It is 3am at your hotel. The night porter is on duty, but nobody is watching the website. Meanwhile, a family in Sydney is planning a trip for next spring. They have questions about family rooms, airport transfers and whether breakfast is included. By the time your reservations team sees their message at 9am, the family has booked elsewhere.
Hotel enquiries overnight are normal for any property with international guests. They plan trips during their own day, which is your night.
Why international guests matter
International guests often stay longer and spend more. They are also more likely to book through a travel agent if they cannot get answers directly, which means paying commission, as covered in direct booking questions that send guests to the OTAs.
What overnight enquirers ask
- Do you have family rooms?
- Is breakfast included?
- Can you arrange airport transfers?
- What is the cancellation policy?
- How far is the city centre?
- Do you accept payment in my currency?
Most are the same questions every guest asks before booking, covered in what guests ask before they book a hotel room.
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Answering at 3am
Guest (in Japanese): Do you have rooms for a family of four? Assistant (in Japanese): Yes, our family rooms sleep four, with a double bed and two single beds. Breakfast is included on the Bed and Breakfast rate. You can see availability and book on our website.
SpideyChat for hotels answers from your published information at any hour, in the guest's language, and points them to your booking engine.
Currency and payment questions
International guests often ask which currency they will be charged in and whether their card will work. State your billing currency clearly, mention whether the booking engine shows prices in other currencies, and list accepted cards. Surprises about exchange rates or card fees are a common cause of complaints from overseas guests.
Travel logistics
Guests from abroad also ask practical questions a local guest would not: how to get from the airport, whether the hotel can hold luggage before check-in, whether there is a safe in the room, and what the nearest station is. Adding a short "getting here" section to your website answers most of these and makes overseas guests feel looked after before they arrive.
Capturing special requests
Some overnight enquiries include requests: airport transfers, cots, dietary needs, early check-in. Capture these with the guest's details so the reservations team can confirm them in the morning.
Time zones in other businesses
Any business with international customers faces the same challenge. Serving customers across time zones is covered in general terms in serving customers in other time zones. Restaurants face a similar problem with late-evening bookings, as described in booking requests that arrive after the kitchen closes.
The morning handover
With overnight enquiries answered and requests captured, the reservations team starts the day with a short list of follow-ups instead of a pile of unanswered questions. Confirmations go out before the guests in Sydney wake up the next day. The guest experiences a hotel that seemed to be awake the whole time, and the reservations team did not have to work a night shift to make it happen.
To see how overnight questions would be answered, try an assistant on your hotel website, or look at the features.