IHG Hotels & Resorts has launched AI-powered conversational hotel search across its digital channels, marking a major shift in how travellers can discover accommodation and move toward booking.
The beta launched in the United States on July 28, 2026, through IHG.com and the IHG One Rewards mobile app. Instead of relying only on fixed destination fields and filters, travellers can describe the type of stay they want using natural language.
The technology is designed to understand travel intent, preferences and desired amenities before suggesting relevant properties from IHG’s network of more than 7,000 hotels worldwide.
For the hospitality industry, the development demonstrates how artificial intelligence is moving closer to the centre of the travel booking journey.
Travellers can describe the experience they want
Traditional hotel searches often begin with a destination and dates before requiring travellers to choose from numerous filters.
IHG’s conversational search changes that process.
A traveller can instead describe requirements connected to a family holiday, business journey, city break or specific hotel facilities. The system interprets that context and presents hotels that may better match the intended experience.
IHG says the search experience can surface real-time availability, current pricing, interactive maps, hotel information and amenities.
This could help travellers progress more naturally from early trip inspiration to selecting a suitable property.
The system is particularly relevant to guests who may know the experience they want but have not yet decided which hotel or even which property brand best matches their needs.
IHG One Rewards becomes part of discovery
The conversational technology is also integrated with IHG One Rewards.
Travellers can explore accommodation using conventional paid rates while loyalty members can also consider points and combinations of points and cash.
That integration could simplify booking decisions for frequent travellers.
Rather than conducting several separate searches to compare reward and cash options, guests can incorporate loyalty preferences into their accommodation discovery journey.
IHG One Rewards has more than 160 million members, making the loyalty component potentially significant as conversational search expands into additional markets.
Verified hotel information supports recommendations
Accuracy remains one of the most important challenges surrounding AI-assisted travel planning.
IHG is addressing this by connecting conversational search with information within its own hospitality ecosystem. The supplied material states that recommendations are grounded in verified property information and guest reviews, while travellers can access current availability and pricing.
This approach can help travellers move beyond general inspiration toward commercially relevant accommodation choices.
However, guests should still review final room descriptions, rates, cancellation conditions, taxes and booking terms before completing a reservation.
IHG is also retaining its existing traditional search interface during the beta.
Therefore, travellers who already know their destination, hotel and dates can continue using familiar search tools.
United States becomes first test market
IHG is introducing conversational search through a phased deployment.
The United States is the first market, with expansion into multiple additional markets planned later.
The staged approach allows IHG to examine how travellers communicate complex accommodation requirements and refine results based on user behaviour and feedback.
Travel searches can include several considerations at once, such as location, price, facilities, loyalty preferences and the purpose of travel.
Understanding those combinations accurately will become increasingly important if conversational hotel search develops into a mainstream booking method.
IHG has not announced a complete timetable for international availability.
Hotels could gain greater digital visibility
The technology also has implications for hotel owners.
Conversational discovery may help properties appear when travellers search for experiences or amenities rather than specific hotel names.
For example, a traveller could request accommodation suitable for a certain type of holiday without knowing which IHG brand or individual property provides the required facilities.
IHG plans to support this shift with an AI-optimised hotel content platform rolling out over the coming months.
The platform is expected to allow hotels to provide richer content, including updated images, videos and floor plans.
Better property information could become increasingly valuable as AI systems attempt to match highly specific traveller requests with suitable accommodation.
More than 7,000 hotels power the platform
The scale of IHG’s portfolio gives conversational discovery considerable potential.
IHG reported a global system of about 1.036 million rooms at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Its development pipeline contained approximately 343,000 rooms across 2,347 hotels.
The company operates 21 hotel brands spanning luxury, lifestyle, premium, essentials and extended-stay accommodation.
For travellers, navigating such a large portfolio through conventional filters can require considerable effort.
Conversational search aims to reduce that complexity by focusing first on the traveller’s needs.
AI could reshape the hotel booking journey
IHG’s July launch forms part of a broader artificial intelligence and digital technology strategy.
The company had already announced conversational AI developments in June 2026 and has invested in cloud infrastructure and technology platforms designed to support digital services at scale.
Further capabilities are planned, including greater personalisation and agentic booking features.
Those future tools could eventually allow AI to participate in more stages of trip planning and reservation.
For now, the immediate transformation is simpler but significant.
Instead of requiring travellers to understand hotel categories, brands and multiple booking filters before beginning their search, IHG is allowing them to describe the trip they want to take.
That shift could reshape hotel discovery worldwide, making accommodation searches increasingly centred on traveller intent, experiences and personalised requirements rather than traditional booking fields alone.
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