In the hospitality industry, people make the difference

There is a moment in every exceptional hotel stay that is impossible to manufacture. It might be a greeting that makes a guest feel expected rather than merely checked in. A recommendation that turns out to be exactly right. A small act of care that nobody asked for, and nobody forgot.

These moments are what guests return for, what they tell their friends about, and what no system or software has ever been able to replicate. They come entirely from people, and from workplaces that give those people the conditions and  opportunities to be brilliant. That is the investment that matters most in this industry, and it is one that many operators undervalue Hotels need to more carefully evaluate how the technologies they adopt are used and their impact on staff to ensure they enhance both their employees’ experience and the value delivered to guests.

Find the right balance

Deloitte’s research into front-line workforce trends found that 60 per cent of workers in hospitality say employee turnover has increased as their organisations incorporate worker data with AI and related technologies. Hospitality Action’s 2025 Taking the Temperature survey found that 57% of professionals already cite under-staffing as their greatest challenge, up 21% on the previous year. Over half of guests still favour human interaction when they stay.

This is not an argument against technology. Used well, and with people at the centre of the thinking, smarter systems can streamline operations, reduce the administrative load on managers and staff, and give teams more time to do what they are actually there to do: engage, anticipate, delight. Technology introduced without proper consideration for the people it affects does not make a hotel run better. It makes its best people leave faster. The result, when the balance is right, is a workplace where people want to stay and a guest experience that keeps people coming back.

The test every hotel owner should apply before any new investment is simple: does this give our people more time and space to do what they do brilliantly, or does it take something away from them. Technology that passes that test is worth having. The rest, however impressive it looks, is a distraction from the things that actually build a reputation.

The investment that compounds

Staff who feel supported, valued and proud of where they work bring something to a hotel that cannot be hired or installed. They accumulate knowledge, of the building, the guests, the rhythms of the place, that becomes part of what makes a stay memorable. They create the atmosphere that guests describe when they recommend a hotel to a friend. And they stay, which matters enormously in an industry where the cost of losing and replacing experienced people is significant and often underestimated. When a good member of the team leaves, the knowledge they carry of the guests, the building, the way a service runs on a busy night, leaves with them. Training a replacement takes time and money. But the subtler loss, of the relationships built over years, is harder to recover.

At Burgh Island, we employ 75 staff year-round, rising to 95 in summer, and we are the largest employer in the local area. We have invested £1m in staff accommodation in a part of Devon where the average property price now exceeds £418k, and every member of staff has access to Health Assured’s Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 confidential support.

The hotel’s screen-free environment and 1920s Art Deco character create a setting where this commitment runs through everything, and guests feel it from the moment they arrive. This investment in our people ensures that the service they deliver is genuine, attentive, and impossible to replicate through automation alone.

Give staff the opportunity to be exceptional

The experience lives in the people delivering it. Loyalty, from guests and staff alike, is won and kept by whether those people are supported, valued, and given the conditions to be exceptional. In an industry that is selling something no algorithm can replicate, this remains the investment that matters most.