses these challenges by enabling hotels to offer guests rooms with scientifically verified, high-quality indoor air, meeting the growing demand for personalized, wellness-focused accommodations while creating a new, effortless revenue stream. 

FreshAir Sensor’s molecular air quality monitoring solutions are installed directly in the hotel guestroom to track and certify rooms that are free of common irritants (including odors from unauthorized smoking of tobacco and marijuana, scented sprays, and conditions for mold). Operators can offer these rooms to guests as part of their booking journey as a low-cost enhancement. The program is rolling out at hotels across North America and is already helping hoteliers generate significant ancillary revenue annually.

Indoor Air Quality: A Profitable Differentiator

Indoor air quality is becoming an increasingly important factor in how today’s guests make purchase decisions. To leverage the trend, hotels that prioritize clean, fresh air can drive higher guest loyalty, positive reviews, and increased revenue. Studies show that:

• More than half of guests rank odor-free rooms as the top indicator of cleanliness, making air quality a major influencer on guest perception and satisfaction (AHLA)
• In hospitality, 58 percent of guests cite odors as a leading cause of negative reviews, affecting a hotel's reputation and repeat business (AHLA)
• Increased focus on personalization can improve hotelier insight into traveler preferences, improving conversion rates by up to 16 percent (Deloitte).

By introducing FreshAir Certified as a bookable enhancement, hotels can meet evolving guest expectations, increase TRevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room), and reinforce their commitment to exceptional indoor environments—all without additional labor or operational changes. 

“FreshAir Certified turns air quality into a valuable, revenue-generating amenity for hotels,” said Will Darrah, Chief Commercial Officer at FreshAir Sensor. “Through our Certification program, hotels can monetize their air quality, elevate the guest experience, and unlock new profits—without the need to spend CapEx money or take up valuable staff time or resources.”

How It Works

The FreshAir Certified™ program utilizes FreshAir Sensor’s patented molecular technology to provide hoteliers with a real-time inventory of rooms with verified indoor air quality standards. These rooms can then be offered to guests in the booking flow, in pre-stay communications, or at check-in at a small incremental cost. 

As part of the certification process, each room is:

• Continuously monitored to ensure the highest quality air – free of common air quality contaminants, such as lingering odors from unauthorized smoking of tobacco and marijuana, scented sprays and conditions for mold.
• Verified to be of the highest air quality for at least 60 days prior to check-in – enabling hotels to sell guaranteed air quality upgrades to guests with sensitivities, differentiating their properties in a competitive marketplace – and generating ancillary revenues with each booking.

Fresh Air Certified Rooms have already helped properties generate significant monthly revenue streams. Early results indicate that U.S. hotels have the potential to gain more than $1.5B in new ancillary revenue annually with FreshAir Certified.

“FreshAir Certified has provided Ocean Casino Resort with another attribute-based revenue stream that required minimal additional work on our side beyond the initial setup of the add-on in our direct booking channels,” says Ryan Burch, Vice President of Hotel Operations for Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. “We’ve been thrilled with the number of guests adding the FreshAir Certified add-on to our booking engine, and we’re excited to begin offering this in our pre-stay communications and during check-in. Ocean is all about going above and beyond, so we’re pleased to see our guests expressing appreciation for the extra measures we’re taking to provide odor-free stays.”

A Simple, Profitable Solution for Hotels

FreshAir Certified represents a low-cost, high-impact solution for properties seeking to stand out in a competitive marketplace. With the demand for wellness-focused travel on the rise, this program positions hotels to exceed guest expectations while driving incremental revenue.

For more information about FreshAir Certified, visit www.freshairsensor.com. 

Akia, a guest journey platform, announces new email and SMS marketing capabilities designed to maximize direct bookings. This Marketing Suite seamlessly integrates with leading property management systems (PMS) and Akia’s AI-powered journey platform – allowing hotels and vacation rentals to reach new customers and re-market to existing ones.

Top Features:

• Email and SMS marketing with templates and drag & drop editor
• Insights fueled by PMS integration data
• Dynamic audiences based on preferences and patterns
• A centralized guest profile including phone number and unmasked personal email address
• A real-time reporting dashboard for key metrics

Building On A Successful SMS Tool

Akia customers are already seeing success with the platform’s SMS tool. Through Akia, properties are able to capture guest contact information, store it in a centralized profile, and reach them with offers to book directly. Information like birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions can also be stored within Akia to strategically personalize these campaigns.

"Akia’s new Marketing Suite empowers hotels and vacation rentals to drive more direct bookings with ease. By combining email and SMS with real-time guest data, properties can engage guests effortlessly and maximize revenue. ​​Our goal is to make powerful, data-driven marketing effortless for hospitality teams." - Frederik Hermann, VP Marketing, Akia

Email Marketing Capabilities

Getting started with the Akia Marketing Suite is designed with busy hospitality professionals in mind. Dynamic audience lists are updated in real time – allowing properties to target specific attributes or groups based on campaign goals or special offers. Pre-designed components make building an email or SMS campaign straightforward.

Within the new Marketing Suite, properties can reach guests with a single email or set up an ongoing sequence to target them in key touchpoints. For example, create an ongoing email series which sends all guests an offer to rebook 90 days after they’ve left the property. These automated emails are proven to increase direct bookings.

GK Software, a provider of commerce solutions for global retailers, has successfully acquired Nomitri GmbH, a Berlin-based deep tech startup for computer vision. This transaction will expand GK’s commerce capabilities with complete out-of-the-box SCO (self-checkout) and store operations solutions to expand the company’s global portfolio of leading retail customers.

Nomitri will continue to exist as a wholly owned subsidiary of the GK Software Group. Founders Trinh Le-Fiedler and Max Fiedler will remain in managing positions. The company had already been part of the GK partner ecosystem for several years. The Nomitri solutions will be presented as a new product suite within GK’s product portfolio under the name ‘GK Vision’.

With a total market value of more than 600 million Euros annually within the top 250 grocers alone, the SCO market is currently among the fastest growing in retail. With self-checkout solutions, retailers are already decreasing waiting times for customers and adapting to increasing labor costs. However, the implementation of such technologies is generally hardware-intensive and costly. Furthermore, while self-checkouts increase the flexibility of unmanned checkouts, an increase in thefts and fraud reduces their profitability. Addressing the profitability during the implementation of fraud detection is the primary focus of GK Vision.

GK Vision software allows retailers to take a cost-effective, retrofit approach, leveraging existing hardware and linking it directly to the cloud services of GK. This approach leads to up to ten times lower hardware investment for retailers and only takes around two business days to go live. The embedded computer vision and AI capabilities of GK Vision additionally enable age verification as well as fruit and vegetable recognition. In addition, the solution can be used regardless of which POS software is in use. This makes GK Vision an ideal complement to GK, which last year launched GK Engage, a loyalty platform that can also be used independently of the POS software provider.

“Nomitri has been an integral part of the GK partner ecosystem for some time, and its innovative capabilities have consistently impressed both our team and leading retailers. Retailers are demanding fast, scalable, and cost-effective self-checkout solutions, and Nomitri has delivered time and time again. Today, we’re proud to take this partnership to the next level by welcoming Nomitri’s groundbreaking technology into the GK portfolio as GK Vision. With a strong foundation of collaboration and trust, we are ready to scale GK Vision and redefine the self-checkout experience for retailers worldwide. Integrated into our GK CLOUD4RETAIL commerce platform, this addition further cements our commitment to providing cutting-edge, end-to-end solutions for our global customers,” says Michael Scheibner, CEO of GK Software.

Multi-award-winning sustainability management and ESG reporting platform FuturePlus adds 84 hotels to its IMPACT CERTIFIED ecosystem in light of travelers' desire to book more sustainable stays – but 70% feel overwhelmed by the process¹. 

For over three years, FuturePlus has been at the forefront of embedding sustainability actions throughout the entire lifecycle of hospitality assets, ensuring responsible business and ethical governance happens across the whole operation. More importantly, FuturePlus enables hoteliers to continuously improve and meet their environmental and social ambitions and intent through the use of a robust technology platform, a comprehensive sustainability framework and expert advice.

The hospitality sector remains an essential touchpoint for consumers and travelers where 65% prefer to book accommodation with a recognized and trusted certificate or label, and two thirds (67%) agree that hotels should use the same accreditation process².

The FuturePlus IMPACT CERTIFIED badge is awarded to FuturePlus members upon verification of a FutureImpact assessment. Hotels using the IMPACT CERTIFIED Badge can do so in the confidence that the establishments they’re running are upheld to constant progress across all environmental and social factors, and that their accreditation is easy for consumers to recognise as a trusted mark for transparency and commitment. FuturePlus is a strategic partner to Booking.com and Travalyst Compliance, guaranteeing standardisation with managing, measuring, tracking and reporting ESG in the hospitality sector.

In addition to supporting IMPACT CERTIFIED hotels around the world, FuturePlus also works with IMPACT CERTIFIED companies that provide vital products and services to support the wider ecosystem of hotels that are working towards becoming more sustainable. Oxwash’s carbon-neutral laundry solution has revolutionised the commercial washing sector since its inception in 2018; and by emphasising eco-conscious practices, utilising recyclable packaging and promoting ethical sourcing, The Wildsmith Collection provides a transformative skincare experience that respects the environment.

FuturePlus clients have collectively set over 4,200 sustainability ambitions and achieved more than 2,700 of these goals, demonstrating significant and continuous progress in their ambition scores. Amongst the 84 hotels that are IMPACT CERTIFIED, 750 sustainability goals have been achieved.

Mike Penrose, Co-Founder and Partner at FuturePlus, says: “The hospitality sector plays a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions of sustainability, and we are collaborating with forward-thinking hotel brands worldwide who are determined to demonstrate their positive steps in being environmentally and socially responsible across their entire operations – from the booking systems they use, down to the cleaning products. Being IMPACT CERTIFIED is more than just a badge. It’s a tangible representation of your organisation’s commitment to creating positive impact, symbolising that you are part of a community of businesses focused on continual improvement across social and environmental impact.”   

TROO Hospitality, a UK-based hospitality management company, embarked on its sustainability journey with FuturePlus in September 2022. The platform has enabled the company to assess and manage its sustainability performance, as well as that of its expanding hotel portfolio. FuturePlus has been working closely with TROO Hospitality to develop a portfolio-wide sustainability strategy, aptly named TROO Impact. This strategy is centred around three core pillars: Education, Collaboration, and Empowerment.

Kevin Hobson, Head of Property & Services, TROO Hospitality, comments: “FuturePlus has been instrumental in helping us to bring our TROO Impact sustainability strategy to life, from the first policies we produced in 2022 through to the cross-business roadmap we now have in place for 2025. Thanks to FuturePlus’ guidance and platform, we’re now tracking and measuring the sustainability of all the hotels in our portfolio against clearly defined, shared metrics. Positive sustainability outcomes require consistent energy and focus: the year ahead will see us focus on driving the TROO Impact vision and embedding it across our business – and I’m grateful that FuturePlus will be there to support us on our journey.”

Atlas Hotels, an award-winning franchise group, operates 58 hotels across the UK, including 13 in  Scotland, 2 in Wales, and 43 in England. As Europe’s largest franchisee of Holiday Inn Express hotels,  Atlas Hotels wields considerable influence in driving impactful sustainability initiatives.

Claire Waddington, Head of Projects, Atlas Hotels, concludes: “For Atlas Hotels, sustainability is more than just a buzzword, it’s key to our operation. Our biggest hurdle was deciding where to focus and how to bring together all our sustainability initiatives into a single programme with clear targets. The FuturePlus platform, alongside their expert guidance, has played a significant role in bringing clarity, structure and a useful external perspective. The innovation at FuturePlus means their tools develop with new legislation and emerging trends so that we’re never caught off guard.”

Below is the list of IMPACT CERTIFIED hotels which travellers can book with the assurance that they not only meet hallmark sustainable standards but are also constantly working to improve upon their achievements.

Following a banner year for hotel technology investments,  Maestro PMS, the leader in All-In-One cloud hosted, private cloud and on-premises property-management systems for independent hotels and luxury resorts, unveiled its development roadmap for 2025, replete with features, integrations and capabilities the industry has been requesting. New additions to Maestro’s software roadmap include enhancements requested by hotel customers, interface updates to overhaul how hotels use Maestro’s groundbreaking property-management system and unique innovations. As a result, these investments will empower Maestro PMS users with the most flexible, impactful PMS available to independent hoteliers today.

“Hoteliers have not been shy about asking for technology innovations, and Maestro has been hard at work—not just listening,” said Warren Dehan, President of Maestro PMS. “From payment processing to document management and refreshed interfaces, we are updating Maestro PMS to ensure our hotel partners are prepared to operate in today’s changing environment. Thanks to our experienced operations team and close relationships with hoteliers, we are uniquely positioned to help support independent operators with a strong foundation backed by our AI-powered booking engine and chat concierge. Our features are only growing more expansive every day.”

Embedded Payments Branch Out

After successfully rolling out its digital embedded payment capabilities to the U.S. market in 2024, Maestro PMS is continuing to roll out its seamless payment experience to Canada this year. This technology helps preserve your brand’s identity throughout the payment-processing experience, reduces instances of chargebacks or fraud, and simplifies everything for hoteliers and guests. Independent hotels adopting a unified payment-processing strategy can access these features unencumbered by the front desk and help operators and customers comply with all payment-processing requirements.

Maestro has also listened to user feedback to further bolster its payment processing features. The company has made further updates to its widely adopted payment processing system’s user interface since its debut, and these innovations will all be present during its continued USA and Canada rollout this year. Today’s hotel partners will benefit from a streamlined guest payment portal supported by a fully integrated payment platform

“Payment processing has become an important feature in the hotel PMS thanks to its wide-reaching connections to other hotel technologies and departments,” Dehan said. “Through an embedded payments strategy, hotels can retain invaluable payment data while keeping everything else secure. These strategies are necessary for building a stronger base of clean data hoteliers can work with to improve operations and profitability over time.”

Listening and Learning

Much of Maestro’s 2025 development roadmap was developed based on discussions and feedback from hotel partners. Thanks to this feedback, Maestro plans to adjust its internal client document management processes, which are integrated directly into its PMS. Feedback has also led to expanding features and functions, such as automated deposit requests and enhancing responses to no-shows and cancellations.

Later this year, Maestro also plans to continue enhancing its sales and catering dashboard to help customers remain efficient and profitable. Hoteliers can look forward to updated module management capabilities for this and other departments, such as spas and owner management, to widen the breadth and depth of operator control over each of their properties.

“Maestro has spent a great deal of time and effort advancing its lauded sales and catering modules, which have been wildly successful for hoteliers, but it is time to revisit those features with new enhancements,” Dehan said. “Our hotel clients have provided invaluable feedback to continue advancing these capabilities. They are looking for expanded functionality, and their suggestions are significant enough to warrant further investment in our sales and catering capabilities to remain competitive and innovative.”

Integrations

Maestro is also continuing to expand its base of integrations and partnerships in 2025, starting with direct integration with Booking.com. This integration is highly desired by hoteliers, allowing them to avoid working with third-party channel managers by directly connecting with Booking.com.

“Hoteliers have been asking for integration with Booking.com for years, and we are excited to make it a reality in 2025,” Dehan said. “This level of integration will set a new bar for independent hoteliers and create a more level playing field for operators working with third-party online travel agencies. These capabilities are a long time coming for hoteliers, and we are honored to play a part in delivering them.”

Enhancement details will be discussed at Maestro’s Accelerate User Conference, to be held September 22-25 in Toronto. Maestro PMS users can register for the event by clicking here.