Mews Says Guests Still Want a Human at the Front Desk: Q&A with Mews, Matt Welle

Mews makes a cloud property management system for hotels. In October it published a survey of 3,250 travelers in eight countries on where they want AI during a stay, which HospitalityTech Edition covered in Mews Survey Finds 89% of Guests Want a Hybrid Stay or Background AI. We sent Mews five questions by email. The company answered in writing and attributed the answers to its chief executive officer, Matt Welle.

1. Guests chose a human at all nine touchpoints you tested. How has that changed what Mews builds for the front desk?

It has confirmed something we hear from hoteliers constantly: most guests happily use technology, but they don’t necessarily want it to replace the people at the heart of hospitality. In our survey of 3,250 travelers across eight countries, 53% of respondents said they’d use AI features if offered. But when they had to choose between a person and AI for a real interaction, only 21% chose AI.

When it comes to the front desk, the gap is wider. 66% of respondents prefer a human welcome (16% prefer AI), 58% prefer a human for check-in and to collect their key (21% AI), and 63% prefer dealing with a human if they have a complaint (17% AI).

While the research suggests many travelers prefer human interaction, many Mews customers successfully operate without a traditional front desk and use digital or self-service check-ins. This tends to cut queues at check-in while freeing hotel staff so they can focus on tailoring each guest’s experience. We build AI to take the routine work, so the team can focus on the moments that matter.

2. How did results for US and UK respondents differ from the eight-country total?

Neither market was more optimistic than average about AI’s role five years from now, but they differ in what they want from AI day to day.

• US: Travelers are the most comfortable with AI drawing on their past stays, at 63% versus 56% overall. US travelers are more open to AI that makes the stay faster and more personal, if it doesn’t replace people.
• UK: Travelers tend to see the benefits of AI as functional rather than exciting. UK travelers were the least likely to rate personalization during a stay as important, at 30% against the global average of 40%, and 52% of UK respondents are worried about losing the human touch.

3. Which behind-the-scenes task do hotels using Mews AI hand over first?

The one we hear about most from our customers is the night audit. With Mews, it runs automatically, so there’s no manual audit for the team to run. Some of our customers have saved an average of 4 hours a day.

And another task that most hotels start using Mews AI is to answer repetitive guest questions. Guest Messaging can answer up to 80% of typical questions instantly, such as pool hours, parking, late checkout, and breakfast. The survey results suggest guests are comfortable with this level of communication being automated.

4. How do hotels using Mews decide which guest requests route to staff and which to AI?

Each hotel controls which type of requests go to staff and which go to AI.

• Routine, well-defined questions, such as breakfast hours, parking, pool access or late checkout typically go to Mews AI, using the property’s own information to answer.
• Complex, ambiguous, or operational requests, such as a faulty AC, are routed by automation to the right staff team.
• Staff can see the full conversation in one inbox, so they can take over without making the guest repeat themselves.

The hotel also sets out how much autonomy AI has, and every autonomous action is logged, so the team can always see what AI did and why. In short, AI handles predictable information requests while staff are still responsible for judgement and the moments that matter to their guests. This matches what guests told us. They’re comfortable with AI handling repetitive tasks, but 75% still say good hospitality depends on people.

5. Mews sells AI features and ran this survey. How did you keep the questions from steering toward your own product?

Everyone is talking about AI, but the purpose of this survey was to learn how guests really think about it, not to steer towards what Mews does. To keep the research impartial, we took the following steps:

• No Mews branding: The survey wasn’t presented as Mews research, so respondents’ answers weren’t influenced by who was asking.
• Industry-standard response options: Our questions did not reflect any existing or planned Mews products or features, and the answer options followed standard industry categories.
• Broad sample beyond our customers: We surveyed 3,250 travelers across eight markets to gain a wider understanding, rather than focus on one type of traveler or market.
• Findings published as they are: We have published the findings, including those that challenge how our industry talks about AI.

Source: written answers from Mews to HospitalityTech Edition, 22 October 2026. Survey details: Mews press release.