The hospitality industry will continue to change in unpredictable ways in 2026. This evolution will impact various areas, including guestroom entertainment, as hoteliers continue to adapt to the progression of technology. Enseo has navigated this dynamic landscape since the company was founded in 2000, long before the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, while seeking to create innovative guest-facing services. The company celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2025, and it is prepared to embrace the next advancements in hospitality solutions. Chief Executive Officer Brian Gurley believes that the recent trends, specifically regarding guestroom entertainment, will shape the near future.
“What’s going on in 2026 is an extension of 2025,” Gurley told LODGING. “The trends are uber personalization and reliability, really the customers, the guests in the room. The guests are expecting a higher level of service. At home, they have smart TVs, casting apps, and Netflix. When they travel, they expect to be able to bring that experience with them to the hotel room. For the properties, they’re looking for reliability and making sure they extend the brand. Behind WiFi, TV is central to the guest experience and to extend the brand into the room.”
AI and Pricing
Given the improvements in guestroom technology, expectations continue to rise. However, operators and owners are looking to reduce costs, especially as performance has fallen short of expectations and wages have continued to rise in recent years. Gurley stated that Enseo aims to help clients cut down on operating expenses, using AI and other tools for predictive analysis to examine both the environment and specific properties and pieces of equipment. He noted that, in doing so, they can be proactive and replace technology before it fails so hotels won’t have rooms out of service. This utilization of AI is evident throughout the hospitality industry, and Gurley detailed how companies are using it to improve the guest experience in various ways.
“What guests are expecting out of the guestroom entertainment businesses is to integrate with those platforms because they’re using AI in their PMS or even in their point-of-sale system to do dynamic pricing,” he said. “They want to be able to feed that through into the guestroom entertainment experience. So, for example, they’re using dynamic pricing for their bar or restaurant. If they have events, if there’s a game and they’re increasing pricing during the game at the bar, or if they have weekend pricing and weekday pricing, and that’s being driven by AI or their systems, they want those integrations to be able to bring that into the guestroom. So, when there’s a guest request, or they pull up the dining menu, the pricing is then updated, and they don’t have to manage multiple systems.”
Future-Proofing Hotels
It is hard to predict how technology will evolve, especially in the guestroom entertainment space, given the ongoing growth of AI and the introduction of new products. In a recent whitepaper, Enseo emphasized the importance of considering future innovations. Gurley elaborated on this perspective by discussing how owners and operators can future-proof their properties.
“They need to choose a provider that provides flexibility and has history in the industry,” Gurley continued. “That can help them navigate what they’re purchasing, what is best for them, and when the upgrade cycle is. With Enseo, we’re continuing to innovate, and we help educate the property and consumers. They have a lot of things to purchase, and we help through our customer success group on a quarterly basis, not just in the sales when we first sell it, but to help educate them on what new features are and what they are looking for. We collaborate and partner and work with them to develop features.”
Despite the unpredictable nature of technological growth, the recent past provides a preview of the future of guestroom entertainment. Beyond their traditional usage, guestroom TVs give properties ample opportunities to advertise and serve guests. Gurley expressed his belief that, moving forward, this pattern will continue as hotels look to utilize TVs in new ways.
“Hotel owners are realizing that it’s not just for a linear TV anymore,” he explained. “It’s a large pane of glass in the room that provides opportunities for advertising information and enhanced guest experience. So, I think it’s just going to continue down that [path] as hotels transition from historically using setback boxes, your old cable box style of device, and they move to the smart TV platforms that give you access to more applications, whether it be Amazon Prime or how they extend past Netflix, and it’s using that TV as an advertising tool and interacting with the guest.”
