Marriott Bonvoy recently introduced an AI tool to help users search for vacation rentals through its Homes & Villas brand. The tool, which is available on desktop browsers only, is one of the first of its kind from a major hotel brand and allows users to search for rentals in natural language based on their preferences. Despite being experimental, the tool offers an early glimpse at how lodging search could evolve in the future, although there are still some kinks to be worked out.
During a test run of the AI tool, there were some issues encountered with the search functionality. For example, some prompts resulted in errors, while other prompts worked better after making adjustments. The results page displays pins on an interactive map and a list with links for booking, as well as AI-generated content about the destination, such as culture and weather information. However, the AI-driven results did not always include all available options, and there were discrepancies in the search results compared to a traditional manual search.
One major issue with the AI tool was that it did not always provide accurate results based on the user’s preferences. For example, when searching for rentals near the beach in Oaxaca, Mexico, the results included properties in inland areas that were not close to the beach. Similarly, a search for a pet-friendly home in Valencia that is close to the center and has three bedrooms yielded limited results that did not meet all the specified criteria.
Overall, the AI search tool by Marriott Bonvoy is still in the experimental phase and may not be reliable enough yet to completely replace traditional search methods. However, for those interested in how hotel search is evolving, it could offer a glimpse into the future of lodging search. While there are still some issues to be addressed, such as inaccuracies in search results and limited options compared to manual search, the tool represents an innovative approach to vacation rental search that could potentially improve over time.
