Convergent Mediation Engineer - Evergreen

Lola is Booking.com's new AI travel agent. It promises personalized recommendations, live availbility and pricing. By Steve Dent Updated: Sept. 29, 2026 9:29 am EST Add Engadget on Google: Ever since AI agents came along, people have been trying to turn them into personal assistants that do things like book travel. Now, a new AI Assistant called Lola backed by Booking.com promises to do just that. It will offer "personalized recommendations, live availability and pricing, direct booking, preferred rates and benefits," the company said in its launch release. It can recommend and reserve a hotel, restaurant, events, activities or entire trips. The company's launch partners include ResX, BLADE, Aero, SeatGeek, GetYourGuide, Nuitee and Ten Group, plus Booking's own brands Booking.com, OpenTable, KAYAK, Priceline, Agoda and FareHarbor. The app can search real-time availability and pricing, letting users compare options and book in the same conversation. It understands natural language, asks follow-up questions and learns about users to make recommendations more personal. Lola is free, but there is a catch. In order to get certain services, you need to pay for a subscription plan.The Plus option is priced at $5 per month and VIP is $25 per month, both with 12 months commitments. For that, you'll get up to 15 percent discounts on four- and five-star hotels, complimentary Gold status for OpenTable reservations, priority access to events, premium airport services and a personal concierge. Lola appears to be one of the first dedicated AI agents for bookings and travel, but Meta's Muse arrived first with similar capabilities, letting you book events, hotels and flights. When Muse first launched, it caused travel booking stocks to fall over fears the AI agent could bypass dedicated travel sites altogether. It's worth remembering, however, that AI agents hallucinate and make mistakes. A legal firm cited one example where an AI concierge booked a non-refundable hotel for Naples, Florida instead of Naples, Italy where the traveler was flying. AI assistants can also create a "confirmed" status when a booking is still pending. Update 9/29/26 9:28am ET: CLEAR is not one of the launch partners for Lola. It's been removed from the earlier version of this story.

Booking.com criticised over fake property listings as customers sent to London pub address. Booking.com faces heavy criticism after fraudulent listings directed stranded tourists to a London Wetherspoons pub, exposing verification flaws. EXECUTIVE BRIEF Key Takeaways & Signal * Core Development: Booking.com faces heavy criticism after fraudulent listings directed stranded tourists to a London Wetherspoons pub, exposing verification flaws. * Beat Context: Categorized under Business with independent corroboration. * Reporting Depth: 4 minute analytical read synthesized from verified newsroom sources. Booking.com is facing mounting criticism over fraudulent property listings, with recent incidents leaving travellers stranded outside non-existent addresses and public authorities warning of regulatory enforcement. The controversy in the United Kingdom intensified after consumers arriving in the capital to visit attractions such as West End musicals found themselves directed not to luxury apartments, but to The Liberty Bounds, a Wetherspoons pub near Tower Bridge. According to Dimsumdaily, staff at the establishment were forced to turn away up to twenty confused tourists each day. The consumer group Which? revealed that the issue exposed systemic vulnerabilities in how digital travel platforms handle user verification and customer support during emergencies. In an effort to test the system, the watchdog managed to set up its own fake listing for 10 Downing Street on Booking.com earlier in the month following numerous reports from consumers about similarly deceptive listings. Media additions. Among those affected was Paul Dawson from Loughborough, who booked a one-night stay for his family at a purported property named The London Crown apartments. Days after paying seventy-three pounds, he received a suspicious email requesting bank details via an external link. Despite alerting Booking.com to the fact that the listed address belonged to a public house, customer support instructed him to attend the physical location and wait until after 7.00pm before any relocation could be considered. Mr Dawson expressed acute distress over the prospect of arriving late at night with his autistic children at a nonexistent property, yet platform representatives insisted on the physical attendance rule. The listing for the London Crown apartments remained visible on the site, bearing over two hundred and fifty negative reviews from recent months alongside a smaller number of suspected falsified positive ratings. Other customers described having their warnings ignored, including an incident where two women from Spain found themselves without accommodation in the early hours of the morning. Discover more Follow Federal Policy Stream History Documentaries Access Online Encyclopedias Compounding the platform's reliability concerns, tests conducted by consumer watchdogs revealed that Booking.com's artificial intelligence trip planner, Dot, failed to detect blatant anomalies. When asked whether The London Crown was legitimate, Dot described it as a genuine property equipped with free bikes and private parking, while placing it near Longleat Safari Park - more than a hundred miles away from London. Investigators also uncovered another fraudulent listing for "Apartments near Big Ben" using the address of Portcullis House, the parliamentary building where numerous Members of Parliament work. Booking.com attributed both the London Crown and Big Ben cases to sophisticated phishing attacks that temporarily hijacked the computer systems of genuine accommodation providers. Meanwhile, similar deceptive practices surfaced internationally. Major travel booking sites launched investigations into listings in Las Vegas where low-rated properties rebranded themselves under false names to attract unsuspecting visitors. Travellers attempting to avoid the OYO Hotel discovered that properties named Palette and Collection O had popped up online, featuring photos nearly identical to the OYO with AI-generated edits. A local influencer known as Vegas Starfish warned millions of followers after hotel employees messaged her to report that internal operations were in chaos. OYO stated that it sincerely regretted the confusion, attributing the issue to an advertising error while evaluating room categories under a dual-brand strategy before renovations and signage were fully completed. Booking.com and Expedia confirmed they were actively investigating the Las Vegas listings. Industry watchdogs have forcefully condemned Booking.com's crisis response. Rory Boland, travel editor at Which?, labelled the requirement for guests to visit fictitious addresses both reckless and dangerous, arguing that it shifts severe personal and financial risks entirely onto consumers. In response to mounting public pressure, Booking.com confirmed that bookings at the affected London properties have been suspended and support extended to impacted customers. Concurrently, regulatory bodies have signalled zero tolerance for non-compliance, with Ofcom reminding online platforms of their legal duties under the Online Safety Act to swiftly remove illegal user-generated content and confirming ongoing compliance investigations across more than one hundred digital sites. | Incident Location | Reported Deceptive Listing | Actual Address / Nature | Platform Response | | London, UK | The London Crown Apartments | The Liberty Bounds (Wetherspoons pub) | Suspended bookings and offered customer support | | London, UK | Apartments near Big Ben | Portcullis House (Parliamentary building) | Suspended listings following phishing investigations | | Las Vegas, USA | Palette and Collection O | OYO Hotel | Under active investigation by booking sites and property re-evaluations | As regulatory scrutiny intensifies, stakeholders will monitor whether automated safety tools and verification protocols can effectively prevent cybercriminals from exploiting accommodation accounts. Ofcom's broader investigations into online platforms continue, and further enforcement actions under the Online Safety Act are expected as authorities review how digital marketplaces police fraudulent content. READER INTELLIGENCE PULSE How significant is this development? Contribute your assessment to the aggregated reader sentiment ledger. Frequently asked questions. Key questions answered in this report What is the key development in: Booking.com criticised over fake property listings as customers sent to London pub address? Booking.com faces heavy criticism after fraudulent listings directed stranded tourists to a London Wetherspoons pub, exposing verification flaws. Why is this Business development significant for the UK? How was this reporting corroborated and verified?

Booking Holdings' stock fell 29% in the year to 23 September 2026, whilst the S&P 500 returned 13%, despite the company converting 35% of sales into operating profit compared to the index's 18.6%. The travel booking platform expects third-quarter 2026 revenue growth of just 4% to 6%, down from 8.1% in the previous quarter. Management attributed the slowdown to elevated cancellations in March and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has increased airline prices and reduced long-haul flights. The company lowered its full-year gross bookings forecast, primarily due to weaker flight ticket growth, whilst accommodation bookings remained steady. Booking spent $7.4 billion on share buybacks in the first half of 2026 at an average price of $173 per share, above the current price of $155.90. The company also raised $3 billion in debt during the second quarter. Marketing expenses rose 11% year-on-year, slightly outpacing gross bookings growth, partly due to reduced free search traffic from Google.