Short answer
An AI employee for a hotel answers booking and amenity questions by phone, text and email at any hour, collects the details of group and event inquiries, and drafts replies to guest reviews for approval. It works with your PMS or booking tools. Rate decisions, complaints and anything safety-related stay with your staff.
The independent hotel's phone problem
At 10:30 pm a traveler wants to know whether the hotel has parking, whether pets are allowed, and if late check-in is possible. If nobody picks up, they open the next tab. A small hotel, a boutique inn or a motel cannot staff the front desk for every channel at every hour, but those questions are exactly when guests decide.
The other half of the hotel inbox is slower and bigger: a wedding party asking about a room block, a corporate planner looking for twenty rooms in October, a travel agent wanting a rate. Those are valuable, and they need a fast, organized first response.
Oraculo is a managed AI employee. You delegate in plain language over WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack, Telegram, email, phone or its app. It answers and places calls on your business line 24/7, handles texts and email, and works in your tools.
What it handles at a hotel
| Hotel situation | What happens now | With Oraculo |
|---|---|---|
| After-hours call about parking, pets, check-in time | Voicemail or night auditor distracted | Answers from the policies and FAQ you provide, any hour, in English or Spanish |
| Direct booking question by text or email | Reply the next day, guest books on an OTA | Replies in minutes with availability guidance and the direct-booking link |
| Group or event inquiry | Long email thread to learn dates and headcount | Collects dates, room count, event needs and budget, then hands a summary to your sales contact |
| Pre-arrival | Guests call with the same questions | Sends arrival details, parking, check-in and local tips on your schedule |
| Guest review posted | Reply sits for days | Drafts a response in your voice and sends it for approval |
Hotels run on a property management system such as Cloudbeds, Mews or Opera, plus channel managers, Google Business Profile and email. Oraculo can work with tools that have an API or a login, and can log in on its own secure computer for those that don't. Live availability and rate lookups depend on what your PMS exposes, so ask for that to be confirmed in setup.
Booking questions: answer, then guide to the direct link
The goal of most pre-booking messages is a booking on your own site, not a commission-heavy one on an OTA. Oraculo answers the question first, using your approved facts about rooms, policies, amenities, pet fees and the neighborhood, then points the guest to book direct.
- Facts only. It answers from what you give it. If a question is not covered, it says it will check and tells the front desk.
- Languages. It can reply in English and Spanish. See bilingual AI receptionist.
- Special requests. Accessibility needs, early check-in and celebrations get logged for the team rather than promised.
Group inquiries: the first reply decides the next step
A planner sends the same inquiry to six hotels and answers the first one that sounds organized. Oraculo replies promptly with the questions you would ask: dates and flexibility, number of rooms per night, meeting or banquet space, catering needs, budget, and who decides. It then packages the answers for your sales contact so the follow-up call starts with facts.
It can also chase the planner if they go quiet and note the status in your CRM. For related ideas, see AI employee for event venues and AI lead follow-up.
Review replies and reputation
Reviews on Google and travel sites affect bookings, and an answered review looks better than a silent one. Oraculo can read new reviews, draft a reply that names something specific the guest mentioned, and send it to you for approval. For negative reviews, it flags the issue to the manager with the guest's stay details, so the response is accurate.
It will not argue with a guest in public or admit liability. See AI reputation management for local business for the general approach.
A sample delegation
You text Oraculo on a Friday: “Anyone who asks about the wedding block in October, collect the date, number of rooms and whether they need a rehearsal dinner space. Send the summary to Carla. Reply to the two new Google reviews and show me before posting. And remind arrivals tomorrow that check-in starts at 3.”
- Sets up the group-inquiry questions and routes every answer to Carla.
- Drafts replies to the two reviews and sends them to you for approval.
- Texts tomorrow's arrivals with check-in time, parking and the front-desk phone number.
- Sends a Monday summary of inquiries received, replies sent and follow-ups pending.
What should stay with hotel staff
- Guest complaints and service recovery, especially in person.
- Rate changes, comps and refunds.
- Safety and emergency situations. It escalates immediately to a person.
- Group contracts, attrition and cancellation terms.
Important actions can require your approval first.
How Oraculo handles this, and what it costs
Starter is $12 per hour of work with a 6-hour weekly minimum, about $312 a month. Business is $8 per hour with a 43-hour weekly minimum, about $1,500 a month, with a dedicated Slack account manager. Billing follows a published task-time chart. Setup is $499 one time with four 1-hour Zoom sessions with an engineer. Phone calls are $0.19 a minute, and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee. Unlimited locations are supported, which suits owners with more than one property.
To hear it answer your own after-hours calls, book a 20-minute demo.
Key takeaway
A hotel loses bookings in unanswered messages, not in bad rooms. An AI employee answers every inquiry and sends your team the ones that need a human.
Frequently asked questions
Can an AI employee answer hotel phone calls at night?
Yes. Oraculo answers calls 24/7 on your business line, replies from the policies and facts you provide, logs special requests, and alerts staff for anything urgent. Calls are billed at $0.19 per minute.
Does it connect to my property management system?
Oraculo connects to 300+ tools and works with anything that has an API or a login. What it can do inside your PMS, such as live availability, is confirmed with the engineer during setup.
Can it handle group and event inquiries?
It collects dates, room counts, event needs and budget, summarizes them for your sales contact, and follows up if the planner goes quiet. Contracts and pricing are handled by your team.
Will it reply to guest reviews automatically?
It can draft replies in your voice and send them to you for approval, and you can choose how much it posts on its own. Negative reviews are flagged to a manager.
Can it speak Spanish with guests?
Yes. Oraculo can handle conversations in English and Spanish on calls, texts and email. Tell it which policies and facts it should use in each language.