A study of independent U.S. hotels · 2026

How independent hotel owners decide on guest-facing AI, and what happens next

If you own or run an independent hotel in the United States, your experience with guest messaging, chatbots, digital check-in and similar tools has never been studied. This 15-minute survey asks you directly, whether you use these tools or have decided not to.

Take the survey About 15 minutes · no account needed · confidential

60,776lodging establishments in the U.S.
9 in 10employ fewer than 50 people
0published studies have asked U.S. independent owners about AI

Who the study is for

You qualify if your property is not operated under a national or international brand flag (soft-brand collections are fine), and you make or approve technology purchases for it.

Both adopters and non-adopters are needed. If you have never used a guest-facing AI tool, your answers about why matter as much as anyone's.

What the survey asks

Which tools you use, considered, or never looked at, tool by tool.
What drove the decision: cost, expected results, ease of setup, who recommended it, what you did not trust.
If you adopted: what changed for your staff and your guests, in your own words.
If you did not: what stopped you, and what would change your mind.

There are no right answers. The survey ends with an optional offer to answer three follow-up questions by email or a 15-minute call, at a time you choose.

What you get

Every participant receives the practitioner report when the study closes: what owners like you decided, what it cost, what worked, what did not, and what non-adopters are waiting for. It is written for owners, not academics.

How your answers are protected

No property or person is named in any output. Results are reported in aggregate or with descriptors like "a 40-room midscale property in the Midwest."
Your email is optional and used only to send the report or the follow-up you agreed to.
Data are stored encrypted, accessible only to the researcher, and retained for five years.
You can stop at any point. Participation is voluntary.

Who is conducting it

Elena Smolenskaia, MBA candidate (concentration in AI applied in business), with a background in organizational strategy and transformation consulting. The study is independent: no vendor, association or other party funds it. Its design, questions and analysis plan were registered publicly before any data were collected, on the Open Science Framework at osf.io/wymq7.

Questions

My hotel is part of a soft-brand collection. Do I qualify?

Yes, as long as you hold the technology purchasing decisions for the property.

I manage several independent properties.

Answer for one property, the one you know best. If you would like to answer for another, use the survey link again and say so in the open-text section.

I use AI only in the back office (pricing, scheduling).

You still qualify. The survey records back-office tools separately and treats you as a non-adopter of guest-facing tools, which is a group the study needs.

Will I see the results?

Yes. Say so at the end of the survey and the practitioner report comes to you when the study closes.

Will my answers be shared with vendors or associations?

No. Individual responses are never shared with anyone. Only aggregate results are published.

Contact

Questions about the study, or an owner who should hear about it:

research@ellenmckinsey.com

Take the survey Open to U.S. independent hotel owners and general managers