AI receptionist for hotels UPCOMINGDesign preview

The AI receptionist we’re building for the calls your front desk can’t take.

ely is an AI receptionist for hotels, being built in alpha — not yet part of the pilot rollout. It is designed to answer calls when your front desk is busy or closed, in the language the guest speaks, using the same approved knowledge base as your ely chatbot. Website chat, already in the pilot rollout, answers from that knowledge today.

elyPhone · after hours

11:42 PM · After hours

00:00
ely
Good evening. I’m ely, the hotel’s AI receptionist. How can I help with your stay?
00:05
Guest
Do you have a room for two this Friday? We’ll be arriving late.
00:09
ely
Let’s check the hotel’s approved booking options. What time do you expect to arrive?
00:14
Guest
Around ten. Just one night, for two adults.
00:18
ely
Friday, one night, two adults, arriving around ten. I’ll carry those details into the hotel’s booking process. Your room and rate still need confirmation there.

Dates captured. Approved booking path explained. No reservation made by this illustration.

10:18 PM · Arrival question

00:00
ely
Hello, I’m ely, the hotel’s AI receptionist. How can I help?
00:04
Guest
My flight is delayed. Can I check in after midnight?
00:08
ely
I’ll check the hotel’s arrival instructions. What name is your booking under?
00:13
Guest
Santos. We may not reach the hotel until two in the morning.
00:17
ely
I don’t have an approved answer for a two o’clock arrival. I’ll pass your name, delayed flight and expected arrival to the hotel team so they can confirm the arrangements.

Arrival question passed to the hotel team with the guest’s context. No exception promised.

8:05 PM · English → Filipino → English

00:00
ely
Good evening. I’m ely, the hotel’s AI receptionist. How can I help?
00:05
Guest
Puwede po ba tayong mag-Tagalog? May tanong ako tungkol sa check-in.
00:10
ely
Opo. Ano po ang gusto ninyong malaman tungkol sa check-in?
00:15
Guest
Actually, English is fine. Can we arrive early and leave our bags?
00:20
ely
Of course. I’ll check the hotel’s luggage policy. Early room access needs a separate confirmation, so I won’t promise that without an approved answer.

The caller changed language. The approved hotel information stayed the same.

Interactive illustration · not a live call · OpenAI-generated voices

Join the waitlist See how a call runs

The guest’s languagePhilippines · Southeast Asia · Australia

See the whole ely service for hotels

Why the phone still matters

1 in 3: guest messages arrive after hoursAgentZap, 2026
86%: of callers who reach voicemail hang up without leaving a messageHiya, State of the Call 2025
58%: of travellers prefer the phone for complex bookings — suites, groups, special requestsAgentZap, 2026
~21×: more likely to convert when the first reply moves from 30 minutes to 5MIT / Harvard Business Review

A hotel host helping an arriving guest in a bright, welcoming lobby — The person behind the desk
Give your team room to look after the guest in front of them.
A guest has just arrived. The phone starts ringing. **ely**’s AI receptionist is being built, in alpha, to take the call while your receptionist gives the person at the desk their full attention.
Your team still handles the welcome, the special requests and the decisions that need a person. Once it pilots, you will choose what **ely** can answer and when it should hand over.
FLUX-generated editorial image · not a customer photograph

One knowledge base. Every conversation.

Your hotel team, chatbot and AI receptionist are built to share the same hotel knowledge.

You do not have to teach ely twice. Your team keeps one set of approved facts current; website Chat, in the pilot rollout, already answers from it, in the guest’s own words. Voice — in alpha, not yet part of the pilot rollout — is being built to answer by phone from that same knowledge. If a fact is missing or needs an exception, the conversation hands off to a person.

See how the hotel knowledge base works

Approved hotel fact · luggage storage

The front desk holds luggage from 10 AM. Rooms are ready from 3 PM; an earlier check-in needs the team’s confirmation.

Approved by the duty manager · updated 2 Sep · Rooms · Arrival · Dining · Policies

Website chat

Can we leave our bags before check-in?

Yes — the front desk holds luggage from 10 AM. Your room is ready from 3 PM.

ely chatbot

Phone

GuestWe get in at ten — can we leave our bags?

elyYes. The desk holds luggage from 10 AM, and your room is ready from 3 PM.

ely’s AI receptionist UPCOMING

Front desk

Luggage storage APPROVED

Held at the desk from 10 AM · rooms from 3 PM · early check-in on request

Edited by your team · exceptions decided here

Your hotel team

No approved answer, or an exception → the conversation hands off to your team

One approved hotel knowledge base is built to serve your team, website chat and voice alike — voice is in alpha, not yet part of the pilot rollout. If the answer is missing or needs an exception, ely follows your handoff rules · illustrative.

How a call runs

What does an AI receptionist do on a hotel call?

A clear path from the first question to the right next step. The call lab highlights what ely is doing.

01Listens and understands

02Answers from one shared knowledge base

03Moves the booking forward

04Hands off with context

Step 01
Listens and understands
The guest speaks, pauses or corrects a detail. ely listens before choosing the next step.
Step 02
Answers from one shared knowledge base
Room details, arrival instructions and policies come from the same approved hotel knowledge base your ely chatbot uses.
Step 03
Moves the booking forward
Dates and guest details follow your approved booking flow. A reservation is confirmed only when that flow confirms it.
Step 04
Hands off with context
Unclear information, special requests and requests for a person follow your hotel’s handoff rules.

What the phone line would be worth

Every answered call would become a simple set of numbers.

Voice is in alpha, illustrated below with a fictional hotel and synthetic data. Once it pilots, the same call your team hears would also be a row in the ely app, so a hotel could see how many calls arrived after hours and how many the receptionist finished on its own.

Calls answered: 1,316est.No hold queue, no voicemail.
Arrived after hours: 28.9%est.22:00 – 06:00 · 380 of 1,316 calls.
Handled without a human: 77.5%est.1,020 finished by ely · 296 handed over.
Average handle time: 3m 48sest.Greeting to goodbye.

Four statistic tiles from the ely app's Voice screen for the fictional Hiraya Cove demo: calls answered, arrived after hours, handled without a human, and average handle time — **ely** app · Voice tab · Hiraya Cove demo · synthetic data · 14 Oct – 14 Feb

Under the hood

GPT‑Live: the voice layer. Your hotel: the source of truth.

GPT powers the voice conversation. ely is being built to connect it to the same approved knowledge base as your chatbot, along with your booking permissions and handoff rules — voice is in alpha, not yet part of the pilot rollout. Website Chat already answers from that same knowledge today.

THE GUEST

Speaks, pauses, interrupts

The conversation follows the caller.

ely + GPT‑LIVE

Listen. Understand. Respond.

Keep the question and context together.

YOUR HOTEL

Approved information

Rooms, policies, booking steps and a person to hand off to.

The model handles language. ely supplies the hotel’s knowledge, permissions and handoff path.

Listens while it speaks

The caller can correct a date without waiting for the whole answer to finish.

“Sorry, I meant Saturday.” → ely takes the correction.

Leaves room for a pause

A guest checking a flight time needs a moment. The conversation can wait for them.

Guest pauses → listen → continue when they are ready.

Follows a language switch

The conversation can change language while the hotel’s approved facts stay the same.

“Puwede po sa Filipino?” → “Opo.”

The same facts, in chat and voice

Your AI receptionist is being built to connect to the same approved hotel knowledge base your chatbot already uses. Each channel follows its permitted booking steps.

One approved arrival policy → the same information by phone and chat.

Knows when to hand off

ely follows the hotel’s permissions. Missing information and exceptions go to your team.

No approved answer → context captured → a person.

Introduces itself as AI

The example opens with a clear introduction, so callers know who is answering.

“I’m ely, the hotel’s AI receptionist.”

Explore OpenAI’s GPT‑Live introduction. The hotel knowledge, approved booking flow and handoff rules belong to ely’s setup.

Compared

Voicemail, staff overflow or an AI front desk?

How voicemail, staff overflow and **ely** handle hotel calls
What matters	Voicemail	Staff overflow	ely’s AI receptionist (UPCOMING)
Best for	Taking a message	Calls your team can cover	Approved, repeatable enquiries
Live answer	No conversation	When someone is available	Conversational, multilingual
Booking	A callback comes first	Handled by a person	Your approved booking flow
Handoff	Requires a callback	Already with the team	Follows your rules, with context

On a phone, swipe the table to compare all three options. ely’s AI receptionist is in alpha — this column describes what it is being built to do, not a live service.

Where ely is designed to answer

Which countries is ely available in?

The Philippines, Southeast Asia and Australia. Voice is in alpha, so phone coverage isn’t live anywhere yet — coverage is confirmed per property during onboarding once it pilots; the map is the agreed regional scope for review, not a promise of every feature in every market.

Philippines · Southeast Asia · Australia

PhilippinesLocal and international guests, with a team based in Taguig.
AustraliaAfter-hours and overflow enquiries for independent hotels and regional stays.
Singapore
Thailand
Indonesia
Malaysia
Brunei

The guest’s language

What language does ely answer in?

ely is designed to answer in the language the guest speaks — with the same approved hotel facts behind every answer. A change of language keeps the hotel’s approved information in place.

Fluency can vary. We check the languages your guests use against your hotel’s information during setup.

The guest’s languageevery conversation
one hotel’s knowledge

GUEST · FILIPINOPuwede po tayong mag-Tagalog?

Opo. Paano ko po kayo matutulungan?

Try the language-switch example

The full language list is confirmed with each hotel during setup.

Hear a few language examples

Hear ely in English, Filipino and more.

Start with English or Filipino, then hear the same welcome in five other languages. These seven AI-generated examples answer in the language the guest speaks — they are not the full language list or a promise of identical performance.

English (Australia) · en-AU