Navan, a travel and expense management platform, announced Hotel Concierge by Ava, the latest in a series of generative AI advancements from the company’s automated virtual assistant, Ava. Acting as a “hyper-personalized concierge,” according to the announcement, Ava can now provide tailored recommendations informed by travelers’ individual preferences and booking patterns to increase efficiency and help frequent travelers stay one step ahead.
The process of trip planning — which can take hours of research — is now done in a matter of seconds, saving time for travelers, according to Navan. Weaving in publicly available information, such as destination location and hotel reviews, customers are shown a curated selection of hotels within company policy and ranked by the best option for the traveler, based on preferences.

Ariel Cohen, CEO, said that when he visits new cities, finding a hotel that meets his preferences can be a bit of a gamble. With Concierge by Ava, he said, “we are removing that guesswork — personalizing business travel, saving time, increasing efficiency, and enabling road warriors like me to fully focus on the job at hand.”

Ava will now fill out forms, optimize a travel search around traveler preferences, provide context on suggested bookings, and instantly scour the Navan database of reviews to help travelers plan the perfect stay.

To replicate the heightened level of service by travel agents with deep knowledge of an individual traveler, Ava analyzes each user’s individual booking patterns to provide recommendations based on preferences such as:

Loyalty program memberships
Favored hotel type
Historically preferred amenities (breakfast, gym, pool, pet friendly, etc.)
Room size (square footage, bed size)
Distance from the company office or other landmarks

Ilan Twig, chief technology officer, said that with Concierge by Ava, “the cumbersome process of searching, clicking, sorting, and comparing to find your perfect hotel is now a thing of the past.” He said Ava “has broken out of the chat box and interacts directly with the Navan platform, taking the work out of travel planning — the latest in our mission to make travel and expense easy through relentless innovation and magical user experiences.”