[Sponsored content] AI-powered receptionist system for hospitality businesses DreamDesk has rolled out its product across Lamington Group’s room2 hometels.
Across the hospitality sector, serviced apartments, aparthotels, and boutique hotels are under intense pressure. Evolving guest expectations, staff shortages, and disrupted front desks are leaving teams stretched thin.
These challenges have sparked growing interest in automated solutions, with AI technology being explored as a way to reduce repetitive tasks, provide guests with greater control, and allow staff to focus on high-value interactions.
DreamDesk, a new AI-powered reception system, has recently launched in partnership with Lamington Group. Having already gone live across the group’s room2 hometels, it aims to provide round-the-clock guest communication across multiple channels, precisely matching the brand, tone, and guidelines of each operator.
A sector under pressure
Despite being labour intensive, the hospitality industry is facing a chronic staff shortage. According to UKHospitality, there are around 132,000 vacancies across the sector – 48 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.
As a consequence, the front desk has become the focal point of many of the issues being faced by the industry. Properties operated by leaner staff models, such as serviced apartments or aparthotels, are particularly vulnerable, and often struggle to maintain a 24-hour reception.
Despite this, guests increasingly expect near-instant responses, whether it’s to change a booking, arrange a later check-in, or to order amenities. There’s also a growing expectation that services can be delivered in multiple languages and across increasingly diverse channels.
The consequence has been high rates of staff burnout. For instance, Hospitality Action has reported that 62 per cent of junior employees now consider burnout ‘part of their job’. Half of all managers have also reported experiencing their own forms of burnout. The leading cause, cited by 57 per cent of respondents in a recent survey, was understaffing, followed by excessive workloads and a poor work-life balance.
For many hospitality businesses, meeting these challenges whilst remaining within budget has become an increasingly daunting prospect.
Rising interest in automation
Automated systems within the hospitality sector aren’t necessarily new. Hotels have often deployed systems that allow guests to confirm bookings, check-in, or ask general questions.The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), however, offers the possibility of more thoroughly automating increasingly complex points of contact.
DreamDesk aims to be a part of this shift. Having launched earlier this year, it provides a fully automated front desk solution, spanning phone, email, web chat, and even WhatsApp, integrating them into a single, user-friendly interface. It can answer up to 90 per cent of guest communications, covering more than 35 languages and dialects. The company has reported that operators have experienced a 35 per cent reduction in front desk workload, with 100 per cent of calls answered.
‘Built for hospitality, by hospitality’
It’s a pre-existing background in the hospitality industry that, according to co-founder Vieri Balboni, makes DreamDesk an ideal solution for operators. Balboni has firsthand onsite experience within the sector, while fellow co-founder Robert Godwin is CEO of Lamington Group and the driving force behind room2 hometels. It’s their combined experience and operational insight that, according to Balboni, has proven so integral to the technology’s design and implementation.
“Because we come from a hospitality background, we were able to design DreamDesk around the pain points and day-to-day realities of running a modern front desk,” says Balboni. “We wanted to build a solution that could decisively address staffing pressures while providing a voice that exactly matches the tone and values of every operator – whether it’s a boutique hotel or a large chain.”
Trialling DreamDesk at room2 hometels
One of the first operators to deploy DreamDesk has been room2 hometels, the world’s first hometel brand and a part of the Lamington Group. It’s since reported that staff workloads have been reduced, calls have been addressed, and that guest feedback has been positive.
Robert Godwin, CEO of Lamington Group and co-founder of DreamDesk, saw room2 as a perfect opportunity to prove the technology. He said: “room2 has always been a brand focused on new, innovative approaches. That made it an ideal proving ground for DreamDesk’s AI solution. We’ve seen firsthand how it can support hospitality teams in providing a much more personal, but manageable, service and we’re excited to see it scale more widely.”
Godwin also emphasised that, in the context of the hospitality industry, AI offered a unique opportunity. Instead of fully automating the work of a human being, it could free them from intensive and repetitive tasks, meaning that businesses can centre human-to-human interactions throughout the experiences they provide.
Why the industry is paying attention
AI technology is developing at a pace, but operators and consumers alike are taking a cautious approach. In a hospitality context, operators are naturally concerned about guest acceptance and maintaining their brands when deploying automated assistants and front desks.
However, case studies provided by room2’s adoption of DreamDesk have shown how AI-powered solutions can reliably centre human interactions and relationships. By removing time-consuming and unrewarding routine tasks, hospitality professionals can concentrate on the personal touches that shape the guest experience.
The technology is increasingly being honed to deliver more targeted and precise forms of communication, too. Factoring in everything from tone, language, and even accents in order to deliver responses that are sensitive towards brand guidelines.
For hotels, AI-powered and automated solutions are already helping operators navigate serious staff shortages, reduce operational costs, and preserve standards. For serviced apartments in particular, which face additional resource pressures, the impacts could be even more immediate.
Exploring the possibilities
AI-powered front desks are beginning to transform the hospitality industry. Instead of replacing human professionals, they’re allowing teams to focus on the more rewarding and impactful elements of service. room2 hometels has shown how these systems can work in practice, and how they can ease pressure on staff while centring the guest experience.
For operators who want to explore how the technology could work in their own properties, DreamDesk offers free, live demonstrations. You can receive a personal demo here.
