The hidden revenue is in how your hotel answers the phone

Revinate has published its 2026 Secret Shopped Call Report, an exercise as uncomfortable as it is useful: 308 mystery calls to luxury and upscale hotels to see what happens on the other end of the line when a potential guest wants to book. The report, featured by Hospitality Net on its podcast, points to a clear split: AI can absorb routine queries, the ones repeated a hundred times a day (hours, parking, pets, wifi), while the human agent remains decisive for high-value bookings, where a well-handled conversation turns into direct revenue.

To me this is one of the most underused opportunities in a hotel budget. Many properties spend on acquisition campaigns, on OTAs, on pricing tools, and leave the booking line in the hands of whoever is least equipped to convert. Automating the trivial frees up team minutes for the calls that actually close, and that saving shows up on the P&L.

My read is simple: if you do not know what your own booking calls sound like, you have a revenue leak that neither your PMS nor your channel manager will tell you about. Auditing is free, and what you find can change how you staff your team and where you deploy AI.