Chatbots for Restaurants and Hospitality Venues: What They Handle and How to Start

Some questions come up every day: opening hours, prices, directions, table availability and whether you welcome groups. An AI chatbot can answer them straight away on your website, Instagram or WhatsApp, leaving your team free for what really needs human attention.

What Is an AI Agent, and How Does It Differ from a Traditional Bot?

A traditional bot followed a menu of options: ‘press 1 for opening hours, press 2 for bookings’. An AI agent understands what people write in their own words, replies using your business information and knows when to hand over to a person. The most noticeable difference is that the conversation feels natural.

What It Handles Well

• Common enquiries: opening hours, location, parking, menu and policies.
• Booking requests: it collects the details and passes them to your team for confirmation.
• Out-of-hours enquiries: no one is left without a reply at eleven at night.
• Multiple languages, particularly useful if your customers are international.
• An initial point of contact during busy periods: at weekends or before an event.

What a Person Should Handle

• Sensitive complaints or situations that need empathy.
• Changes or exceptions to your rules.
• Anything the chatbot does not know: it should say so and hand over, rather than make something up.
• Payments and sensitive data, unless a secure system is in place to handle them.

How to Start, Step by Step

1. Gather real questions. Look back over Instagram messages, WhatsApp conversations and phone enquiries from the past few weeks. These are the chatbot’s starting point.
2. Write answers using your actual information. Opening hours, rules and ways to book. A vague or outdated answer is worse than none.
3. Define what it can and cannot do, and when it hands over to a person.
4. Connect it to your channels: your website, Instagram, WhatsApp… whichever your customers use.
5. Make it clear at the start that it is AI. This is a matter of transparency, and European regulations also require it.
6. Review real conversations and improve the answers. A chatbot improves with use.

Ten Common Questions to Prepare For

• What are your opening hours today and this weekend?
• Where are you and where can I park?
• Do I need to book? How do I do that?
• Do you welcome groups or birthday parties?
• Is there a menu available?
• Are there options for allergies or special dietary requirements?
• Are pets or children welcome?
• What is your cancellation policy?
• Are there any events or live music this week?
• How can I contact you if I need to speak to a person?

What to Measure

There is no need to overcomplicate things. Checking from time to time what people ask, what it could not answer and how many requests come in is enough to see whether it is working and what information your answers are missing.

Two Real Examples

At Real Club Pádel Marbella, an AI agent handles enquiries through the website, Instagram and WhatsApp. At Naô Pool Club, a chatbot answers website enquiries and collects booking requests for the team. Both have something in common: real business information and a clear limit on what they can do.

Common Mistakes

• Launching without checking the information: outdated answers cause confusion.
• Not saying that it is AI.
• Not providing a clear way to speak to a person.
• Forgetting about it: it needs checking and updating when opening hours or rules change.

To find out what kind of agent would suit your business, take a look at our AI agents and chatbots service or tell us about your business.