Hot off the presses as of August 27: We’ve been talking about AI eventually booking hotels instead of just recommending them. Well, “eventually” is starting to look a lot like today. Google has started rolling out hotel booking directly inside AI Mode in the U.S., letting travelers search, compare, select a room and complete the booking without leaving the Google experience.
The initial lineup includes Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Choice, Wyndham, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Priceline and Trip.com. Google is also adding the ability to see hotel prices in loyalty points.
Of course, we immediately tried it. AI Mode is getting much better at finding and comparing hotels, but we haven’t seen the new booking functionality yet. Google says it will roll out over the coming weeks, so we’ll keep trying and report back.
The traditional Google search → hotel/OTA → booking engine funnel is starting to get compressed into a conversation. And once again, the OTAs and big brands are first through the door. Amadeus is also working with Google to help bring independent hotels into the agentic booking world, but other hotel tech companies need to move fast or their customers risk getting left behind as this new distribution channel takes shape.
We’ve been beating this drum for a while: AI discoverability, clean hotel data, accurate rates and availability, and solid connectivity are quickly moving from “interesting” to “strategic imperative.”
Want to dive deeper? See Google’s announcement
