New York – October 15, 2026 -- Travelers will let AI monitor hotel rates (63%) and translate in real time (56%), but only 44% want it planning itineraries and 41% want it personalizing their room, according to a Mews survey of 3,250 travelers.
The dividing line is whether a task is a chore or a choice. Price alerts and translation require accuracy and speed rather than personal knowledge of the guest. Itineraries and room setup are personal, and 57% of respondents would rather stay in control of their trip than hand decisions to an AI acting on their behalf.
Guests accept AI on shared data but resist inferred data
Travelers are more comfortable with AI using information they knowingly gave a hotel: 61% accept stated preferences and 56% accept past stay history. Acceptance falls for data collected about them, to 43% for online behavior and 34% for external and social data.
In the US, 63% are happy for AI to draw on past stay history. In Spain, 72% would be more willing to use AI-enabled services with transparency and control over their data, the strongest response on that measure.
Willingness drops in every market once AI runs a live moment of the stay
In every surveyed country, travelers are less willing to use AI during a stay than when planning ahead. UK travelers show the most functional mindset: 30% rate personalization during a stay as important, against a 40% average.
Italy and Spain are the most enthusiastic markets. Italian travelers are the most likely to expect check-in with no front desk (58% vs. 42% on average) and the most optimistic about AI's role in five years (51% vs. 39% on average). Spain shows the most positive attitude to AI overall, at 58%. Italy and Spain are the only two countries significantly more positive than the rest of the sample.
Mews says automation should target admin, not personal moments
Josef Starýchfojtů, CPTO of Mews, said guests want to decide whether a task is done for them or with them, and that misjudging this makes even good AI feel intrusive.
Mews advises hoteliers to automate price tracking, translation and instant communication, and to base personal touches on what guests have told them directly. The company says the hotels gaining most from AI are not those with the most automation, but those that know which moments to keep human.
The survey was conducted in July 2026 across France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.