Chatbots and virtual assistants: improving the customer experience
Why Chatbots are changing the game for the hotel industry
Travellers are used to getting an immediate response, whether it's to book a taxi or check the weather. When they're planning a holiday, they expect the same responsiveness from your hotel: questions about the availability of a family room, a request for a late arrival, advice about a vegetarian restaurant... If no one answers within five minutes, they click on the establishment next door. This is where Chatbots and virtual assistants: they are on call 24 hours a day without cutting back on the human touch, as they can hand over to your team as soon as an interaction requires a personal touch.
The concrete benefits of Chatbots for hotels
Always available, even at night
A bot answers frequently asked questions when reception is asleep. The customer feels listened to and stays on your booking page rather than opening another tab.
Reduced workload
By filtering out basic requests (check-in time, parking, breakfast), the assistant lets staff concentrate on high-value tasks: VIP welcome, spa upsell, solving unforeseen problems.
Improved conversion rate
Is a traveller hesitating between two categories? The bot suggests the room that matches the composition of their group, then sends them directly to theHotel Web Design to conclude. Zendesk studies confirm up to 20 % of additional conversions after installing a virtual assistant¹.
Collecting valuable data
Each interaction enriches your database: preferred language, centres of interest, recurring questions. You can make informed adjustments to your offers.
Hotel Web Design is the web agency 100% dedicated to the hotel industryWe can help you with all aspects of digital communication for your accommodation: booking websites, natural referencing specialising in the hotel industry, Google Ads referencing and Google Hotel Ads, social networking campaigns, graphic charters and logos for hotels.
Make an appointment today for free advice on how to optimise the digital management of your accommodation.
Anatomy of an effective hotel Chatbot
A clear knowledge base
List the one hundred questions that come up most often in your emails; this will be the raw material for the bot. Classify them by heading: reservation, room, services, neighbourhood.
A voice consistent with the brand
If your positioning is family-oriented and warm, the Chatbot will use a simple, benevolent tone. There's no need to use overly formal language.
A fluid bridge to the human dimension
After two unsuccessful exchanges, the bot should propose the transfer to a real agent. The visitor does not have to repeat their request: the discussion thread is displayed to the employee, who takes over at the right place.
Integration with existing tools
The Chatbot must speak with the PMS, your booking engine and channel manager and your CRM. Otherwise, it becomes a silo and loses its usefulness.
Step-by-step guide to deploying your Chatbot
Step 1: Set a simple objective
Do you want to reduce telephone calls? Speed up direct bookings? Defining the primary goal will help you choose the conversation scenarios.
Step 2: Choosing the right solution
Evaluate suppliers according to four criteria: ease of integration, language support, monthly cost, possibility of manual control. Hotel Web Design offers a Chatbot module already linked to its booking engine, so there's no need for heavy development.
Stage 3: Writing the dialogue
Write your answers as you would at a reception desk: short sentences, no obscure abbreviations. Validate the French version, then translate for your target markets.
Step 4: Setting triggers
You can launch the bot after ten seconds on the rates page, or as soon as a visitor returns for the third time in a week. Test several settings.
Step 5: Testing in real-life conditions
Ask two colleagues and a non-technical friend to simulate a booking: observe where they get stuck, adjust the wording.
Step 6: Measure and iterate
Over 30 days, track the number of conversations, the average duration, the rate of transfer to a human and the rate of completed bookings. Change one variable at a time to understand its impact.
Clear examples of use
Case 1: responding to availability requests
The bot can consult the stock in real time via the engine's API. It suggests a Deluxe room for a couple with a child, adds a baby bed at no extra charge and displays the final rate.
Result: reservations are made without a telephone call.
Case 2: support for local decision-making
"Where can I find a gluten-free restaurant near the hotel?" The Chatbot lists three geolocated addresses, Google rating and walking distance.
Result: guests perceive the hotel as a local ally.
Case 3: service upsell
The day before arrival, the bot offers an upgrade to a sea view suite at -30 %.
Result: +12 % in additional revenue over the test period.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Focus on automation
An assistant who refuses passage to a human irritates visitors. Always provide an emergency exit.
Forgetting to update information
A bot announcing that a sauna is still closed for renovations undermines the credibility of the rest of the message.
Not analysing conversations
Transcriptions reveal pain-points: if the same question comes up ten times, your site lacks clarity on this point.
Launching without a pilot phase
First deploy on 20 % of traffic, adjust, then open to all visitors.
Common mistakes to avoid
Forgetting to lock in compulsory charges
Platforms hate hidden charges. Add cleaning and taxes to the initial price to avoid disputes.
More modules
A second booking plugin may conflict with the first, so stick to a single solution.
Leave a calendar empty
Even two unblocked days on Booking can lead to overbooking. Check your availability every Monday morning: a minute well spent.
Measuring the success of a Chatbot
- Commitment rate Percentage of visitors who open the discussion bubble.
- Average duration shorter = clear answers; too long may indicate a maze.
- Transfer rate to human A good bot solves 70 % simple queries.
- Conversions : bookings, additional sales, newsletter subscriptions.
- Cost of assistance Add up the hours saved by your team.
External tools such as Google Analytics 4 or Zendesk Suite provide these indicators. The Zendesk Research² page details benchmarks by sector.
Ask for a quote
Would you like to test a Chatbot that is already connected to your booking engine and ready to speak six languages?
Contact Hotel Web Design today for a free demo.
Need full support (website, SEO, bot, Free Booking Links)?
Visit our global offer page and let's schedule a discovery call.
Trends to watch
Voice and multimodal
Some assistants already accept the voice dictation A practical option for drivers who book using a voice-activated smartphone.
Customisation by Generative AI
The welcome message can vary depending on the source of traffic, the language of the browser and the expected date of stay, so the user feels recognised.
Connection to Free Booking Links
Chatbots that link to Google's free booking links (full tutorial here : Hotel Web Design - take advantage of Free Booking Links) are boosting commission-free direct sales.
Real-time sentiment analysis
The bot detects an annoyed tone and spontaneously offers a commercial gesture or a priority transfer.
Hotel Web Design is a Google partner with the Google Hotelsincluding our customers enjoy every day: information about your accommodation, availability and prices is sent continuously to the search engine, which displays booking links free from Google search, directly to your booking page. These free links represent around 15% of additional commission-free bookings for our customers in 2022! Read our article on free booking links from Google
Conclusion
The Chatbots are no longer just FAQs in disguise; they're becoming a pivotal part of modern customer relations. Done right, they shorten response times, generate additional sales and free up your team for the moments that really matter. By adopting an integrated solution likeHotel Web DesignYou'll gain in efficiency without sacrificing human contact. A customer experience fluid, consistent and accessible 24 hours a day is now within the reach of all hoteliers.
Booking / reservation website
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Direct booking for your accommodation
- Bespoke booking/conversion site delivered turnkey, with training on the administration interface on delivery
- Adapted logo and graphic charter. Possibility of using your existing elements
- Specific referencing for holiday lets
- Integration of reservations module internal
- or integration of an external booking engine (Reservit, D-EDGE, MisterbookingRoomcloud, etc)
- Integration of specific HTML elements (review portals, customer reviews, weather, press, pop-ups, direct chat, etc.)
- Secure SSL / HTTPS
- Multilingual website & booking engine
- Simple, intuitive user interface
- High-availability hosting and domain name
- Delivery usually within 30 days
