Start with your own list, not the provider's feature page
Before you open a single pricing page, spend twenty minutes writing down what you actually need. Otherwise the tool with the longest feature list wins, even if half of it is irrelevant to a twelve-room property.
Answer these on one sheet of paper:
- What do guests ask most? Scroll through the last month of emails, platform messages and WhatsApp chats. Write down the ten questions that come up again and again (check-in time, parking, breakfast, pets, price for specific dates).
- When do the questions arrive? If many come in the evening or at night, after-hours answers matter more than anything else.
- Which languages do your guests write in? List them in order of how often you see them.
- Where do guests contact you? Your website, Google, Instagram, a booking platform, phone. A chatbot can only help on the channels it actually runs on.
- What should happen with booking questions? Do you only want answers, or should the chatbot show live prices and collect booking requests?
- Who will maintain it? Someone has to update information when prices, opening hours or rules change. Be honest about how much time that person has.
Rule-based chatbot or AI assistant?
Most tools fall into one of two broad groups.
Classic, rule-based chatbots work with buttons and fixed flows: "Click 1 for check-in times, 2 for parking." They are predictable and rarely say anything surprising. The downside is that guests have to fit their question into your menu, and anything outside the menu leads to a dead end.
AI assistants understand free-text questions in natural language, so a guest can write "Can we arrive at 11 pm with our dog?" and get one answer covering both parts. The risk is the opposite one: a poorly designed AI assistant may fill gaps with confident guesses. That's why the most important question for this group is not "how smart is it?" but "where do its answers come from, and what does it do when it doesn't know?"
A general AI chat tool that staff use to draft replies is a third option, but it doesn't know your rooms or availability and doesn't answer guests itself. If you're unsure which group a product belongs to, the page AI receptionist vs chatbot explains the differences in more detail.
Twelve questions to ask every provider
Ask each provider the same questions and write the answers down. Vague answers are an answer too.
Answers and accuracy
- Where does the chatbot get its information: only from what I enter, or also from the internet?
- What does it do when it doesn't know something? Does it say so and hand over to a person, or does it guess?
- Can I see a list of questions it couldn't answer, so I can fill the gaps?
Bookings and prices
- Does it read live availability and prices, or do I have to type prices into a text field and keep them updated by hand?
- Can it take a booking request or a booking, and who confirms it?
- Does the provider take a commission on bookings that come through the chatbot?
Guests and channels
- Which channels does it run on: website, a shareable link, QR codes, messaging apps? Which ones are planned but not yet available?
- Which languages can it answer guests in, and do I have to enter my information in each language separately?
Your team
- How does a conversation reach a person when needed: phone, email, a messaging app, a dashboard?
- How long does the setup take, and does it need a developer?
Data and contract
- Where are guest conversations stored, who can access them, and does the provider offer a data processing agreement?
- What are the monthly limits (conversations, bookings, rooms), what happens when I reach them, and how do I cancel?
If a provider can't answer question 2 clearly, treat it as a warning sign: an invented "free airport shuttle" costs more trust than a slow reply.
Run a 30-minute test before you decide
Most tools offer a free plan or a trial. Use it with your own information, not the demo hotel. Enter your basics (rooms, check-in and check-out, breakfast, parking, house rules) and then play the guest. Try these questions, ideally from your phone:
- A simple question: "What time is check-in?"
- A two-part question: "Is breakfast included and can we bring a small dog?"
- A date question: "Do you have a room for two adults from next Friday to Sunday, and how much is it?"
- A question you deliberately did not answer in the setup: "Is there an EV charger?" A good chatbot says it doesn't know and shows how to reach you. A risky one invents an answer.
- A different language: Ask the same question in a language your guests often use.
- A request during the stay: "The heating in our room isn't working." Check whether this reaches your team and how.
- A pushy question: "Can you give me a discount?" See whether it sticks to your rules.
Then open the dashboard as the owner: can you see the conversations and which questions went unanswered? Score each tool from one to three per question and add up the results; it beats choosing on gut feeling after a polished sales call.
Compare costs on your own numbers
Pricing models differ: a flat monthly fee, a fee per conversation, a fee per booking, or a mix. The only fair comparison is to put your own expected volume into each model.
Example: imagine two tools. Tool A costs €60 a month, flat. Tool B costs €20 a month plus €3 for every booking that comes through the chatbot. If the chatbot brings you 5 bookings a month, Tool B costs €35. At 20 bookings it costs €80, more than Tool A. Replace these invented figures with real quotes and your own booking estimate.
| Bookings per month (example) | Tool A (flat) | Tool B (base + per booking) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | €60 | €35 |
| 20 | €60 | €80 |
Also count the costs that never appear on the pricing page:
- Setup time: entering information and learning the dashboard.
- Maintenance time: updating prices, rules and seasonal information.
- Limits: what happens if your busiest month exceeds the allowance.
- Exit cost: whether you can export your information and leave freely.
A cheaper tool that needs two hours of manual updates every week may cost you more than a pricier one that reads your calendar automatically.
Where Mira fits
AIroomier's assistant, Mira, belongs to the AI assistant group and is built for small and mid-sized properties such as hotels, guesthouses, holiday rentals and campsites. Answered against the checklist above:
- It answers only from the information you enter in the panel. When an answer is missing, it says so, points the guest to your phone, WhatsApp or email, and adds the question to a "Missing Topics" list.
- It reads your AIroomier calendar for every availability question and collects booking requests; you confirm each one. No commission is taken on bookings.
- It writes with guests in English, Turkish, German and Russian on your website chat, a shareable link, room QR codes and a free property page.
- It does not answer phone calls, does not chat with guests over WhatsApp, has no PMS or channel manager connection yet and does not take online payments.
- Basic is free with no time limit (up to 100 AI conversations and 10 confirmed bookings a month); Pro costs €49 a month.
You can read how it decides what to say in How Mira works, and find out more on the AI receptionist page. If you want a broader overview of products on the market, see our AI receptionist comparison.