Twice as many guests dining in, in a city full of restaurants.
A historic 218-bedroom hotel beside Chester station, opened by Queen Victoria in 1861. After a £6M refurbishment, its restaurant had to earn its keep against dozens of places a few steps from the door.
Of the £6M, £1M went into the food and beverage spaces, and the hotel was asked to grow F&B revenue by more than £1M a year. The problem was the one every city-centre hotel knows: with restaurants on every corner, guests made their dinner plans before they ever saw what the hotel offered.
Email promotions were not reaching them in time. Meanwhile reception spent up to 18 minutes per stay answering the same questions about breakfast times, parking and amenities.
“We were tasked to grow our F&B revenue by over £1 million this year. But being in the middle of Chester, with so many restaurants and bars nearby, we were struggling to keep guests dining in-house. Traditional email promotions just weren't moving the needle.”
Amanda, the hotel's AI concierge on WhatsApp, opens every stay with the same question: why are you staying? The answer decides what follows. Champagne for an anniversary. A convenient table time for a business traveller. Family-friendly suggestions for a weekend away.
She reaches 70 to 80% of guests on their mobile before they arrive, direct and OTA bookings alike. The conversation happens where guests already pay attention, early enough to shape where they eat.
A live test on 20 reservations on day one. Full go-live within the month, with the tuning carrying on from there.
Managed by us, so the hotel's team stayed focused on its guests.
Guests kept asking for early check-in in their conversations. The hotel turned it into a package, and it sells.
Routine questions are answered in the thread straight away, so reception takes far fewer calls and spends its time on the guests in front of it.
The Queen at Chester
Joji Esao, Hotel Manager
“Since we introduced Amanda, our in-house sleeper-to-diner ratio has doubled compared to last year. Guests feel engaged before they arrive, and many are now choosing to dine with us rather than going out. Every week we're seeing stronger numbers than last year.”
Bring us the action, the brand, the awkward systems and the operational reality. We will shape the message for each channel and build the easiest route through them.
Show us where guests get stuck. Nothing to prepare. Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need us.
