Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered commercial operating system Lighthouse has launched The Hotels Network app, offering direct booking for hotels inside ChatGPT.
The app is powered by Lighthouse’s Connect AI engine, open to all hotels including chains, groups and independent properties. Lighthouse acquired The Hotels Network last April for an undisclosed sum.
"AI is the biggest shift in how travelers plan their trips and discover hotels since Google," said Juanjo Rodriguez, head of direct booking at Lighthouse, adding that online travel agencies (OTAs) have already made the leap to AI discovery.
Launched last June, Lighthouse’s Connect AI is built on model context protocol, which other industry players such as Mirai have identified as a connector that will help hotels compete in the AI era.
Connect AI serves as a “live data bridge” between hotels and AI platforms, intended to evolve with AI ecosystem developments (such as WebMCP) and increase hotel visibility, Lighthouse said.
Within The Hotels Network app, hotels are listed with brand-verified content, including live rates and direct-booking links that redirect users to hotel’s websites to complete reservations. No changes are required to hotels’ websites, property management systems or booking engines for participation.
Rodriguez said The Hotels Network app gives properties more control over discovery.
Instead of relying on potentially outdated information or AI-scraped summaries, the app allows hotels to share their brand narrative and real-time information, ensuring that AI recommendations reflect actual experience. Hotels can also surface their own rates within the AI conversations, meaning they can offer competitive pricing and direct-booking benefits such as upgrades, loyalty perks and rate guarantees. Connect AI can also help hotels understand the questions travelers are bringing to AI.
“This isn't an incremental improvement,” Rodriguez said. “It's a new distribution channel.”
The app is available for hotels across the globe for a flat subscription fee. Lighthouse does not take a booking commission, and Rodriguez confirmed that hotels serve as the merchant of record.
“It’s a core infrastructure play; we don’t want to become a cheaper OTA,” he told PhocusWire.
The Hotels Network app joins several other travel brands that have already launched apps in ChatGPT, including Skyscanner, Expedia, Booking.com, Viator and hotel brands Hyatt and Accor.