Guides · Guest chat
A hotel website chat: what it should answer, and where it stops
Many questions guests ask a hotel come back again and again, and a lot of them arrive when the desk is busy or closed. A hotel website chat can answer those. The hard part is not what it answers; it is knowing where it stops.
The questions it should answer
- Can I park, and what does it cost?
- Can I check in late, and how do I get in?
- Is breakfast included, and until when?
- Can the dog come?
- Can I leave my luggage after check-out?
- How do I get there from the station?
The answers are usually already on your website. A good chat uses them, word for word where it matters, instead of making something up.
Where it should stop
- Prices for a group, and anything that commits the hotel to something.
- Complaints: those belong with a person.
- Allergies: only your own words, never a guess.
- Availability and bookings: send the guest to your booking engine, do not promise a room.
The handover
When the chat does not know, it should say so, take the question to you, and bring your answer back to the guest. Then remember it, so the next guest gets it straight away. A chat that always has an answer is the one to worry about.
Privacy
A chat does not need cookies to answer a question. Ask the guest before you keep their email address, and delete what you no longer need.