News Briefs

Bilt Rewards has launched a new luxury travel platform called "Home Away from Home," available exclusively to its Gold and Platinum status members. Developed in partnership with the luxury travel network Virtuoso, the program allows members to book stays at iconic and high-end hotels worldwide, such as Le Sirenuse in Positano and Raffles Singapore.

When booking through the platform, members receive elite Virtuoso benefits, including potential room upgrades, daily breakfast for two, early check-in/late check-out, and a $100 property credit at select hotels. Every booking also includes access to a dedicated Bilt Travel Concierge, powered by Virtuoso travel advisors, to assist with trip planning. The initiative extends Bilt's "neighborhood" rewards concept to global travel, positioning these hotels as cultural hubs.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has partnered with Grubhub to offer on-demand delivery to its guests and team members across nearly 6,000 hotels in the United States. Through the new partnership, both guests and hotel employees can activate a complimentary six-month Grubhub+ membership.

This membership provides benefits such as $0 delivery fees on eligible orders, lower service fees, and a 5% credit on pickup orders for items ranging from restaurant meals to everyday essentials. The offer can be accessed via the Grubhub app or by scanning QR codes at participating hotels, which include brands like Days Inn, La Quinta, and Super 8. The initiative aims to enhance the on-property experience by providing greater convenience.

A new report from travel tech company 123Compare.me, the "World Parity Monitor," introduces a behavioral framework to help hoteliers identify the true sources of hotel rate undercutting. Based on pricing data from 188 Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and metasearch engines in June 2025, the report argues that not all intermediaries pose the same threat to a hotel's rate integrity.

The company has developed a new model that segments intermediaries into three distinct behavioral profiles:

1. Disruptive: These channels, such as Booking.com, Expedia, and high-risk resellers like Traveluro, frequently and independently undercut official hotel rates. They are identified as the primary drivers of price damage.
2. Reactive: This group, including regional OTAs like Bluepillow and metasearch sites like Trivago, contributes to rate disparity but typically does so in reaction to broader market pressure rather than initiating the undercutting.
3. Passive: These intermediaries, like Kayak or Skyscanner, have a minimal impact, rarely undercutting rates and almost never doing so alone.

Jordi Serra, CEO of 123Compare.me, states that this new model allows hotels to move beyond surface-level data and understand the systematic behavior behind price disparities. The report urges hoteliers to shift their strategic focus from visibility (which channels appear most often) to traceability (which channels actually trigger the initial price cut). The ultimate goal is to provide revenue and distribution teams with actionable data to manage their partnerships, prioritize actions against disruptive players, and regain control over their pricing strategy.

The Paris-based hotel group, Frenchospitality, has chosen the eviivo platform to centralize operations across its diverse portfolio of hotels, apartments, and hybrid properties in Europe. The switch was made to find a more cost-effective and integrated solution.

Since adopting eviivo, Frenchospitality has achieved significant results:

• Reduced Technology Costs: Tech spending has been cut by 75%, dropping from 4% of annual revenue to just over 1%. This translates to potential savings of up to €9,000 per month for a 40-room hotel.
• Platform Consolidation: The group replaced multiple systems—including its PMS, channel manager, CRM, and booking engine—with eviivo's single, centralized platform.
• Payment Savings: By using eviivo's flexible payment functionality, Frenchospitality was able to keep its preferred payment gateway, saving over 1% on credit card transaction fees.
• Increased Direct Bookings: The direct booking rate across pilot properties has risen to 35%, well above the industry average of around 20%, a success attributed to eviivo's booking engine and guest communication tools like WhatsApp integration.

Following the successful pilot, Frenchospitality plans to roll out the eviivo platform across its entire expanding portfolio.

Remington Hospitality is partnering with the technology company Smart Hotel Manager to adopt its "Live Safety" platform, a mobile-first app designed to modernize hotel emergency preparedness. The initiative aims to replace outdated, paper-based safety binders with a digital system that provides staff with instant, multilingual access to location-specific emergency protocols.

A successful pilot program at seven Remington properties demonstrated that the platform improved the consistency of onboarding, increased staff confidence, and was easy to use. The collaboration is now expanding to additional Remington hotels. Based on feedback, Smart Hotel Manager is adding new features like push notifications to help mobilize staff faster during emergencies. This partnership reflects a broader industry shift away from static, manual safety plans toward dynamic, mobile-friendly solutions that improve compliance, training, and real-time response.

As summer 2025 ushers in record-breaking travel volumes, hotels are facing an equally intense surge in cyberattacks. VikingCloud’s 2025 State of Hospitality Cyber Report report reveals that 82% of North American hotels experienced a successful cyberattack during the 2024 peak season, with 66% reporting increased attack frequency and 50% noting greater severity during summer months. The threat landscape is growing more dangerous, especially as cybercriminals adopt AI-driven tools that outpace hotel defenses.

Key vulnerabilities include POS systems, guest Wi-Fi, and front desk technology—systems essential to daily operations and guest trust. Downtime caused by attacks frequently lasts over 12 hours and can result in millions of dollars in losses, reputational damage, and even permanent hotel closures. Despite this, many properties still rely on outdated infrastructure, lack robust incident response plans, and fail to adequately train staff, including seasonal workers.

Hotels are underprepared across multiple fronts:

• Only a fraction have implemented advanced cybersecurity measures.
• Nearly half lack confidence in their teams' ability to detect or respond to AI-driven attacks.
• 40% cite outdated technology as a major risk.
• 22% do not regularly train staff to identify cyber threats.
• 30% have no plans to partner with managed security service providers (MSSPs), despite evidence showing MSSPs reduce breach recovery time.

The report positions cybersecurity as not just an IT concern—but as a core component of the guest experience and business continuity.

What’s at Risk—and What You Must Do Next

• 🛡️ Cyberattacks are now a seasonal inevitability—prepare as you would for any other peak-season operational challenge.
• ⚠️ POS, Wi-Fi, and front desk systems are top targets—prioritize securing these assets immediately.
• 🤖 AI is a double-edged sword—attackers are using it faster than hotels are defending against it.
• 📉 Downtime equals lost revenue and trust—a weak incident response plan can amplify damage.
• 📚 Training seasonal and full-time staff is essential—untrained staff are your biggest vulnerability.
• 🧑‍💻 MSSPs provide a competitive edge—they offer around-the-clock protection and faster incident resolution.
• 💸 Reputation and revenue are both on the line—cybersecurity is now a frontline concern for guest satisfaction and long-term viability.