AI Hotel Chatbot: Improves Guest Experience & Service

Hearing about AI chatbots everywhere but don’t know how to use one to your hotel’s benefit?

Then, you have landed on the right page!

Chatbots, also known as virtual agents, are designed to simulate human conversation.

Your next question should be: Okay, but how will they be used in my hotel and why should they be used at all?

For that, in this blog, we will give you the exact reasons why and how to leverage these virtual agents to reduce hotel operational and other costs as well as elevate the guest experience.

So, let’s get started.

What is a Hotel Chatbot?

A hotel chatbot is a computer program that can simulate human conversation. By using natural language processing and machine learning, it can understand what guests are saying and provide them with the information or services they need.

It’s designed to automate guest service tasks in the hospitality industry, such as making reservations, providing information about hotel services, and answering common questions.

Hotel Chatbots can help reduce costs by automating tasks that would otherwise be performed by human employees. They can also improve guest service by providing quick and accurate responses to common questions.

How AI Chatbots Work in Hospitality Industry?

Chatbot technology is evolving rapidly, making it more user-friendly and intuitive. AI Hotel chatbots can understand natural language, so they can respond in a conversational way that’s not only accurate but also engaging. In addition, they can be integrated with a variety of technologies and services, such as booking systems, loyalty programs, and even travel providers.

AI chatbots are also designed to provide personalized service to guests. By remembering guest preferences and past purchases, they can suggest relevant activities and services tailored specifically to each guest. This helps to create a more memorable experience for customers while allowing hotels to save time and money by reducing their need for manual labor.

Overall, AI chatbots are a great way for hotels to reduce costs while simultaneously improving customer service. Not only can they save time and money, but they also create a more engaging and enjoyable experience for customers. By leveraging the power of AI, hotels can stay ahead of the competition and give their guests the best possible service.

The Benefits of Using AI Hotel Chatbot

As per the 2024 Business Insider’s Report, 33% of all consumers and 52% of millennials would like to see all of their customer service needs serviced through automated channels like conversational AI.

Hotel Chatbots are a cost-effective way to improve guest service while reducing costs. By automating common tasks, such as making reservations and providing information about hotel amenities, chatbots can solve an issue most hotels face, understaffing, and free up the existing staff to provide better customer service.

In addition, chatbots can help reduce wait times by handling simple tasks quickly and efficiently. By implementing a chatbot, hospitality businesses can improve guest satisfaction while reducing operational costs. Following are some reasons for using chatbots in hospitality industry. 

1. It Works 24/7

The first and foremost step towards improving the guest experience is that you appear in front of the customer on one call. In today’s digital world this should not be a hard nut to crack because chatbot automation can help you do this task for you. 

Once you have set up the customer support chatbot, guests can ask the chatbot anything they need to know about their stay, from what time breakfast is served to where the nearest laundromat is. And because it's available 24/7, guests can get answers to their questions even when the front desk is closed.

2. Reduces Operational Cost

The operational cost of a chatbot is relatively low. The bot can be easily configured and updated as needed, without incurring significant development costs. In addition, the chatbot can be used to automate hotel operations that would otherwise require human intervention, such as customer service inquiries or hotel reservations. As a result, hotels can use chatbots to reduce labor costs associated with these tasks.

3. Breaks Language Barrier

In the hospitality industry, customer service is key to success. However, language barriers can prevent guests from getting the help they need. Guests from all over the world come to hotels, but they don't all speak the same language. This can lead to communication problems and ultimately, a bad experience for the guest. A chatbot can break down these barriers by providing 24/7 support in multiple languages. 

4. Follow Up with Guests

After a guest checks out of your hotel, it's important to follow up with them and make sure they had a good stay. A chatbot can help you automate this process and save you time. Plus, guests will appreciate the personal touch of a chatbot. Here's how to get started: 

• Set up a chatbot on your website or Facebook page. 
• Train your bot to answer common questions about your hotel, such as directions, amenities, and check-in/check-out times. 
• Use your bot to follow up with guests after their stay, and collect feedback that you can use to improve your hotel. 
• Monitor your bot's performance and adjust it as needed.

5. Increase Direct Bookings

In an industry where personalization is key, chatbots offer a unique opportunity to engage with potential guests on a one-on-one basis. By providing answers to common questions and helping with the booking process, chatbots can increase direct bookings for your hotel.

Currently, online travel agents (OTAs) are taking an ever-growing share of the pie, it's more important than ever for hotels to focus on direct bookings. And one way to do that is by using chatbots.

It will not only avoid the high fees associated with third-party booking sites but also, create a more seamless experience for your guests.

6. Ease for Guest Service Staff

As a hotel manager, you're always looking for ways to improve guest service. One way you can do this is by implementing a chatbot. 

Chatbots can take care of many of the tasks that your customer service staff currently handle, such as answering questions about hotel policies, providing directions, and even taking reservations. 

This will free up your staff to provide better service in other areas, such as handling more complex customer inquiries and providing concierge services. In addition, chatbots are available 24/7, so they can assist even when your staff is not on duty.

7. Tailored Promotions and Guest Profiling

In the hospitality industry, it's all about creating a personalized experience for your guests. And what better way to do that than with a chatbot? With a Hotel chatbot, you can collect data about your guests and use it to create tailored promotions and experiences. 

Plus, you can use chatbots to profile your guests and get to know them better. That way, you can always be one step ahead of their needs.

8. Up-Selling and Cross-Selling Opportunities

Today, AI chatbots are revolutionizing the way hotels do business. They provide guests with faster and more personalized service, while at the same time reducing costs for the hotel. Hotel chatbots have also opened up new opportunities for hotels to up-sell and cross-sell services to their guests.

Up-selling is a great way for hotels to offer additional services to their guests and increase their profits. AI chatbots can be programmed to recognize and understand when guests are looking for more than just a basic service or product. For example, when guests search for a room, the chatbot can recommend a suite or upgraded room that comes with added amenities. The chatbot can then guide the customer through the process of booking an upgraded room.

Cross-selling is another way that hotels can use AI chatbots to increase their revenues. Cross-selling involves offering additional products and services related to the original purchase. For example, when guests book a room, the chatbot can recommend additional services such as restaurant reservations, spa packages, excursions and more. By using a conversational AI bot, hotels can present these options to guests engagingly and conveniently.

Must Read: Importance of the Hospitality Industry in the Economy

Top 3 Challenges to Overcome

1. It can be difficult to find the right hotel chatbot platform for your hotel. There are many options out there, and it can be tough to know which one will work best for you. 

2. You need to make sure your chatbot can handle a high volume of requests. If your chatbot gets overloaded, it could start to break down, and that would be a disaster for your business. 

3. You need to train your staff on how to use the chatbot, and how to troubleshoot any problems that might come up. This can be a time-consuming process, but it's essential for making sure your chatbot is running smoothly.

Don’t worry, you can leave all these challenges upon us by using our chatbot service “Freddie”. We will provide you with proper support from start to scratch. 

How to Setup Your Own Hotel Chatbot?

• Determine what your chatbot’s purpose will be. Will it be to provide customer service, make reservations, or give recommendations? 
• Choose a messaging platform that you’re comfortable with and that offers the features you need. 
• Build or buy a chatbot template or script. You can find many options online. 
• Train your chatbot by feeding it data from FAQs, customer service conversations, and other sources. 
• Connect your chatbot to your messaging platform and make sure it’s working properly. 
• Promote your chatbot on your website and social media channels. 
• Monitor your chatbot’s performance and make improvements as needed.

How to choose the best hotel chatbot?

When considering a Hotel Chatbot, there are a few important factors to consider to ensure that the chatbot is meeting all your needs.

Finalize the features to be added: you need to determine which features you need in the hotel chatbot. The features will largely depend on your hotel’s operations and what tasks you would like the bot to handle.   

Some common features that hotels might want to include in the chatbot for hotel are check-in, housekeeping, restaurant recommendations, maintenance requests, and more.   Integration with existing systems: Please verify whether the chatbot can smoothly integrate with the current systems in your hotel, including property management systems (PMS), customer relationship management (CRM) software, booking engines, or any other relevant platforms. Integration enables the chatbot to access real-time data and deliver precise responses to user inquiries.

Multilingual support: If your hotel serves an international customer base, make sure that the chatbot is capable of accommodating multiple languages. This functionality enables users to communicate in their preferred language, thereby enhancing their experience and boosting customer satisfaction.

Booking and reservation capabilities: An effective hotel chatbot should possess the capability to handle bookings and reservations with efficiency. When evaluating chatbots, search for features such as the ability to check room availability, make reservation modifications, and securely process payments.

Analytics and reporting: A perfect chatbot should offer comprehensive analytics and reporting functionalities. This feature enables you to monitor user interactions, assess performance metrics, pinpoint areas for enhancement, and obtain valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviours.

Look for suitable hotel chatbot options: Once you’ve determined the necessary features, you should then study the different chatbot options available on the market. There are many different types of chatbots for hotel options to choose from.   

Therefore, it’s important to read reviews and research each one thoroughly to determine which one best caters to your needs.   

Consider things such as customer service, responsiveness, and the accuracy of the bot’s responses, when making your decision.  

By taking into account these factors, you can easily find the best hotel chatbot that suits all of your needs. Once you have made your selection, you will be able to take advantage of all the benefits that a chatbot has to offer.

You might have trouble setting up a chatbot for a hotel because it might disrupt your focus on the business. Therefore, you should check out Freddie by BotShot- the best AI hotel chatbot which provides dedicated 24/7 customer support, makes real-time recommendations to the guests, sends automated texts to the guests at the key moments of their journey with multi-property and multi-lingual capabilities, and many more benefits.

Book a demo and start your 14-day FREE trial today!