7 Must-Have Use Cases for a Guest Service Bot for Hotels

Intercom is a widely used customer messaging platform that offers an AI chatbot feature to handle common inquiries and automate simple tasks. The platform provides a visual chatbot builder where users can set up automated flows, integrate with existing customer data, and route conversations to live agents when needed. Intercom’s chatbot can be embedded on a hotel’s website, mobile app, or even as a pop‑up on social media channels. While the chatbot excels at lead generation and basic support, it requires a subscription to Intercom’s paid plans and relies on a third‑party CRM for advanced data management. The platform’s strengths include a robust set of integrations (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), real‑time analytics dashboards, and a strong community of developers. However, Intercom’s AI capabilities are primarily focused on intent recognition and pre‑built templates, which may limit the depth of knowledge required for complex hospitality queries.

Drift positions itself as a conversational marketing platform that blends chatbots with live chat to help companies engage website visitors in real time. For hotels, Drift can be used to qualify leads, schedule room tours, or answer booking questions. The platform offers a visual flow builder, the ability to set up triggers based on visitor behavior, and integration with marketing automation tools like Marketo and Pardot. Drift’s AI is designed to capture intent and provide instant answers, then hand off to a human if the conversation requires more nuance. While Drift excels at capturing and nurturing leads, its focus is more on marketing than on deep knowledge retrieval, which may limit its effectiveness for detailed hotel policy or room service queries.

Tars is a chatbot builder that focuses on creating conversational landing pages and guided forms. Its drag‑and‑drop interface allows users to design conversation flows without coding, making it popular for lead generation and appointment scheduling. For hotels, Tars can guide guests through booking or room service requests. The platform supports integration with Zapier, Google Sheets, and other third‑party tools to push data into CRMs or marketing automation systems. While Tars excels at structured conversational flows, it offers limited natural language understanding and does not provide a built‑in knowledge base, which can hinder its ability to answer free‑form questions about hotel amenities or policies.

ManyChat is a marketing automation platform with a primary focus on Facebook Messenger and SMS. It allows users to build chatbots that can answer FAQs, collect leads, and send broadcast messages. ManyChat offers a visual builder, broadcast scheduling, and integration with email marketing services. For hotels, ManyChat can be used to send booking confirmations or promotional offers via messenger. However, the platform’s capabilities are largely limited to messaging channels and lacks advanced AI or knowledge base features. ManyChat also requires a Facebook page for full functionality, which may be a barrier for hotels that prefer to keep guest interactions strictly on their own website.

Ada is an AI‑powered customer service platform that emphasizes automation for common support tasks. Its chatbot can answer FAQs, route tickets, and collect information before passing conversations to human agents. Ada offers a visual flow builder, integration with helpdesk tools like Zendesk, and the ability to create knowledge base articles that feed into the bot’s responses. For hotels, Ada can handle booking inquiries, policy questions, and room service requests. The platform’s strengths include high accuracy for structured queries and a focus on compliance and data privacy. However, Ada’s pricing can be steep for smaller hotels, and its customization options are more limited compared to a fully no‑code platform.

LivePerson is a conversational AI platform that focuses on providing real‑time chat and messaging across multiple channels, including web, mobile, and social media. Its chatbot can answer a wide range of customer support questions and can be integrated with enterprise CRM systems. LivePerson offers a visual builder, AI intent recognition, and the ability to route conversations to live agents. For hotels, LivePerson can manage booking inquiries, provide concierge services, and handle post‑stay feedback. The platform’s strengths lie in its scalability and enterprise support, but for smaller hotels it may be overkill in terms of features and cost. LivePerson also requires a dedicated account manager for full access to advanced features.