Hotels pry into guests' online lives to add a personal touch to their stay

SHHH. They can hear you. They’re listening as we speak—logging every word, tracing every step. Even tonight, while you sleep under your hotel-monogrammed duvet, rest assured that 20 stories below, in some undisclosed location, researchers are hard at work documenting your whims and wishes—Loves biking! Hates bananas!—trying to crack the profound mystery that is You...

For hotel companies, social media has essentially become a sanctioned form of eavesdropping. “Hotels have trained their staff to be intense listeners and mine information about their guests. This gives them a whole new realm in which to listen,” says Niki Leondakis, CEO of Commune Hotels & Resorts.