The caller is faster: Voice AI transforms hotels

A hotel guest asks from bed to open the curtains, orders room service and reserves a table in an Italian restaurant with one sentence. No employee gets involved. Voice AI, once a gimmick, is growing to become pivotal in serving guests.

Amazon launched recently Alexa+, a more advanced version of Alexa for Hospitality. This new variant is more conversational and pairs effortlessly with platforms such as OpenTable. Guests can use voice to make restaurant reservations, book wellness treatments or arrange transport. Increasingly, Voice AI is acting as a digital concierge.

According to the Hotel 2025 Study from Oracle and Skift, based on research among six hundred hoteliers and five thousand guests, makes sense. "Speaking is the most intuitive way of communicating," the researchers argue. "Guests don't need to read manuals or fathom complex systems. They simply ask their question, just as they would with an employee."

Telephony still alive and kicking

Although it is often thought that telephony has become less important, research shows otherwise. From figures from interest group HOTREC shows that in 2023, 13.8 per cent of hotel reservations in Germany and 6.5 per cent in the Netherlands were still made by phone. Questions about reservations are also often made over the phone.

Innovations such as Mandy, Hivr's AI Phone Agent recently introduced at Radisson Hotels, capitalise on this. Mandy handles calls and emails independently in 50 languages and is linked to systems for meeting bookings and cancellations. Thanks to investments from technology group Amadeus, the number of links will increase rapidly.

This is in line with research by Oracle and Skift. This shows that 43 per cent of travellers consider 'voice controls' essential for a pleasant stay. Among hoteliers, 40.8 per cent say they want to invest in voice-controlled technology by 2025.

In practice, voice AI proves faster and more accessible than apps, especially for international guests who benefit from multilingual support. For hoteliers, in addition to better service, it also brings efficiency gains: standard queries are handled automatically, allowing staff to focus on more value-added tasks. In times of staff shortages, this is crucial.

Ensuring guest confidence

The rapid rise of Voice AI also raises questions about privacy and data sovereignty. For example, Amazon recently removed a privacy setting, routinely sending calls from hotel guests to the cloud for training purposes. This conflicts with the growing focus on data security and control over guest information.

Therefore, there is growing interest in privacy-friendly alternatives that function locally without dependence on the (US) cloud. More and more hotels are striking the balance between convenience and trust: Voice AI seems indispensable, but the guest must still feel safe.

All through one voice?

The technology is now not limited to the room or the phone. The AI Voice platform from Canary Technologies offers hoteliers an integrated solution for front desk, concierge, reservations department and booking agent, all voice-controlled. This creates a single point of contact for all guest contact moments.

Voice AI is expected to take centre stage in the coming years and will be used for both tourists and business guests. Hoteliers face the challenge of how to use this technology intelligently, without losing sight of the trusting relationship with the guest. Therefore, the question is not whether hotels will embrace this technology, but how they will do so in a responsible, guest-focused way.