An AI chatbot looks after guests at any hour and in their own language, including Basque. What it can handle, how it affects reviews and how to launch it in a hotel.
Guests expect personalised attention, available at all times. But staffing costs cannot grow without limit. AI hotel chatbots help solve this equation.
A hotel chatbot replies through the website or WhatsApp using the hotel's own information. It deals with the questions that come up again and again and passes to reception whatever needs a person.
What a hotel chatbot can handle
Before arrival
- Online check-in and check-out, with reminders and confirmations by WhatsApp or email.
- Questions about the booking, parking or how to get to the hotel.
- Availability enquiries, with a link to the hotel's booking engine.
During the stay
- Information about the hotel's services: restaurant, spa and opening hours.
- Room requests: extra pillows, towels or breakfast.
- Personalised local recommendations: where to eat, what to see and how to get around.
When something goes wrong
- Handling of complaints and resolution of minor problems.
- Handover to reception of whatever needs a person, with the details already collected.
An example of use
It is midnight and a guest writes on WhatsApp. They want another pillow and to know what time breakfast starts. The chatbot gives them the times straight away. The pillow request goes to the duty staff with the room number.
In the morning, the same guest asks about a place to eat nearby. The assistant suggests options from the list the hotel has prepared. Reception has only been involved in what genuinely needed a person.
The impact on reviews
Hotels that implement virtual assistants report improvements in their ratings on Booking and TripAdvisor. It shows most in "customer service" and "communication". Guests value the immediate availability and the reply in their own language.
The assistant can also ask for a review after check-out, while the experience is fresh. And if it detects a complaint during the stay, it passes it to reception to be resolved in time.
The guest's language
The assistant detects the guest's language and replies in it. In a hotel in the Basque Country, answering in Basque someone who writes in Basque is a detail people remember. We explain it in chatbot in Basque.
How it is launched
- A free 30-minute diagnosis: what your guests ask and what should always go to reception.
- Preparation of the hotel's information: services, opening hours, rules and recommendations.
- Testing in your guests' languages, starting with the most common ones.
- Launch on the website and on WhatsApp.
- Monthly follow-up to improve the answers.
What you need
- The hotel's services and opening hours, including seasonal changes.
- The rules guests ask about most: pets, parking, check-in and check-out times.
- The local recommendations the hotel wants to make.
- Who receives requests on each shift and through which channel.
- Access to install the chat on the website, and the WhatsApp number to be used.
Common mistakes
- Out-of-date information, such as last season's spa hours.
- Not defining what goes to reception, so the guest is left without an answer.
- A tone that is too stiff and does not fit the hotel's style of service.
How to measure it
Review the response time, the enquiries resolved without reception and the requests handled. Also compare your "customer service" and "communication" scores before and after launch.
Frequently asked questions
Does the chatbot replace reception?
No, it handles the questions that come up repeatedly and simple requests, at any hour. Reception gains time to attend in person to those who are in the hotel. Anything that needs judgement always goes to a member of the team, with the details already collected. For example, a serious complaint or a special request.
Which languages does it support?
Basque, Spanish and the languages of your international guests. It replies in the language the guest writes in and switches if the guest switches. Before launch, we test it in the languages the hotel receives most. That way the service is equally careful in all of them.
Can it also be used by phone?
Yes, a voice agent can answer calls with the same information as the chatbot. Requests that need a person go to reception. That way the guest gets the same answer by phone, on the website or on WhatsApp. More at voice agents.
Shall we look at your hotel?
AI for hotels describes the full service. The working process is set out in how we work and the most common questions in frequently asked questions. To get started, write to us from the contact page.