How IgeraHospit Turns Calls into Direct Bookings Without OTA Commission

Every unanswered call or WhatsApp message from a potential guest outside office hours ends up — almost automatically — as a booking on Booking.com or Expedia, with a 15% to 25% commission paid back to the platform. IgeraHospit answers those calls 24 hours a day, in 8 languages, and closes the booking directly in the hotel's PMS before the guest ever opens a search engine.

Most hotels do not route 100% of their bookings through OTAs — but even if 30% comes via external platforms, annual commissions easily exceed £100,000. And every time a guest tries to ring the hotel outside office hours and gets no answer, that OTA percentage edges higher.

Why do OTAs capture bookings that hotels could have taken directly?

The cycle is predictable. A potential guest discovers the hotel on Instagram, through a recommendation, or via Google Maps. They decide to call directly because they want to ask about the rate, confirm whether pets are allowed, or request a specific room type. They ring at 10:30pm on a Tuesday. Nobody answers. The guest opens Booking.com, finds the hotel, and completes the booking in 90 seconds — costing the hotel a 20% commission on a reservation it should have captured for free.

IgeraHospit interrupts this cycle at the first step: it answers the 10:30pm call, checks live availability in the PMS, offers the room at the hotel's direct rate (without OTA markup), and confirms the booking by sending an email to the guest — all without human involvement.

What does IgeraHospit handle autonomously?

How does IgeraHospit handle a late-night booking call?

Which PMS systems does IgeraHospit integrate with?

IgeraHospit integrates natively with the leading hotel management systems: Opera (Oracle Hospitality), Protel, Mews, Cloudbeds and Apaleo. For other PMS platforms with a REST API or channel manager connection, integration is completed within 3 to 7 business days without requiring technical involvement from the hotel.

The two-way integration ensures the bot always queries live availability before confirming a booking, eliminating the risk of overbooking. Every booking created by IgeraHospit appears immediately in the PMS tagged as "direct booking — IgeraHospit" for conversion tracking.

How much does IgeraHospit save in OTA commissions?

The calculation is straightforward. If IgeraHospit converts 20 out-of-hours calls per month into direct bookings — with an average rate of £150 per night and a two-night average stay — the total value of those bookings is £6,000 per month. The OTA commission avoided (at 20%) is £1,200 per month. The cost of IgeraHospit starts at £199 per month. Net saving: over £1,000 per month from month one.

For a 50-room hotel with an ADR of £80 and 70% occupancy, if the system converts 20% of missed calls into direct bookings, annual commission savings can exceed £73,000.

Frequently asked questions

Can IgeraHospit fully replace overnight reception staff?

For hotels without 24-hour reception, IgeraHospit covers the overnight shift for enquiries and general information. For hotels with a night receptionist, it acts as a backup when multiple calls arrive simultaneously or when the receptionist is with a guest in person. It does not replace physical presence but eliminates missed calls entirely.

How does IgeraHospit know what rate to offer?

The system queries rates from the PMS in real time, including minimum rate restrictions and cancellation conditions set by the hotel. It can be configured to always offer the best available rate, a direct-booking discount versus OTA rates, or the standard rate according to the hotel's pricing policy.

What happens if a guest wants to modify or cancel a booking?

IgeraHospit can handle date changes or cancellations directly in the PMS if they fall within the hotel's cancellation policy. For changes requiring human approval — such as modifications outside policy — it logs the request and alerts the reception team for priority handling when they are next on duty.

Does it work with WhatsApp as well as phone calls?

Yes. IgeraHospit handles both voice calls and WhatsApp Business messages. Many guests — particularly international travellers — prefer WhatsApp to enquire about availability or pricing before booking. The bot responds in the same channel and closes the direct booking without the guest needing to visit any OTA platform.

How long does the setup take?

Basic configuration — hotel phone number connected, hotel information loaded and first language set up — is ready within 3 to 5 business days. Full PMS integration and multilingual configuration may take up to 10 days depending on the system.

Will guests know they are speaking with an AI?

IgeraHospit presents itself as the hotel's assistant, not as a human agent. Transparency is built into the design: the system indicates at the start of each interaction that it is an automated assistant. The experience is smooth and the vast majority of guests respond positively to the speed of response and round-the-clock availability.