What is a hotel answering service, and does it fit a hostel?
A hotel answering service picks up the calls a property cannot take, so no guest is left waiting. Zanus AI does that for hostels with one AI that answers the phone, the website chat, the e-mail and the web forms from your own rooms, beds, rates and house rules. It holds the bed, books desk extras and tours, and hands whatever needs a person to your staff.
Can it answer questions about dorms, private rooms and bunks?
Yes, from what you give it. Tell Lisa about each room: mixed or female-only dorms, bed counts, private twins and doubles, lockers, linen, bathrooms and age rules. The AI answers travelers from that list and from your website, and when a question goes beyond what you approved, it takes a message for the desk instead of guessing.
Is Zanus AI hostel booking software, and does it take payments?
It is the front office around your booking system, not a replacement for it: your property management system, channel connections and payment page stay as they are. The AI holds the bed on that room's own calendar, books desk extras such as a locker or a bike, and sends the traveler to your own booking link to pay. It never takes a card number.
Can it handle late arrivals and after-hours check-in?
Yes, by your rules. A traveler who calls or writes at night hears the after-hours arrival steps you approved, the bed stays held, and the request waits for the night shift with the whole conversation. Codes and passwords are given only if you allow it, and whatever sits on your never-say list is not read out.
Which languages does it speak with travelers?
The traveler's own. Each caller is answered in their language on the phone, the website chat talks with visitors in 40 languages by text or by voice, and a call can be passed to the colleague at your desk who speaks it. Your house rules stay the same in every language.
How does it handle school trips, sports teams and other groups?
AI E-mail sorts group requests into their own folder and drafts the reply. The quote is built from your group rates and waits for your yes, a proposal can follow, and the follow-ups stop the moment the organizer answers. For a large trip you can open a live meeting room with the organizer, and the notes are kept on the group's record.
Can it reduce no-shows at our hostel?
It calls before they happen. AI Auto-Call phones the travelers due to arrive, each in their own language, and takes the answer. A yes confirms the bed, a no frees it for the next traveler or a walk-in, and a request to change dates goes on the desk's list with the traveler's own words.
Will it replace our front desk staff?
That is not the aim. The AI takes the repeat questions, the calls during check-in rushes and the messages that arrive overnight, so the people at your desk can welcome the travelers standing in front of them. Each desk is set to AI only, AI first or a person first, and you can change that whenever the season does.
Can we keep the hostel's phone number?
Yes. The number on your booking pages, map listings and the sign by the door stays yours. You forward it to Zanus AI the way you would for any answering service, with no porting and nothing to install, and travelers keep dialing the number they already know.
What happens when a guest reports a problem in the middle of the night?
A locker that will not open, a noisy dorm or a lost passport becomes a help desk ticket in the guest's own words, waiting for the person you named. A guest who reports a fire, an injury or a threat hears your always-say instruction to call emergency services, and the call goes to whoever is on duty.
How much does a hotel answering service for a hostel cost?
Zanus AI is priced per company, never per seat, so the day desk, the night shift and every manager work under one subscription. You pick the modules your hostel needs, from the phone and chat to group quotes and the team assistant, and the plans are on the pricing page.
What is the difference between the 7-day free trial and the demo?
The free trial builds a sandbox around your own hostel from its website, for 7 days, with no card: a phone line that answers as your hostel, your website with Lisa on it, and a dashboard. The demo shows the AI front office ready-made and reaches your inbox in about 2 minutes, with nothing to set up.
