What is a hotel chatbot?
A hotel chatbot is an AI-powered tool that allows you to communicate instantly with your guests. Integrated into your website, mobile app, or social media, it lets guests ask questions, make bookings, request services, and get personalised recommendations in real time. It streamlines guest interactions, reduces response times, and enhances the overall experience while automating routine tasks like booking inquiries and room service requests.
Hotel chatbots have been spoken about at length across many industries where customer service is a key aspect of running a successful business. Not the least of these is the hospitality industry. When it comes to hotels, much has been discussed on how chatbots have the potential to dramatically improve the level and quality of guest service, as well as reducing the strain on hotel staff to attend to the needs of all the travellers staying at the property.
From streamlining communication to automating routine tasks like booking inquiries, a chatbot offers a seamless way for you to engage with your guests in real time, enhancing both convenience and satisfaction throughout their stay.
In this blog, we’ll discuss how a hotel chatbot can transform your guest experience.
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Why are chatbots used in the hotel industry?
Chatbots excel at providing 24/7 communication, answering common questions, offering recommendations, and promoting additional services like room upgrades or room service.
For both potential and current guests, this AI-driven tool is a convenient way to receive instant assistance at any time. It also allows guests to ask questions they may find too trivial or embarrassing to ask staff, ensuring they always feel supported without hesitation.
Research also found that almost 50% of respondents are interested in staying at a hotel that uses chatbots or automated messaging to enhance communication and convenience.
Use leading hotel chatbots with SiteMinder Automate guest interactions, increase bookings, and personalise the guest experience by integrating top hotel chatbots via SiteMinder’s platform.
Benefits of having a hotel chatbot
A hotel chatbot brings many advantages that improve guest experience and streamline operations. By handling guest inquiries 24/7, promoting services, and providing useful insights, chatbots save your staff time and can even boost your revenue.
Here are some key ways a chatbot can benefit your hotel:
1. Chatbots save countless man hours for your hotel
A chatbot should be looked at as a colleague – a colleague with a specific job, but one that can work all day everyday, with no need for bathroom or food breaks. With a chatbot manning the decks of your social media messaging platforms, you don’t need a real staff member to do this. It will also reduce the amount of time staff have to spend answering phone calls or emails. If travellers are aware they can get their answers whenever they like via your chatbot, there’ll be no need to call or email.
Just by automating simple requests like FAQs, a chatbot could save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, depending on the size of the hotel. Using only a small amount of energy compared to a human, it’s a valid consideration for hoteliers.
2. Chatbots can be a constant marketer and salesperson
While informing travellers that ‘yes, the mineral water in the mini-bar is free’ is quite useful, chatbots have the capacity to operate at much more sophisticated levels. By teasing out further information from simple requests, chatbots can start to learn about the interests and preferences of the person they’re talking to.
Once enough time has been spent, the AI is able to make suggestions on what parts of the hotel the guest will enjoy most, upsell room service options, offer packages, or even make travellers aware of their upgrade opportunities. Again, this is all automated and in place for anyone who contacts the chatbot, so through no further effort than the initial installation and algorithms your hotel might be collecting a new and regular stream of revenue.
3. Chatbots will tell you where you can improve
Another benefit of the countless conversations that will take place between bot and individual is what your hotel can learn when analysing these discussions.
For instance if people are always asking where the best/nearest cafe for breakfast is, it means they clearly don’t want to eat it at your hotel. This provides you the opportunity to see if there is a problem with your menu or your pricing, or if you need a new package to get more guests enjoying breakfast at your property.
Another example might be if guests are asking for numbers to taxis or directions to transport. If you’re in a busy destination, why not set up shuttle services to popular attractions and sights?
4. Chatbots could increase your hotel’s reviews
We know that the more reviews a hotel has the better. Reviews have the ability to boost a brand’s reputation and visibility, making it more bookable to new travellers. Reviews are more than a score, they’re a testimonial and an example to others who want to know what to expect if they are to stay at a particular property.
Chatbots can also be useful in this area by giving an indication of which guests are more likely to post reviews. These might include people who use ‘happy words’ in the course of their interaction, people who spend a longer than average time with the bot, or people who booked directly with the hotel.
Chatbots can also encourage and give reasons for guests to leave reviews at all stages of the stay, even post-stay. Given 76% of people are willing to pay more to stay at hotels with better reviews, this could have a direct impact on revenue.
How does a hotel booking chatbot work?
A hotel booking chatbot works by interacting with guests through messaging platforms or your website to simplify the booking process.
It uses AI to understand guest inquiries and guide them through options like room availability, pricing, and special offers. Guests can ask questions, receive personalised recommendations, and make bookings directly through the chatbot in real-time, without needing to speak to a staff member.
The chatbot automates the process, making it quick and easy for guests to secure their stay while providing a seamless and convenient booking experience.
Viki Edy Priyatna,
E-Business & Reservations Manager
Qunci Villas
How to implement a hotel chatbot: Best software to use
Integrating a hotel chatbot can significantly improve guest communication and drive direct bookings. When choosing the right software, it’s crucial to find solutions that align with your hotel’s needs and systems. Chatbot tools like HiJiffy, Easyway, and Bookboost are ideal options for enhancing guest experiences and streamlining operations.
- HiJiffy: HiJiffy’s AI-powered chatbot acts as a booking assistant and virtual concierge, handling guest inquiries, reservations, and service requests around the clock. By integrating directly with SiteMinder’s booking engine, HiJiffy can offer real-time room availability and pricing, turning guest inquiries into instant bookings.
- Easyway: Easyway automates guest communication through platforms like WhatsApp and SMS, offering a seamless, personalised guest experience. Integrated with SiteMinder, it ensures accurate data flows across your booking engine and property management system, making guest interactions smooth and reliable.
- Bookboost: Bookboost offers multi-channel messaging, connecting guests through chatbots, WhatsApp, and other platforms. Paired with SiteMinder, it accesses up-to-date room inventory and booking details, allowing guests to book directly while receiving tailored offers based on their preferences.
SiteMinder is the ideal platform for implementing chatbot technology, providing seamless integration with key hotel systems. It ensures that chatbots can pull real-time data on room availability, pricing, and promotions, helping guests book directly through the chat.
SiteMinder’s platform also enhances the chatbot’s ability to upsell services and personalise guest interactions by synchronising guest data across your booking engine and property management system. Plus, its multilingual capabilities and automation features make the entire process effortless, maximising the chatbot’s potential while reducing the operational load on your staff.
