Do you ever get tired of answering the same guest questions over and over?
When guests need to know the wifi password, how the washing machine works, or whether they can book a late check-out, they often turn to their first point of contact – the property manager.
Maybe you’ve already hired customer service reps to deal with these general inquiries. If you haven’t vacation rental chatbots and voice concierges are an accessible and cheaper way to deal with the daily barrage of guest questions.
These tools use AI and machine learning to help guests with whatever they need. Eliminating the need for round-the-clock customer service staff, help guests resolve issues faster, and provide a smoother experience overall.
This article will look at some of the best digital concierge technologies for automating guest communication in your vacation rentals, helping to reduce costs and focus on growing your business.
The best vacation rental chatbots
Vacation rental chatbots are AI messaging platforms that handle your guest communication. They can identify your guests’ needs and provide accurate answers using your knowledge base.
Here are four of the best chatbots that can help property managers take care of communication and provide an excellent service to guests.
MyPlazze
MyPlazze is a chatbot that runs on Facebook Messenger and is specially designed for vacation rentals. With the idea being it replaces the need for a reception.
Guests don’t need to download an app. They simply type questions into the Facebook chat both before and during their stay, and MyPlazze will provide answers about the property and how things work.
Though the chatbot can resolve the majority of common queries, you can intervene any time to chat manually with your guests.
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MyPlazze has a wide range of features that can also help you save time including verifying guest identity as well as scanning documents through the app. This will then be saved in the cloud and automatically passed on to local authorities to ensure that you comply with all legal requirements.
This chatbot provides you with one central place to manage all communication, not just with guests but with cleaning and maintenance contractors as well.
Guests can even access information and personalised recommendations about the local area, even allowing them to purchase complementary services and upsells directly through the chat, giving you an opportunity to boost your revenue.
Availability: MyPlazze is available in Spain, in Spanish and English.
Price: Free for up to 10 properties. Prices for more than 10 properties available on request.
Guidewiser
A guest communication platform powered by AI, Guidewiser is a chatbot suitable for both hotels and vacation rentals. It can help property managers boost direct bookings and get more positive guest reviews.
Guests can access information, get local tips and travel recommendations, and even book extra services all through the chatbot that operates on Facebook Messenger.
The tool can help you save time and money on customer support and enables you to capture more direct bookings by reaching out to customers directly on Facebook Messenger. Guests can book straight through the chat, with no commission added.
Property managers can use the tool to offer tailored travel experiences based on events, locations, and customer journeys that will earn more positive reviews and referrals.
The chatbot can also give you insights into your data. The virtual assistant learns from every conversation, so thanks to machine learning, the knowledge base is constantly improving. When necessary, guests can connect directly to your customer support team.
By using Guidewiser to automate your guest communication, you’ll be able to get instant feedback while customers are staying in the property, and inform guests about services and promote special offers and packages tailored to them.
Availability: Guidewiser is available across Europe.
Price: The basic package is €49 a month, per property. The advanced package includes extra features like the website chat widget, advanced guest profiling, and integrations and API access.
ConciergeBot
Is an AI virtual concierge that provides chatbots and voice assistants for SMS, WhatsApp, and the web. The tool allows for contactless check-in and provides guests with a virtual assistant on their phones to assist with check-in, check-out, and answer any queries during their stay. There’s no need for guests to download the app or create logins.
With ConciergeBot, you can assist guests throughout their trip, providing answers to questions, information about amenities, and even local recommendations.
Stay informed about your guests’ experience as the tool informs staff of any issues that may require your attention, allowing you to resolve problems and improve their experience.
You can even keep the relationship going after their stay by asking guests for feedback about their stay and giving them the opportunity to request a repeat booking.
Availability: Worldwide
Price: Quotes available on request.
Yada
Yada believes that “the future of hospitality is built on AI” and this vacation rental chatbot boasts some pretty impressive stats.
Thanks to their chatbot their customers have benefitted from a 15% increase in 5-star reviews and 20 hours of saved time per week. They say that the chatbot allows property managers to automate 150+ communications per day.
Yada’s AI functions as an expert customer success team that’s always on call to help your guests with real-time messaging and full automation of guest communication with context-aware chatbots.
By delivering information immediately and catching problems before they escalate, you can increase customer satisfaction and avoid negative reviews.
The tool lets you communicate with customers on their preferred channel, whether that be through Airbnb, WhatsApp, SMS, voice or messenger.
As well as live chat AI, Yada also provides analytics and integrations and loyalty-building features, like automated engagements to keep your brand top of mind and incentives for referring friends and family.
Yada integrates with a range of PMS and OTAs. Availability: Worldwide
Price: Starts from $9.99 per property per month, or $7.87 if you pay annually. They also offer enterprise packages with scaled pricing.
Best vacation rental voice concierges
Voice concierges are similar to vacation rental chatbots, but instead use voice technology, such as Alexa or Google Assistant, to provide automated, interactive guest communication.
If you install a voice concierge in your property, you’ll impress your guests with this futuristic, hands-free technology and make it easy and fun for them to access the information they need.
Here are two voice solutions that property managers can use to introduce voice concierge in their vacation rentals.
Virtual Concierge Service
Virtual Concierge Service is suitable for both hotels and vacation rentals, and this voice concierge saves property managers time and delivers luxury experiences for guests.
To use this tool, you’ll need to install a voice assistant device in your property such as Alexa or Google Assistant. Guests can then ask their questions to the device, and it will provide answers. It can also share expert local knowledge as your guests engage in an interactive voice conversation.
With Virtual Concierge, you can get real-time feedback and provide guests with important information. You can also avoid problems by reminding guests of their responsibilities before check-out.
They say that their solution can provide bespoke recommendations and insider knowledge of the local area, helping tourists discover lesser-known local attractions.
Availability: Worldwide.
Price: The pro package is $10 per property per month.
Volara
Volara built the first fully integrated tool for Google Assistant for the hospitality industry in 2016. Their voice solution is used by leading hotel brands like Mariott and Viceroy, but the technology can work just as well in short-term rental properties.
Guests can interact with the contactless tool, ask questions, and request services from the property.
The voice-based guest engagement software runs on hardware like Amazon Alexa and Google Nest Hub, among others, and it can be customised to the specific property. It’s multi-lingual, accurate, and protects your guests’ privacy.
Availability: Worldwide
Price: Schedule a demo for a tailored price quote.
Hand the bulk of guest communication over to AI
Property managers, especially those with large portfolios, should consider enlisting the help of artificial intelligence by using chatbots and voice concierge in your vacation rentals.
By implementing these tools you’ll save time and money that you can instead spend on scaling your business.
Plus, your guests will love it. You might worry that they’ll miss the personal touch of speaking to another human, but they’ll appreciate the convenience and speed that a digital concierge can provide.
You might even see an increase in upsells and direct bookings thanks to these tools, as they allow guests to purchase add-ons and make repeat bookings automatically.Do you want to keep up to date with technology helping short-term rental property managers grow their businesses? Join the VRTECH community to get all the latest updates and access to networking opportunities and industry events.