When a guest writes at eleven in the evening, the easiest thing is to let something automatic reply. The hard part is deciding what exactly that thing can say. An inaccurate answer costs more than an unanswered question: the guest arrives with an expectation that nobody has confirmed, and the dispute happens at reception, in front of other people.
So the question is not “what the assistant can answer”, but “which promises should not come out of it”. Below are four groups that deserve an explicit rule, and a way to write them down.
Why a promise is different from information
Information describes: “breakfast is from 7:30 to 10:00”. A promise takes on an obligation: “a double room has been reserved for you”. The first can safely be given automatically, if it comes from a text that you have approved. The second means that someone has checked, decided and is responsible.
A useful rule: if an answer starts with “you will have”, “guaranteed”, “it is reserved”, “the price is” or “it is allowed”, it is already a promise. Only a person should be allowed to use these words.
First category: confirming availability
The guest asks whether there is a free room for certain dates. The automatic reply can say: “I have received your request and will pass it to the team”. It cannot say “yes, there is”, unless availability is actually checked by a system that the property uses and has switched on for this.
The reason is simple. The calendar changes: a guest calls by phone, a reservation comes in from another channel, a room is taken out of service for repairs. An answer that was right at lunchtime is wrong by the evening. And a reservation request is not a confirmation and does not hold a room; it is a person on the team who confirms.
How to write the boundary: “The reply does not say that there is a free room. It says that the request has been received and that the team will confirm.”
Second category: prices
A price has conditions: dates, number of guests, children, meal plan, length of stay, a promotion that ends. An automatic reply that says “a double room is €90” is a promise for all dates and for every guest.
There are two safe forms. The first is an indicative price with an explicit “from” and a note that the final price depends on the dates and conditions. The second is to direct the guest to the page with the current prices or to the team. Never let the automatic reply calculate discounts, “find a compromise” or promise that the price will stay the same tomorrow.
A practical check: read the latest answer about a price and ask yourself whether you would sign it as an offer. If not, the sentence must change.
Third category: exceptions
“Can we check out late?”, “Can we bring a dog?”, “Can we check in at 10am?” These are questions to which the answer is often “it depends”. It depends on occupancy, on the day, on the owner’s mood, on who the guest is.
The automatic reply must not say either “yes” or “no” if the rule has no exception written down. It can state the standard rule: “Standard check-out is by 12:00”. And add: “For a later check-out, I am passing the question on to the team”. That way the guest gets the truth, not a permission that does not exist.
One subtlety: a refusal is also a decision. If the automatic reply says “pets are not allowed”, and you sometimes do allow them, you lose a guest who would have come.
Fourth category: health and safety
A nut allergy, a diet prescribed by a doctor, pregnancy, a chronic illness, a child with a fever. Here the automatic reply must not give advice, reassure or claim that “the dish is safe”. Nobody who is not in the kitchen at that moment can guarantee safety.
It may show the information that you have entered and checked, for example a list of ingredients for a dish. As for the legal requirements for allergen information, check what applies to your property. Anything beyond that is for a person: “For health questions we recommend that you speak directly to the team by phone on ...”. Emergencies are directed to the national emergency number, not to a chat.
How to write a boundary
A boundary is not a long rulebook. Three lines for each category are enough:
- What the automatic reply says: the facts from the approved text.
- What it does not say: a confirmation, a final price, an exception, health advice.
- Where it directs the guest: to a request for the team, to the property’s phone or to a page with up-to-date information.
Write them the way you would brief a new seasonal receptionist. That person must not promise a room, a price, an exception or health advice either, if they are not sure.
Also add a phrase that the automatic reply uses when it does not know: short, honest and with a phone number. “I do not have this information. You will get the quickest answer on the property’s phone.” An answer of “I do not know” with contact details is better than a confident but wrong answer.
How to check it in a week
Take ten real questions from the last month and put them to the automatic reply. For each answer, note whether it contains a promise, where the information came from and whether it points to a person. Then change the texts that have crossed the boundary, and repeat. It is worth reviewing the conversations regularly, not only when there is a complaint.
Where ISKA Assistant fits
ISKA Assistant answers from the property’s approved information, so this is where the boundaries above are written. A room request is recorded as new and is confirmed by a member of your staff; availability is checked only if the property uses ISKA PMS and has switched the feature on. It does not replace reception.
What to do, in short
Before you turn on automatic replies, write down the four categories in your own words, add a phrase for “I do not know” and test with ten real questions. That way the automatic reply stays a helper, and the promises stay with the people who can keep them.