NEW YORK—A new joint report by Skift and Mews, titled “Why Hotels and Their Investors Are Leaving Millions on the Table,” challenges the assumption that success should be measured by rooms sold.
For decades, occupancy rates, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR) have been the hospitality industry’s benchmarks for performance. But according to the report, this “room-first” mindset no longer reflects how value is created in modern hospitality. Guests today expect experiences, flexibility, and meaningful connections, and hotels that only optimize for heads in beds are missing major growth opportunities.
“Hospitality isn’t just about rooms anymore—it’s about relationships,” said Matt Welle, chief executive officer of Mews. “When you shift your mindset from maximizing room revenue to maximizing guest value, you unlock new sources of income, loyalty, and long-term growth.”
From Rooms to Relationships
The report highlights a growing shift from room-based performance metrics to more guest-centric measures such as Revenue per Available Guest (RevPAG), which captures the total value of each guest interaction.
Lifestyle brands like Ennismore, for example, now generate over 60 percent of their revenue from non-room sources such as food & beverage, coworking, and events.
Community Value
Some operators are reimagining their properties as community spaces that serve locals as well as travelers. Examples include Staypineapple Boston, where a neighborhood bar, the Trophy Room, has changed the hotel lobby into a public hub, and Paradise Resort Gold Coast, which increased revenue and satisfaction by packaging experiences such as water-park access and spa bookings around unified guest profiles.
Nearly one-third of hotels on the Mews platform now offer additional bookable services such as parking, coworking, or memberships. Between 2024 and 2025, the number of hospitality businesses using Mews Spaces, which powers these non-room bookings, nearly doubled from 1,179 to 2,223. In the same period, reservations rose by more than 230 percent, highlighting the industry’s accelerating shift toward diversified, experience-led revenue.
Technology as an Enabler
Technology has played a key role in this transformation. The report includes Swiss Hotel Apartments, which connects guest data across departments to deliver tailored service across 48 properties, and Strawberry, which uses flexible systems and AI tools to streamline check-in, housekeeping, and communications while keeping service personal.
“Technology doesn’t replace hospitality, it reveals it,” said Richard Valtr, founder of Mews. “When digital systems handle the complexity, staff have more time to focus on what guests truly remember: feeling seen and cared for.”
The Skift x Mews study concludes that hotels focused solely on room sales are leaving millions in potential revenue on the table. Guest-centric, community-based strategies not only enhance the guest experience but also strengthen long-term asset value.
