Every hotel, rental or Airbnb with more than ten rooms answers the same twenty questions every day. "What time is check-in?", "Do you have parking?", "How far is the beach?", "Can I arrive early?". A chatbot answers those on its own, in the guest's language, day and night. The question is not whether it is worth it. It is which one, how much, and what to watch for.
What a hotel chatbot does, in practice
Answers the frequent questions. Hours, amenities, distances, pets, cots, breakfast. From your own information, not from its imagination. A properly built chatbot answers only what you gave it and says "I will ask reception" for the rest.
Shows availability and price. Once connected to your booking engine or hotel software (the PMS), it can say "for 12 to 15 July we have a double with sea view, here is the price" and send the guest to book. This is the point where a chatbot starts bringing money in, not only saving time.
Works where the guest is. On the website, on WhatsApp, on Messenger, by email. The German guest asking at eleven at night gets an answer in German. Reception sees it in the morning, already answered.
Hands over to a person. A complaint, a special request, a group booking, anything it does not know: it stops, says a person will reply, and sends the conversation to reception by email or notification. Cheap tools skip this part, and it is the most important one.
Keeps a record. Every conversation is stored. You see what your guests actually ask, and you often discover a piece of information missing from the website.
What it does not do
It does not replace reception. It does not handle complaints. It does not decide on discounts or upgrades unless you give it rules. And it must not pretend to be human: the European AI law requires, since August 2026, that it clearly states it is an automated assistant. A chatbot that hides that it is a machine is a liability, not an advantage.
What it costs in Greece, in 2026
Three tiers. We do not print amounts, because they change with the size of the property, the channels you want and the booking software you use. We describe what you pay and what for.
Ready-made tool on subscription. A small monthly fee, no setup cost. You set it up yourself in an afternoon, give it your answers, put it on the website. It answers the frequent questions. Usually it does not know availability, does not connect to your software, and the hand-over to a person is a plain "send us an email". A good first step for small properties.
Assistant connected to your bookings. A one-off amount for the build and the connection to your software, then a small monthly running cost (the AI model that answers, hosting, small corrections). The one-off depends mostly on how many channels you want and how easily your booking software connects. Knows availability and prices, speaks on every channel, hands over properly to reception, keeps records, states that it is AI. For hotels from twenty rooms up, or groups of properties, this is where the value is.
Full hospitality assistant. A significantly larger investment. Also changes bookings, takes payments, upsells, connects to in-room equipment. For large properties. Most Greek businesses do not need it at the start.
The real cost, though, is not only money. It is two hours a month from someone at reception to keep the answers current: new prices, new amenities, a bar that closed. A chatbot with stale information does damage.
How fast it pays for itself
A mid-sized hotel receives hundreds of questions a month. If the chatbot answers two thirds of them, reception gains a few hours a week. If on top it brings a few bookings a month from guests who would have left without an answer at eleven at night, the investment pays back within a season. We do not give you percentages, because they depend on how many questions you receive. We can measure it together in a small pilot.
What to ask before you buy
- Where does it get its answers? It must answer only from your own information. If it "knows everything", it will invent.
- What happens when it does not know? The right answer is "it hands over to a person and notifies you". Not "it answers something anyway".
- Does it connect to our booking software? Ask using the software's name. "Yes, with everything" means "no".
- Where are the conversations stored? Guests' personal data. You must know in which country and for how long.
- Does it state that it is AI? If not, it does not comply with the law.
- Who updates the answers and how? If a developer is needed to change the breakfast hours, it will go stale.
How we start
One meeting to look at the questions you actually receive (last month's reception emails are enough). Two to four weeks for a first version on your website, with your own answers and hand-over to a person. We measure how many questions it answered correctly. If it is worth it, we connect the bookings and the other channels. If not, you stay with a simple tool and we say so plainly.
See how we build AI assistants with limits and approval, or try our own assistant at the bottom right of this page. It states that it is AI, answers from our own information, and after a few questions hands over to a person. Exactly what yours should do.