How should I write my hotel description so AI search engines use it accurately?

Write your hotel description for AI by leading with four facts: property type, exact location, number of rooms, and the one thing that makes you different from every other hotel in your category and neighbourhood. Then add precise proximity data (distances to specific landmarks in minutes on foot), the exact guest types you are best suited for, and three to five specific attribute statements. Avoid marketing language ('best', 'luxurious', 'unique'). The AI does not use adjectives to make recommendations. It uses facts.

Should a hotel description use bullet lists or prose for proximity data?

Prose. Bullet lists in website copy are sometimes stripped or deprioritised by AI crawlers, while prose reads more reliably across systems.

How to write a hotel description that AI search will actually use

Q: Should a hotel description mention amenities the property does not have?

Yes, negatives are useful too. An AI that knows a hotel has no pool and no lift can correctly exclude it from queries looking for those features, and correctly include it in queries from guests who don't care about them.

Why do most hotel descriptions fail at AI search?

Most hotel descriptions fail because they are written in adjectives for humans who need convincing, and AI systems do not use adjectives to make recommendations: they match specific attributes against specific query terms. “Luxurious”, “stunning”, “world-class” and “unforgettable” describe feelings and aspirations, and are deliberately vague about price and specific about nothing.

When generating an answer to “family-friendly hotel near the Natural History Museum in London under £200 a night”, “World-class experience” does not match anything. “Family rooms with bunk beds, 7-minute walk from the Natural History Museum, rates from £150” does.

What four facts should open a hotel description?

Every hotel description should open with four facts in the first two sentences: property type, specific location, room count, and the one thing that differentiates it from every other property in the same category and neighbourhood.

What type of property it is (hotel, boutique hotel, B&B, guesthouse, resort, apartment)
Where it is specifically (neighbourhood and city, or district and landmark proximity)
How many rooms it has (scale signal for AI)
The one thing that makes it different from every other property in the same category and neighbourhood

Example of a good opening: “The Meadowbank House is a 19-room boutique hotel in Edinburgh’s New Town, two minutes’ walk from Princes Street Gardens. It occupies a converted Georgian townhouse and has the only rooftop terrace with unobstructed Castle views in this part of the city.”

Example of a bad opening: “Welcome to Meadowbank House, where luxury meets heritage in the heart of Edinburgh. Discover an unforgettable stay in our beautifully appointed rooms.”

The first example gives AI systems four matching attributes in two sentences. The second gives them nothing matchable at all.

What proximity information should a hotel description include?

After the four-fact opening, add explicit proximity data: distances to relevant landmarks in minutes on foot, the nearest public transport link and its distance, the nearest airport and approximate travel time, and any relevant location advantages (quiet street vs. central location, views, noise level). This powers location-based queries, which are among the most common travel AI searches.

Write it in prose, not a bullet list. Bullet lists in website copy are sometimes stripped or deprioritised by AI crawlers. Prose reads more reliably.

Example: “The hotel is a 2-minute walk from Princes Street, 8 minutes from Waverley Station and 12 minutes from Edinburgh Castle. The Royal Mile is a 10-minute walk downhill. Edinburgh Airport is approximately 30 minutes by tram from the Princes Street tram stop, 400 metres from the hotel.”

How should a hotel description signal which guest types it suits?

A description should explicitly name the guest types a property is best suited for and why, matching the guest-type signals AI systems receive in queries such as “family with teenagers”, “solo female traveller”, “business trip”, “romantic anniversary” or “group of friends”.

“The hotel is particularly well-suited to couples visiting Edinburgh for the first time, solo travellers who prefer small, quiet properties, and literary tourists: the hotel is in the same street where Robert Louis Stevenson grew up.”

What kind of attribute statements should close a hotel description?

Close with three to five attribute statements that are specific, factual and matchable, not adjectives.

“The hotel restaurant serves Scottish breakfast until 10:30am. All rooms have blackout curtains and no-street-facing noise. The hotel has no lift and four rooms involve stairs. Parking is available at a public car park one block away at £18 per day.”

Note that negatives are useful too. An AI that knows your hotel has no pool and no lift can correctly exclude it from queries looking for those features, and correctly include it in queries from guests who don’t care about those features.