Mollie’s, the UK budget luxe brand created by Soho House, is starting to embed agentic AI solutions into its operations.
Managing director Matthew Bell said that processing travel agent bookings used to involve a series of manual steps performed by an employee: “We now have an AI agent doing that for us.”
The AI agent knows when to escalate those bookings that need human attention, he added: “We now only deal with the exceptions rather than the rule.”
The success of agentic AI in this area points to the potential for applying it elsewhere, he said and advised other businesses interested in AI to start small: “We are bombarded with the importance of AI and there is pressure to do something with it. Just start in a single area, experiment, and you will see the benefits that it has, and then build it from there.”
The AI-agile advantage
The agility that small, independent businesses like Mollie’s have, combined with the relatively low cost of deploying AI (“it’s almost free, isn’t it?”) amounts to a significant competitive advantage over larger hotel brands, he suggested.
The other key deployment of AI at Mollie’s is in gaining meaningful insights from data. An enormous amount of data exists across a business like Mollie’s that is selling overnight stays plus food and beverage.
“Aggregating that data is really important and layering reporting across the top is fundamental,” he said.
Since its launch in 2019, a carefully designed tech stack has been central to Mollie’s business plan. While neon signs, burgers, shakes, and breakfast waffles hark back to a golden age of American comfort food and design, there is nothing retro about the smartphone-first guest journey, cashless operation, and EV charging bays.
The Mollie’s app means guests are recognised as soon as they arrive at a motel, automatically connected to the Wi-Fi and can check-in with a single click, have their digital key assigned and go straight to their room.
Bell joined Mollie’s nine months ago after more than a decade at CitizenM, where he helped scale that tech-first hotel brand from three to 33 hotels. The experience, he said, cemented his belief that “the customer sits at the heart of everything you do,” and that loyalty and advocacy come from “looking after them brilliantly.”
CitizenM: a tech-first model
Making its debut in 2008, CitizenM’s was one of the first hotel brands to eliminate desks from their lobby entrances, replace them with one-minute self-check-in kiosks and have hotel employees (known as ambassadors) on hand to provide personal hospitality and assistance.
Turning hotel lobbies into living room-stye spaces was an innovation at the time. “We were brave enough to go all in,” Bell said. “When the desk isn’t there, it challenges you. But once you’ve checked in at a kiosk, you realise - why did I ever stand at a desk in the first place?”
Bell was hired by Mollie’s for his proven track record in scaling operations, driving guest satisfaction and promoting sustainability.
Both CitizenM and Mollie’s use the Apaleo PMS at the core of their tech stacks, providing the flexibility to integrate various applications and tools.
At the time of CitizenM’s migration to Apaleo in early 2024, Mike Rawson, CIO of Citizen M, commented: “Our decision to adopt an API-first platform is futureproofing our business and guaranteeing our ability to move with the times.”
Bell echoed Rawson’s sentiments: “The world is changing faster, and the needs of the customer are changing faster. I can’t predict what I’ll be doing in a year or two years. So we want that in-built flexibility to adapt quickly, meet the needs of the market, and ultimately grow fast and scale up.”
Tech that focuses on delivering processes frees up employees to look after guests, he added: “And that’s what drives loyalty. That’s what encourages guests to leave a review and come back. It's going to bring down your distribution costs because people are going to book directly.”
Scaling up: from Manchester to Edinburgh
Following Oxfordshire (2019) and Bristol (2021), Mollie’s third and largest site opened in Manchester in December 2025. In a conversion of the former Granada television studios, Mollie’s first city-centre motel has 128 rooms and suites, a diner, cocktail bar and live music venue, gym, and its own contemporary art collection.
The original opening date was reportedly delayed by around three years due to the first construction contractor going into administration. Since then, Allied London has been the principal developer and owner of the mixed-use site, alongside Manchester City Council.
Mollie’s is owned by Nema Capital, the Mayfair-based investment firm founded by David Elghanayan. According to the latest Companies House filings, Mollie’s had a turnover of £10.4 million in 2024, up 4 percent on 2023, and made an adjusted EBITDA loss of £926,131. The loss represents the continued investment in the people, systems and infrastructure necessary to meet the company’s future expansion plans, the company said,
As of August 2025, Mollie’s had £11.8 million remaining available from an interest free loan facility of £25 million. The group is scheduled to open its fourth property in Edinburgh Park in 2028, according to the developer Parabola.
Matthew Bell, managing director, Mollie’s, was in conversation with Ulrich Pilau, founder and CEO, Apaleo, at the Annual Hospitality Conference 2025 in Manchester.