Artificial Intelligence (AI) in luxury hotels and resorts still generates skepticism. Hoteliers from this specific industry fear that automation may compromise service quality given their guests’ demanding profiles and high expectations. However, AI can enrich the guest experience without losing the human touch where needed and can also optimize operations.
In this post, we’ll explore how AI can be a powerful ally for hotels of all sizes, showcasing examples of how it works in practice—complementing rather than replacing the human touch effectively.
The hybrid service trend: balancing human assistance and self-service
The website chat doesn’t replace human service, which remains available by phone and email. It merely introduces a convenient option for instant responses.
Have you noticed that supermarkets, banks, and other services now offer both human and self-service options? This hybrid model allows even the most discerning customers, who prefer human interaction, to choose faster and more direct service options for simple situations, avoiding queues.
In hotels, the concept is the same: adding an AI reservation agent to messaging channels and the website chat doesn’t replace human service, which remains available by phone and email. It merely introduces a convenient option for instant responses. Imagine a U.S. guest wanting to know the checkout time at a five-star hotel in the U.K. Would this guest prefer making an international call or asking on the website chat for an immediate, free response?
Thus, automation and AI become an additional option for clients, especially in urgent situations or with simple inquiries.
7 Reasons to use AI to complement human service in luxury hotels and resorts
1. Service standards during high-demand periods (holidays & peak seasons)
In the hotel industry, offering a close, humanized service is essential. However, consistently maintaining this high standard, especially during peak season, is a major challenge. It’s difficult to hire 2 more reservation or front desk agents to cover these peak variations in demand.
Camino Real Hotels, a large group handling a high volume of reservations in their contact center, prioritizes providing exceptional service to their guests. The AI Reservation Agent has been helping reduce the time the team spends on repetitive tasks, enabling them to focus on personalized service and maintain quality even during peak times.
2. 24/7 customer support
Even with a dedicated team and 24/7 operations, it’s challenging to keep up with constant demand and provide quick, efficient responses to all guests. A Deloitte survey at the European Hospitality Industry Conference found that 52% of customers believe AI can improve service by making it faster and more precise, offering quick responses and even simultaneous translation.
According to Asksuite data, out of 95M travelers assisted via AI, 50% happened outside business hours when reservation teams are unavailable and the front desk is busy with in-person interactions.
A practical case is 4R Hotels in Spain. After implementing the AI Reservation Agent, they found that only 4.2% of interactions required human intervention. This level of automation freed up valuable time for the team to focus on more strategic and personalized issues. Additionally, 54.6% of interactions occurred outside business hours, showing how AI keeps the hotel connected with guests anytime.
3. Multilingual support
In the US, most agents only speak 1 or 2 languages, but hotels are receiving guests from all over the world. And many of them would prefer to be assisted in their own language, which is one of the main AI advantages.
Asksuite’s AI Reservation Agent, for example, can respond in over 50 languages, tailored to the hotel’s information to ensure personalized communication. This technology uses multiple intelligence layers, achieving an accuracy of over 90%.
These AI layers organize responses based on common questions, unique hotel features, and generative AI layers that ensure effective communication and a positive experience.
4. AI to improve operational efficiency for personalized service
Implementing AI in hotels goes beyond faster service; it’s about optimizing processes so that the team can focus on what truly matters. With AI handling frequently asked questions, providing quotes, and delivering standard information, staff can dedicate their time to creating a personalized experience for each guest.
AI also excels at enhancing the personalization of human service. It can pre-qualify interactions by categorizing the type of inquiry and customer profile, providing agents with all essential information. This makes service faster and more accurate, enhancing the guest experience. One example is when travelers request a group quote, the AI reservation agent can qualify all the lead’s criteria: number of guests, rooms, dates, etc, and assign an appropriate human agent to follow up with the proposal.
5. Luxury hotels achieve the highest ROI from AI
According to Asksuite data, luxury hotels with higher rates tend to have a greater service demand, making AI investment particularly advantageous. Among the 4,000+ properties served by Asksuite in over 80 countries, these operations present a higher direct revenue and ROI generation.
An example is Galgorm, a luxury resort in Ireland, which achieved excellent results with AI. Automation significantly reduced the operational load on the reservation team, enabling guests to ask questions and receive quick answers anytime. As about a third of interactions occur outside business hours, it not only improved the guest experience but also increased the volume of accommodation inquiries and ROI from this technology.
6. Generic AI frustrates clients
Data from Asksuite in October 2024 shows the platform served over 2.5 million travelers, with only 5% needing human assistance.
Everyone has likely interacted with an AI that caused frustration. This usually happens when the AI is designed to serve multiple industries and doesn’t understand the user’s specific needs. To avoid this, choosing an AI specialized in a particular market—one that truly understands the target audience’s needs—is crucial.
According to Asksuite data from October 2024, the platform served over 2.5 million travelers, with only 5% needing human assistance. This performance demonstrates the capacity of a specialized AI to quickly address questions and resolve common issues autonomously, freeing up the team to focus on interactions that genuinely require personalized attention.
These numbers reinforce the positive impact of AI focused exclusively on the hotel industry, providing quick responses and autonomously solving basic issues, making the guest experience faster and more practical.
7. A specialized AI solution for the hospitality industry profoundly enhances personalized service
By analyzing guest preference data, it enables experiences that closely match each guest’s needs, resulting in higher satisfaction and an increased likelihood of returning.
Additionally, AI supports hotel managers in making more strategic decisions. With extensive data analysis—such as reservation patterns and guest feedback—it enables targeted actions in areas like marketing, sales, and resource allocation, streamlining overall hotel operations.
Another significant benefit is AI’s impact on revenue generation. By identifying higher-quality leads, it boosts sales opportunities and increases the conversion rate of direct bookings, significantly contributing to growth in hotel profitability growth.
Still unsure how AI can benefit your luxury hotel or resort?
The data and success stories show that AI has immense potential to transform hospitality. When implemented strategically, it can improve service quality, optimize processes, and increase hotel revenue. Important to remember: AI doesn’t replace human service but complements it, making it more efficient and personalized.
By overcoming biases and embracing AI’s possibilities, hoteliers can take a significant step toward innovation and the future of hospitality.
With a complete, hospitality-specific platform that brings together Omnichannel support with an AI Reservation Agent and presents key data simply and intuitively, your operation can reach a new era of efficiency and personalization.
Don’t miss the opportunity to transform your hotel’s service! Schedule a demo and see how Asksuite can help your hotel stand out with cutting-edge hospitality technology.
