Nemacolin

Donna Herto balances multiple roles with creativity and expertise. By day, she serves as the communications manager for a luxury resort in southwestern Pennsylvania, shaping compelling stories that bring hospitality to life. Beyond her full-time role, she works as a freelance writer, AI trainer and consultant, helping brands and individuals discover their unique voice. In her free time, Donna enjoys immersing herself in nature, experimenting with sourdough creations and planning her next adventure to a volcano.

Introduction

Technology has transformed hospitality, but it should never replace the heart of the industry: creating meaningful and unforgettable experiences. AI and automation play a critical role in streamlining operations and enhancing personalization, but if not carefully implemented, they risk making guest interactions feel robotic and impersonal. The challenge for hospitality professionals is to ensure that technology enhances, rather than detracts from, the warmth of human connection.

Teaching AI the Language of Experience and Connection

By training AI tools to recognize and prioritize experiential and relational language over procedural and detached language, hospitality brands can ensure that automation enhances, rather than detracts from, the guest journey.

Overuse of terms like “our,” “we,” and “us” can create a subtle barrier, making communication feel corporate rather than personal. When legal or operational contexts are needed such as stating a policy or crafting rules or guidelines, emphasizing possession might be necessary. However, when crafting content or training AI tools that invite guests or customers into an experiential story, words like “you” and “yours” deliver a connection and begin to paint a warm and engaging relationship with the guest.

“By training AI tools to recognize and prioritize experiential and relational language over procedural and detached language, hospitality brands can ensure that automation enhances, rather than detracts from, the guest journey”

So how do communication professionals train AI tools? The answer is: Use a combination of fine-tuning models, data curation and contextual reinforcement.

Below are five key strategies to refine AI for guest-centric messaging:

1. Curate High-Quality Training Data

AI models learn from the data they’re trained on — and from the professionals who train them. To guide AI output toward experiential and relational language:

• Use well-crafted hospitality and storytelling-driven content as training material.

• Remove or minimize transactional, corporate-sounding text from datasets and language.

• Feed the AI with immersive, guest-centric examples that evoke emotions and sensory experiences.

2. Use Fine-Tuned Prompts and AI Customization

• Use prompt engineering techniques that guide the AI to generate more engaging responses. Instead of: “List the available room types.” Use: “Describe the different room types as if you’re assisting a guest with choosing their perfect stay.”

• Fine-tune language models by training them on guest-centric messaging, emphasizing experience over features.

• Adjust responses based on reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), ensuring that outputs align with hospitality’s warm, relational tone.

3. Implement Sentiment and Tone Analysis

• AI can be trained to identify key experiential phrases (e.g., “Imagine yourself …” or “Step into luxury …”) versus detached phrases (“We offer …” or “Our resort has …”).

• Tools like tone detection models can flag language that feels too robotic, procedural, or transactional.

• Implement Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to analyze and rate AI-generated responses for warmth, engagement and emotional appeal.

4. Establish Post-Processing Refinements

• Apply automated filters and rewriting algorithms to refine AI-generated content before it reaches the guest, customer, or consumer.

• For example, if AI generates “Your check-in time is 3 p.m.,” a rule could refine it to: “We can’t wait to welcome you! Your retreat begins at 3 p.m. Let the relaxation begin the moment you arrive.”

• Monitor and adjust language for consistency and tone across all print, digital and AI-generated content to ensure that all interactions consistently reflect the desired guest and customer experience.

5. Incorporate Human Review and Continuous Learning

• Hospitality experts and content writers should review AI-generated text regularly to ensure it aligns with relational storytelling principles and the voice of your brand.

• Implement feedback loops — if the output or chatbot response is flagged as too transactional, refine the model and input, rewriting it based on human suggestions.

• A/B testing can compare guest engagement levels between AI-generated messages with different tones, further refining the system’s preferences.

AI-Driven Personalization That Feels Human

The promise of AI-driven personalization is powerful, but execution must be thoughtful. Consumers can tell the difference between a Donna Herto message that is truly curated for them and one that is simply pieced together by an algorithm pulling from data. The last thing hospitality brands want is for a guest to feel like they’re just a data point being targeted by a robotic message.

For example, instead of a standard AI-generated email that states:

“Based on your previous stay, we recommend these activities,”

A more engaging, guest-centered approach might be:

“During your last visit, you discovered the magic of our private beach cabanas. This time, why not explore a sunset cruise tailored just for you?”

By leveraging guest data in a way that feels human and connected rather than mechanical, hospitality brands can ensure that AI-driven digital communication mirrors the warmth of in-person service.

The Future of Hospitality AI

As AI becomes more integrated into guest interactions, its success will depend on how well it balances efficiency with emotional engagement. AI-driven automation should not merely provide information; it should enhance the guest experience, making every interaction feel as personal, engaging and memorable as the stay itself.

By implementing thoughtful AI strategies, hospitality brands can transform automated messaging from cold and mechanical to warm and inviting — ensuring that technology serves as an extension of, rather than a replacement for, genuine hospitality.