Bringing AI to hospitality to reduce reliance on staff

Conversational interface for hospitality

Mr Lewis is a Boutique Hotel Group with accommodation across the Netherlands. They needed a digital solution that would solve the problem of providing a high level of hospitality without the need for staff.

Client

Mr. Lewis

Integrates with

WhatsApp
SMS
Mews
Salto
Dialogflow

Services

Property management experience: Infographic

The solution

Studio Vi created a custom solution that automates a guest’s journey in a Mr Lewis hotel. This involved the automation of tasks like:

  • Check-in / check-out
  • Digital keys are created on arrival and expire on departure. These keys would have unique access to each client (doors, rooms, facilities)
  • An automated introduction sent to the user via WhatsApp or SMS upon opening of doors; introduction to their room or other facilities in the hotel
  • Standard hotel services to be automated through the use of text messages and voice; such as enabling “do not disturb”, requesting fresh towels, and general questions like “what time is breakfast”
  • Be able to guide clients to local amenities and local tourist attractions
  • Ability to be scalable for expansion (additional hotel properties)
  • Human in the loop: at any point, the user must be able to quickly be connected to a human carer.
  • Creating a safer, touch-free way to stay in hotels during the pandemic

“Nice place with a clean and new room, it’s all self-service and the check-in is via an app, which was perfect for me as I arrived late and left early. So definitely recommended.”

Ashwin —
Hotel guest at Mr. Lewis

Pushing the boundaries of conversational interfaces

We created a custom chatbot solution, capable of acting as a receptionist, tour guide and virtual assistant. We decided to integrate this bot with WhatsApp and SMS, in order to minimise the extra software needed to use this hotel.

This chatbot is omnichannel, meaning it’s capable of communicating over different channels such as WhatsApp, SMS, Messenger or voice, making it more accessible and inclusive.

Post-Covid hotels

In a world where physical contact needs to be limited, this boutique hotel showed but a glimpse of what some hotels may look like in the future. The tasks and services extend across hospitality and other industries, showing the capabilities of chatbot technology to be integrated within the business to improve customer experience but also to streamline repetitive and costly tasks. This scalable solution means that Mr Lewis has a 24-hour virtual employee that improves with use and can handle any amount of hotels and clients.

Conversational assistant

Result

This resulted in a successful project management experience (PME) for Mr Lewis’ automated hotel. Guests now book, check-in, enjoy their stay without hassle, and check out in a seamless and easy to use way. This interface is currently being expanded to automate more of Mr Lewis’ ongoing services and has already been implemented in their newly opened second hotel in Rotterdam

“Excellent communication. Excellent system with doors that open via the app, nice, stylish, cosy and comfortable room, including cheap rental of 2 simple bicycles, free parking nearby, the hotel is in a prime location for a very reasonable price.”

Bert-jan —
Hotel guest at Mr. Lewis