Every quarter our colleague Bridget Donofrio offers us, directly from the VDA Telkonet office in the United States, her personal point of view on the latest innovations in terms of technology, sustainability and energy saving to help hotel and non-hotel establishments remain competitive. 

Let’s read together her article for Bridget’s Suite April 2026. 

Gas prices in my neighborhood have jumped over a dollar a gallon in the last 4–5 weeks. That mirrors what’s happening across the U.S., where prices have climbed sharply in a very short time. 

About five weeks ago, when this whole geopolitical storm started brewing, my husband and I did what a lot of people probably did—we rushed to the gas station and filled our tanks before prices went even higher. Will it matter in the long run? No. But in that moment, it felt like we had a tiny bit of control. 

Right now, control feels like a luxury. Do you feel that way, too? 

We’ve also been tossing around ideas for our next vacation. Ireland has been on my list forever—I’m determined to get there at least once. We’ve even started looking at a few European destinations. (With the surname “Donofrio”, my husband would return to Italy over and over again.) 

Great timing, right? 

Jet fuel prices have surged, and airlines are already signaling fare increases and fuel surcharges. For a lot of would-be travelers, that’s enough re-think their plans. Trips get delayed. Plans get scaled back. “Maybe next year” starts to sound like the practical choice. 

And when travelers hesitate, hotels feel it almost immediately. 

It results in fewer bookings, shorter stays, and more last-minute cancellations. At the same time, the costs of running a property—especially energy—are climbing right alongside everything else. Heating, cooling, lighting… it all adds up quickly, and none of it is optional. 

If you’re a hotel manager, this creates a tough balancing act. You’re trying to maintain guest comfort and service levels while keeping a close eye on tightening margins. 

The good news? There are areas where you can take back some of that control. 

That’s where smart energy management and guest room automation come into play. 

VDA Telkonet’s GRMS (Guest Room Management System) and EMS (Energy Management System) solutions are designed to quietly do the heavy lifting behind the scenes. Think of it less as adding complexity, and more as removing the day-to-day friction that eats up time and energy—literally. 

For example, instead of relying on staff to manually adjust thermostats or check room status, rooms can automatically shift into energy-saving mode when unoccupied. Lights, temperature, and even certain devices can respond in real time based on whether a guest is present. 

No guesswork. No wasted energy. 

Multiply that across an entire property, and the impact becomes significant. 

On the operations side, centralized control gives your team visibility into what’s happening across the building—or across multiple buildings—without having to physically check each room. Maintenance teams can spot issues faster. Front desk staff can focus more on guests instead of fielding avoidable service calls. Managers get real-time insights that help them make smarter decisions, faster. 

And from the guest’s perspective? Everything just works. Rooms are comfortable when they walk in. Adjustments feel intuitive. The experience is seamless—which is exactly how it should feel. 

In a time when both travel demand and operating costs are unpredictable, solutions like GRMS and EMS are a practical way to stabilize what you can control. 

You can’t influence global fuel prices or geopolitical events. But you can reduce unnecessary energy spend. You can streamline your team’s workload. And you can create a better, more consistent experience for every guest who walks through your doors. 

And right now, that kind of control is worth a lot. 

And I’ll get to Ireland soon, I know it!