> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getsmartalex.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AI voice agents for hospitality

> How hotels and restaurants use SmartAlex as an AI receptionist to take reservations, check availability, handle booking changes, answer FAQs, and catch overflow calls at peak service.

# AI voice agents for hospitality

SmartAlex gives hotels and restaurants an AI voice agent that answers every call, takes and changes reservations, checks live availability, and answers the questions guests ask most, so your team stays with the guests in front of them instead of the phone.

Hospitality lives and dies on the phone during the exact moments nobody can pick it up. The host is seating a party, the front desk is checking in a queue, and the line keeps ringing. A caller who reaches voicemail at 7pm on a Friday books the restaurant next door. An AI receptionist for hotels and a restaurant booking AI solve the same problem: every call gets a warm, instant, knowledgeable answer, day or night, no matter how many are ringing at once.

## Why hotels and restaurants choose SmartAlex

<Columns>
  <Card title="Every call answered">
    The agent picks up in under two seconds, through the dinner rush, on weekends, and after close. No hold music, no voicemail, no lost cover.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Live availability, not guesswork">
    Connect your booking system so the agent quotes real open tables and rooms and writes the reservation straight back, instead of taking a message.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Overflow that never spills">
    Concurrent call slots mean ten guests can call at once and all ten are handled. Peak service stops being the time you miss the most bookings.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Answers the repeat questions">
    Hours, parking, dress code, dietary options, check-in times, pet policy, and amenities are answered from your knowledge base, freeing staff for real guest service.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Key use cases

### 1. Reservations and availability

When a guest calls to book, the agent runs the whole conversation:

* Captures party size, date, time, and any special requests (high chair, window table, anniversary)
* Checks live availability through your connected booking system rather than promising a slot it cannot confirm
* Writes the reservation and sends an SMS or email confirmation
* Offers the nearest alternatives when the requested time is full, so a "no" still turns into a booking

<Note>
  Live availability comes from the bookings connector in Agent Studio. Connect a booking or calendar source (iCal, Nightsbridge, Calendly, Google Calendar, or Outlook) so the agent reads real openings and books against them. The iCal bookings connector and custom HTTP tools to your own reservation system are part of the Power Tools add-on (\$29/month on Professional, included on Enterprise).
</Note>

### 2. Booking changes and cancellations

Plans change, and most of that traffic is pure phone admin your staff should not be doing:

* Looks up an existing reservation by name, phone, or confirmation number
* Moves a table or room to a new time or date and re-confirms
* Cancels and releases the table so it can be resold, then logs the reason
* Handles party-size changes and adds notes for the kitchen or front desk

### 3. FAQs about hours, parking, and amenities

Most inbound calls are not bookings at all. The agent answers them instantly from your knowledge base:

* Opening hours, kitchen close, and holiday schedules
* Parking, valet, and directions
* Menu highlights, set menus, corkage, and dietary or allergen options
* For hotels: check-in and check-out times, pet policy, pool and gym hours, breakfast, Wi-Fi, and room types

Update a policy once in your knowledge base and every future call reflects it. No re-training a night team.

### 4. Overflow call handling at peak

<Steps>
  <Step title="Your main line rings">
    Calls flow to the agent whenever your team is busy, on another line, or closed, using as many concurrent call slots as you need.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Every caller is greeted at once">
    Nobody hits a busy tone. The agent handles ten simultaneous callers as calmly as one, taking bookings and answering questions in parallel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Simple requests are resolved on the spot">
    Reservations, changes, and FAQs are completed without a human. Only the calls that genuinely need a person get escalated.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complex or VIP calls are warm-transferred">
    A large private event, a complaint, or a known VIP is announced to the manager and connected, with the context already captured.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Concurrency is what makes peak service work. Professional includes five concurrent call slots and you can add more at \$15/month per slot, so a fully booked Saturday night never sends a caller to voicemail.
</Tip>

### 5. After-hours and outbound

Hospitality demand does not stop when the lights go off:

* Takes and confirms reservations overnight and on days you are closed
* Runs confirmation and reminder calls the day before a booking to cut no-shows
* Works a waitlist automatically, calling guests when a table or room opens
* Follows up after a stay or a meal to invite a review or a repeat booking

<Note>
  Outbound confirmations, reminders, and waitlist campaigns use the Outbound Campaigns add-on (\$49/month on Professional, included on Enterprise and Real Estate). See [/essentials/campaigns](/essentials/campaigns) for how sequences and calling windows work.
</Note>

### 6. One inbox across every channel

Guests reach you on voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and web chat. With the Unified Inbox add-on (\$39/month), every reservation thread and question lands in one place with full per-contact history, so the team can jump in by hand or let the agent keep handling it.

## Example flow: a Friday-night booking

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
  A[Guest calls the restaurant] --> B[AI voice agent answers in under two seconds]
  B --> C{What does the guest need?}
  C -->|New reservation| D[Checks live availability via the bookings connector]
  D --> E{Table free at the requested time?}
  E -->|Yes| F[Books the table and sends an SMS confirmation]
  E -->|No| G[Offers the nearest open times and books one]
  C -->|Change or cancel| H[Finds the booking, updates or releases the table]
  C -->|Question| I[Answers hours, parking, menu, amenities from knowledge]
  C -->|Large event or complaint| J[Warm transfer to the manager with context]
```

## Sample agent prompt

A realistic system prompt for a restaurant reservations agent:

```text theme={null}
You are Maya, the reservations assistant for Olive & Vine, a 90-seat
Mediterranean restaurant. Your tone is warm, efficient, and genuinely
hospitable.

Your responsibilities:
1. Take reservations. Ask for the date, time, and party size, then check live
   availability through the booking system before confirming. Never promise a
   table you have not confirmed is open.
2. Capture the guest name, phone number, and any special requests: high chair,
   accessibility needs, allergies, or a celebration.
3. Change or cancel existing reservations. Look the booking up by name or phone,
   make the change, and confirm it. Release cancelled tables so they can be
   rebooked.
4. Answer common questions from the knowledge base: opening hours, kitchen
   close at 10pm, parking in the rear lot, the set menu, corkage, and vegan and
   gluten-free options.

Booking rules:
- Offer the two nearest alternative times whenever the requested slot is full.
- For parties of 8 or more, capture the details and warm-transfer to the
  manager to confirm the private area.
- Always send an SMS confirmation after booking.

If a caller is upset or asking about a billing dispute, apologise briefly,
capture the details, and transfer to the manager. Do not guess policy you are
unsure of. Offer to take a message or arrange a callback instead.
```

## ROI and results

<Columns>
  <Card title="No missed bookings at peak">
    The calls you used to lose during service and after close are now captured and confirmed, turning your busiest and quietest hours into revenue.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Fewer no-shows">
    Automatic confirmation and reminder calls before each booking mean fewer empty tables and rooms held for guests who never arrive.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Staff back with guests">
    Hosts and front-desk teams stop juggling the phone and give their attention to the people in the room, which is where hospitality is won.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Open 24/7 without a night shift">
    Reservations, changes, and questions are handled overnight and on closed days with no overtime and no answering service to pay.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Frequently asked questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can the agent check real table and room availability?">
    Yes. Connect your booking or calendar system through the bookings connector in Agent Studio (iCal, Nightsbridge, Calendly, Google Calendar, or Outlook). The agent reads live openings and writes the reservation back, so it books real slots rather than taking a message.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens when every line is ringing at peak service?">
    Every caller is answered at once. Concurrent call slots let the agent handle many simultaneous calls, so nobody hits a busy tone or voicemail. You can add more slots as your peak volume grows.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can guests change or cancel a booking by phone?">
    Yes. The agent looks up the existing reservation by name, phone, or confirmation number, then moves, resizes, or cancels it and re-confirms. Cancelled tables are released so they can be rebooked.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does it answer questions about hours, parking, and amenities?">
    Yes. Hours, parking, directions, menus, dietary options, check-in times, pet policy, and amenities all come from your knowledge base. Update a detail once and every future call reflects it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can it take reservations after hours and on days we are closed?">
    Yes. The agent works around the clock. Overnight and closed-day bookings are confirmed and logged, and no-show reminders and waitlist callbacks can run as outbound campaigns.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does this work for hotels as well as restaurants?">
    Yes. The same agent handles room availability and reservations, booking changes, and front-desk FAQs (check-in and check-out, breakfast, Wi-Fi, pool hours, room types), and warm-transfers complex requests to your team.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How quickly can we go live?">
    Most venues are live within a day or two. You describe the agent in plain language in Studio, scan your website or paste your policies to build the knowledge base, connect your booking system, and set your transfer rules. No coding required.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Get started

SmartAlex is built for hotels and restaurants that want every call answered, every table filled, and every guest looked after, without adding front-desk headcount. Set your prices and add-ons on the [pricing page](/pricing), then build your agent in minutes.

<Card title="Try SmartAlex for hospitality" href="https://getsmartalex.com">
  Start your free trial and have your AI reservations agent answering calls within a day.
</Card>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Build your FAQ knowledge base" icon="book" href="/essentials/knowledge-base">
    Teach the agent your hours, parking, menu, and policies so every call answers itself.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Booking and transfer tools" icon="screwdriver-wrench" href="/essentials/agent-tools">
    Turn on check availability, create booking, schedule callback, and warm transfer per agent.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect your booking system" icon="plug" href="/integrations">
    Sync availability and write reservations back through the bookings connector.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pricing and add-ons" icon="tag" href="/pricing">
    See plans, concurrent call slots, and the Power Tools and Outbound Campaigns add-ons.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>