An AI receptionist for your bed and breakfast

Why a B&B is a special case

A bed and breakfast isn't a small hotel with fewer staff. It's a home that takes guests, and the people who book you usually want exactly that: a host who knows the area, a breakfast that someone actually cooked and a house with its own character.

That shapes how you should use any kind of automation:

• You are rarely free when messages arrive. Questions land while you're serving breakfast, changing beds or out shopping, and in the evening when you finally sit down.
• The questions repeat. What time can we check in? Is there parking? Can you do a gluten-free breakfast? Is the dog welcome? You answer the same ten things every week.
• The personal touch is your product. Guests don't mind a quick, accurate answer about parking. They do mind if the welcome, the apology or the local tip feels like it came from a machine.

So the goal is simple: let an assistant handle the predictable, factual questions around the clock, and keep everything that carries your personality for yourself.

Sort your guest messages into three piles

Before you set anything up, look back at the last month of messages in your inbox, phone and platform accounts. Put each type of question into one of three piles.

Pile 1: hand it over. Factual questions with one correct answer that rarely changes:

• check-in and check-out times
• parking, directions, public transport
• breakfast times and what's included
• whether children, pets or late arrivals are possible
• payment methods and your cancellation policy
• prices and availability for specific dates

Pile 2: let the assistant start, you finish. Things where the guest needs a quick first answer but the final decision is yours:

• booking requests (the assistant collects the details, you confirm)
• special requests such as an early check-in, a cot or a birthday cake
• questions you haven't written an answer for yet

Pile 3: keep it personal. Messages where your voice matters most:

• the welcome when a guest arrives
• apologies and anything that sounds like a complaint
• personal recommendations ("Where would you eat tonight?")
• returning guests who write to you by name

Most owners find that the first pile is the largest. That's the time you get back.

Write your house answer sheet in one evening

An AI assistant is only as good as the information you give it. The fastest way to prepare is a single document, your house answer sheet, written in plain sentences. Use this checklist:

1. Arrival: check-in window, what happens if guests arrive late, how they get in, where to park.
2. Departure: check-out time, where to leave keys, whether luggage can stay.
3. Breakfast: times, where it's served, what's included, which dietary needs you can manage and how much notice you need.
4. Rooms: each room type, how many people fit, bed types, bathroom, view, stairs.
5. House rules: quiet hours, smoking, visitors, pets, children.
6. Money: payment methods, deposit, cancellation policy, any extra costs.
7. The area: how far the station, beach, old town or hiking trail is, and your two or three favourite places.
8. What you don't offer: no lift, no evening meals, no card payments. Saying "no" clearly avoids disappointed guests.

Write each answer the way you would say it to a guest at the door. "Breakfast is from 8 to 10 in the conservatory; just tell us the day before if you're vegan" is better than "Breakfast: 08:00–10:00".

Keep the sheet in one place and update it whenever something changes. It's useful even without any software: a new helper or a family member covering for you can read it in five minutes.

Keep the personal touch where it counts

Automation in a B&B goes wrong when everything starts to sound the same. A few habits prevent that:

• Give the assistant your house tone. If you write warmly and use first names, your answer sheet should read the same way.
• Answer pile 3 yourself, even if it's later. A short personal welcome sent two hours after arrival still beats an instant generic one.
• Add something only you know. A sentence like "The bakery round the corner sells out of croissants by 9" in your answer sheet makes even automated replies feel local.
• Be open about it. A line such as "Our digital assistant answers quick questions day and night; for anything else, we'll reply personally" sets the right expectations.

For the messages you send yourself, our ready-made guest message templates are a good starting point.

Where guests should meet the assistant

An assistant only helps if guests find it at the moment they have a question. For a B&B, these are the usual places:

• Your website: a chat window on every page, so a visitor reading about your rooms can ask straight away.
• Your booking confirmation: a link in the confirmation message, so guests can ask about parking or breakfast before arrival without waiting for you.
• Inside the house: a small card or QR code in each room and at the entrance for the evening questions (towels, Wi-Fi, breakfast time).
• Your listings: where a platform or your map listing allows a website link, point it to a page where the assistant is available.

If you don't have a website, don't let that stop you. A simple page with your rooms, photos, a way to ask questions and a booking request form covers what most small properties need.

A 15-minute weekly routine

Once the assistant is running, a short weekly check keeps it accurate:

1. Read a handful of conversations. Are the answers correct and in your tone?
2. Look for questions it couldn't answer. Each one is a sentence missing from your answer sheet. Add it.
3. Check your calendar. Bookings that came in through other channels must be entered, or the assistant may offer a room that's already taken.
4. Update seasonal details: breakfast times in winter, a closed restaurant nearby, roadworks on the usual route.
5. Note which pile-2 requests came in. If the same special request appears every week, consider writing a standard answer for it.

After a month, most of the gaps are filled and the routine becomes a quick glance.

Where Mira fits

Mira is the AI receptionist built into AIroomier, and it works for small, owner-run properties such as guesthouses and B&Bs as well as for hotels and campsites. You enter your information once, in one language, and Mira answers guests in writing in English, German, Turkish or Russian.

Mira reads your AIroomier calendar each time a guest asks about dates, so prices and availability come from your current calendar rather than from memory. When a guest wants to book, she collects their name, phone, email and consent and sends you a booking request; you decide whether to confirm it. If she doesn't know an answer, she doesn't guess: she shows the guest your phone, WhatsApp and email buttons and adds the question to a list so you can fill the gap. The knowledge base guide explains how that information is organised.

There are limits to be clear about: Mira doesn't answer the phone, doesn't chat with guests on WhatsApp, doesn't take online payments and isn't connected to booking platforms, so reservations from other channels are added by hand. If you have no website, AIroomier gives you a free page with Mira and a booking request form built in; Larkspur House in York is a fictional example of how such a page looks. The Basic plan is free with no time limit.