WhatsApp AI agent for hotels and homestays: check-in questions, availability and upsells answered around the clock
Guests ask the same twenty questions before, during and after a stay, at every hour, often from a taxi. Check-in time, WiFi, parking, late arrival, breakfast, the nearest pharmacy. A host answering by hand is either up all night or slow. An AI agent answers from your house guide and captures direct booking enquiries, and staff step in for the things that need a person.
Quick answer
Put a WhatsApp AI agent on the number guests already message, with your house guide, amenities, policies and local tips as knowledge. It answers pre-arrival and in-stay questions instantly in the guest's language, tells direct enquirers what is available and at what indicative rate, collects dates and party size, and hands payment, complaints and maintenance to staff. ReplyKit does this from $29 a month; a host with several properties runs one agent per listing.
What the agent handles
Automate
- Check-in and check-out times, early and late options, key collection or self check-in instructions.
- WiFi, parking, breakfast, pool hours, house rules, what is in the room.
- Directions, transport, and the local tips you write down: food, pharmacy, ATM.
- Direct booking enquiries: availability from a note you keep, indicative rates, dates and party size collected to the lead's card.
- Extras you offer: airport pickup, late checkout, extra bed, with prices.
- Replies in the guest's language, including voice notes.
- Handing anything urgent to staff with a clear message to the guest.
Keep with a person
- Payment, deposits and refunds.
- Complaints, noise, and anything wrong with the room. The agent apologises and hands over immediately.
- Maintenance emergencies: it gives the on-call number and escalates.
- Changes to existing bookings made through platforms; those live in the platform.
Direct bookings without a booking engine
Guests who message directly are asking to avoid platform fees. The agent can answer "are you free 12 to 14 March for two adults?" from an availability note you maintain, quote the indicative rate, collect names, dates and party size, and tell the guest the host will confirm and send a payment link. The enquiry lands as Qualified on the lead's card. That is not a booking engine; it is a receptionist who never sleeps. Hosts with a channel manager keep confirmations there and let the agent handle the questions around them.
Setup for a homestay or small hotel
- Use a dedicated number. ReplyKit connects your number through Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform: keep the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app and the agent works alongside it, or add a dedicated number. Personal WhatsApp numbers cannot be connected. Keep your long-standing number out of it; details in Meta's messaging limits explained Many hosts put the agent on the number printed in the welcome guide.
- Write the house guide as plain text or upload the PDF you already give guests. Add local tips.
- Keep an availability and rates note if you want direct enquiries answered, and update it weekly.
- Instruct the boundaries: complaints and maintenance to staff at once, no payment details, existing platform bookings to the platform.
- Connect the number through Meta's sign-in and test at 1am in another language with "the aircon is not working". It should apologise, give the on-call number and hand over.
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent take direct bookings?
It checks an availability note you keep, quotes indicative rates, and collects dates and guest details for you to confirm with a payment link. Confirmation and payment stay with you.
Does it work during a stay?
Yes. Guests message the same number for WiFi, parking, late checkout or a problem; problems are handed to staff immediately.
Can I run several properties?
Yes. One agent and number per property on the $49 Growth plan, each with its own house guide, sharing one inbox.
Does it reply in the guest's language?
Yes, in more than 30 languages, and it transcribes voice notes.
How much does it cost?
From $29 a month for one number and 1,000 replies. Three properties fit on the $49 Growth plan.
Let the night manager sleep
Upload your house guide, connect your number through Meta's sign-in, and the 1am questions answer themselves. 7-day free trial.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington, 2011) · firms that responded within an hour were about seven times more likely to qualify the lead
- DataReportal, Digital 2025: Malaysia · WhatsApp is the most used messaging platform in Malaysia
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy · opt-in, opt-out and prohibited-use rules every business must follow
- ReplyKit, Will WhatsApp ban my number for automation? · how Meta's messaging limits and quality rating work
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. This article is general guidance for running a small business, not legal, financial or regulatory advice.