Hotels
WhatsApp for hotels: the customer service software that answers the guest, and the one that fixes what they ask for
A guest messages at eleven at night that the air conditioning in room 214 is not cooling. Answering is easy: the front desk, a shared inbox or a chatbot can do it. The hard part comes next: getting the report to whoever fixes it, having someone take it, and letting the front desk know when it is done so they can tell the guest. Hotel customer service on WhatsApp has those two halves, and almost all software covers only the first.
The two halves of guest service on WhatsApp
The first half is the conversation: the guest asks when breakfast is, asks for a cot or says they will arrive late, and someone replies. The second is what happens when the request cannot be solved by talking: the air conditioning, a shower that will not drain, a lock that will not open, the television. Maintenance or housekeeping fixes that, on another shift and another phone. The guest does not tell the two apart: if the front desk replied in a minute but the air conditioning is still broken at one in the morning, the service was poor.
Four types of WhatsApp software for a hotel
Searching for "WhatsApp for hotels" brings up very different things. Before comparing brands it helps to know which of the four you are after:
| What it is | What it does | What it is for | What it is not for |
|---|---|---|---|
| The WhatsApp Business auto-reply | Sends the same welcome or away message to anyone who writes | Telling guests the front desk hours or that you will reply shortly | It records nothing, does not know what is broken and alerts nobody |
| A shared WhatsApp inbox | Several front desk staff reply from the same number, each with their own user | Not depending on one phone, and seeing who replied to what | Whatever needs fixing still leaves the front desk by phone or word of mouth |
| A chatbot or guest app | Answers frequent questions, runs online check-in or offers extras | Saving the front desk from the same questions | If the request turns into a fault, the bot does not know who fixes it or whether it is done |
| A WhatsApp maintenance tool | Turns a staff report into a numbered ticket, sends it to the phone of whoever fixes it and watches the deadline | Getting what the guest asked for fixed, with its times, and the front desk knowing | It does not answer guests or take bookings: that is the job of the first three |
The first three are the first half; the fourth is the second. A small hotel can live with the auto-reply and the front desk answering by hand; one with several shifts usually needs one of the first three and, as well, the fourth.
Where guest service breaks down in a hotel
- At shift change. The guest reported it at 23:00; the front desk wrote it on paper; maintenance starts at 8:00 and nobody told them.
- In the staff WhatsApp group. The report gets lost among rotas, photos and jokes. Nobody knows whether anyone took it.
- On the way back. Maintenance fixes it and tells nobody; the guest returns to the front desk to ask, and the front desk does not know what to say.
- In what keeps coming back. The same shower fails three times in a month and each time it is treated as new, because there is no record.
No chatbot fixes this, because it is not a problem of answering: it is about the report arriving, being taken and coming back closed. How to keep the record by hand is in the hotel maintenance request form.
Where Bedel fits
Bedel is the second half. The front desk or housekeeping writes the fault to the hotel's WhatsApp, with a photo if they like; a ticket opens with the room and the time, rings on the phone of whoever fixes it according to their shift, and if the deadline passes it goes up to whoever is above. When it is closed, whoever reported it is told it is done: if that was the front desk, they can tell the guest; and the time of every step is there for everyone to see. Anything urgent at night wakes whoever is on call; a guest stuck in the lift alerts the team at once. Everything stays in the hotel's own Excel sheet. How it works in a hotel, in hotel maintenance and fault reporting on WhatsApp.
What it does not do: it does not answer guests (the staff on the hotel's list do the reporting), it is not a PMS, it does not handle check-in, bookings or upselling, it does not block rooms and it does not connect to other software. For the conversation with the guest, one of the first three rows of the table.
How to choose
- How many guest messages arrive a day, and who answers them at night? If there are many, a shared inbox or a chatbot.
- How many of those messages end up as something to fix? If it is several a week, you are missing the second half.
- Does the front desk know, without calling anyone, whether the fault in room 214 has been fixed? If not, the problem is not answering.
- Is there a record of which rooms fail most? Without it, the same thing gets repaired again and again.
What Spanish law requires of a hotel (guest register, complaint forms, building inspections) is in hotel regulations.
Frequently asked questions
What WhatsApp customer service software does a hotel use?
It depends on which half: to answer guests, the WhatsApp Business auto-reply, a shared inbox or a guest chatbot; to get what they ask for fixed and closed by maintenance, a WhatsApp maintenance tool. Many hotels need one of the first and the last.
Can a chatbot handle guests on WhatsApp?
It can answer frequent questions such as opening hours, wifi or check-out. What it does not solve is the fault: if the guest says the shower will not drain, someone has to receive the report, take it and close it, and that is no longer a conversation.
Does Bedel answer the hotel's guests?
No. In a hotel the staff on the list do the reporting: front desk, housekeeping or maintenance. Whatever the guest tells the front desk, the front desk writes to the hotel's WhatsApp and Bedel takes it to whoever fixes it.
What happens with a fault a guest reports in the middle of the night?
If it is urgent according to what the hotel has set, it rings on the phone of whoever is on call; if it can wait, it arrives at the start of the morning shift with its time. A guest stuck in the lift, smoke, gas or someone hurt alerts the team at once.
Does it work if we already have a PMS or a guest app?
Yes: it does not compete with them. The PMS handles bookings and rooms; the app or chatbot, the conversation with the guest. Bedel takes the fault from report to close, on the staff's WhatsApp, and the output is an Excel sheet.
Comparisons
- CMMS on WhatsApp for premises and residencesWhat a CMMS is, what a team really needs from maintenance, how corrective and preventive differ, and when WhatsApp is enough and when you need dedicated software.
- Automatic incident handling on WhatsAppWhich part of an incident can be answered and moved on its own over WhatsApp, what a person still does, and how it differs from an auto-reply or a chatbot.
- WhatsApp at work in Spain: group or incident managerWhatsApp groups at work in Spain: what the AEPD has ruled, what the right to disconnect adds and how a group compares with an incident manager for faults on business premises.
- CMMS or Excel for maintaining business premisesWhen a spreadsheet is enough and when a CMMS is needed, how to build the preventive plan in Excel and which records the law says to keep.
- Best CMMS for businesses with premises: criteriaSix criteria built for premises, seven CMMS described with what their websites say, and where Bedel fits, which is not one of them.
Rules by sector
- Restaurants and barsThe obligations of a restaurant or a bar in Spain: what is specific to the kitchen and the checks on the premises, each with the condition that triggers it, how often it applies and its article.
- GymsA gym: no national law; qualifications, insurance and notices under each region's sports professions act, plus low voltage, Legionella, pool, RIPCI and defibrillator as premises.
- HotelsA hotel: guest register and reporting within 24 hours, regional classification, low voltage and lift as a public-assembly venue, RIPCI, Legionella, pool, kitchen and defibrillator.
- Residents' associationsThe obligations of a Spanish residents' association: upkeep, reserve fund, owners' meeting and administrator under the Horizontal Property Act, building logbook, building inspection and the checks on each communal installation.
- Shops and franchisesA shop: responsible declaration up to 750 m², opening hours, prices, franchises with no register since 2018, complaint forms, accessibility adjustments and the inspections of premises open to the public.
- OfficesThe obligations of an office in Spain: temperature and upkeep of the premises, screen work, health and safety, coordination with contractors, internal reporting channel, right to disconnect and building checks.
- SchoolsA school: minimum facilities, protocols against violence and a wellbeing coordinator, canteen and menus from April 2026, self-protection and the building inspections.
- Industrial unitsAn industrial unit: fire inspection every five years under the 2025 regulation, chemical storage (APQ), air receivers, work equipment, low voltage, cooling towers and self-protection.