May 13, 2026
Hotel Equities CEO Talks HE Labs, Our New Innovation and Incubation Division, with Skift
Hotel owners see operating-cost inflation grinding margins. One third-party manager is publicly betting that AI and other technologies are the most promising route back to profitability.
The hotel industry has spent the better part of 5 years telling owners that record revenue per available room would offset inflation and restore profit margins. It hasn’t. Now one of the larger U.S. third-party managers is saying the quiet part out loud, and pitching AI as the way back.
“The industry as it is, is unsustainable,” said Ben Rafter, CEO of Hotel Equities, the Atlanta-based operator running more than 250 hotels.
“The flags [like Marriott and Hilton] themselves are doing quite well, but the flags can’t do well unless the asset-heavy owners do well, and the asset-heavy owners are not doing well,” Rafter said in an exclusive interview.
In response, Rafter has launched HE Labs to test and prioritize emerging technologies like AI and help its staff adopt the tools. The goal is to redirect margin to owners…
Read the full Skift article here.
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