What a guest asks at 11pm: handling after-hours booking enquiries when you already have a booking engine
Short answer. Your booking engine is the only source for availability and rates, so a message assistant should never state either. What guests ask at 11pm is what the engine does not know: whether dogs are allowed, when breakfast ends, whether a 10pm arrival is a problem. Give the assistant your house rules, let it collect dates, guests and contact details, and check the engine yourself in the morning. A reply that promises a room the engine no longer has costs more than a reply that arrives at 9am.
Updated 11 November 2026. The example conversations are from a test with an invented guesthouse (Lissadorn House); no real business or guest is involved.
Who knows what
A booking engine knows which rooms are free on which nights, what each costs and how to take a deposit. It does not know that your garden rooms take dogs, that breakfast stops at 9.30, or that a guest arriving at 10pm needs a word with reception first. At 11pm nobody is there to give those answers.
| Question | Where the answer should come from |
|---|---|
| Is a double free on 17 to 19 July? What does it cost? | The booking engine, always |
| Can I bring my dog? What does it cost? | Your house rules |
| What time is check-in? Can we arrive late? | Your house rules, with a hand-over for late arrivals |
| Is breakfast included? When is it served? | Your house rules |
| Do you have parking or an EV charger? | Your house rules |
| What is the cancellation policy? | Your terms, which should match what the engine shows |
Six guest messages and the replies
We tested this with Lissadorn House, an invented nine-room guesthouse in Connemara, set up in Agenta Front Desk with a house-rules document and no connection to any real business. Cuts in the replies are marked […].
Guest: Hi, do you have a double room for 2 nights in July? Is breakfast included?
Assistant: Hi! Breakfast is included with our double rooms. Availability for two nights in July needs to be checked by our team. Could you share your check-in and check-out dates, number of guests, name, and phone number or email?
It answers the part that lives in the house rules and passes the availability question on without quoting a rate or promising a room. Next:
Guest: Can I bring my dog?
Assistant: Yes, dogs are welcome in the two garden rooms, subject to availability. […] one dog per room and a charge of €15 per night. Dogs aren't allowed in the breakfast room. […]
Guest: What time is check-in? We won't get there until about 10pm.
Assistant: Check-in is from 3pm to 8pm. If you're arriving around 10pm, please let us know in advance so the team can arrange a late check-in.
Guest: Do you have an electric car charger?
Assistant: We don't have an electric car charger, but parking on site is free. […]
Guest: Is there a spa or a swimming pool?
Assistant: I don't have confirmed information about a spa or swimming pool. Would you like me to pass your question to our team?
The last one is the useful failure. The house-rules document did not mention a spa, so the assistant said it had no confirmed information and offered a hand-over instead of inventing a facility. Then a booking request:
Guest: Could you book a garden room for 2 adults and our dog, 17 to 19 July 2027? […]
Assistant: Thanks. I've noted your request […] Our reception team will get back to you shortly to confirm availability.
The request is recorded and nothing is confirmed. The owner sees it in the panel.
Rules for after-hours replies when you have an engine
- Availability comes from the engine and nowhere else. The assistant should never say a room is free. A room free at 11pm may be gone by breakfast.
- Keep seasonal rates out of the document you give the assistant. If the engine changes prices by date, a rate copied into a message document will drift out of date. The engine quotes rates; the assistant covers house rules and per-night extras such as the dog charge.
- Collect what you need to check the engine. Check-in and check-out dates, number of guests, a name and a way to reach them. One message with all five saves a round of questions.
- Say when the guest will hear back. If you reply by 9am, put that in the information you give the assistant, and the guest knows what to expect.
- Pass on anything about late arrival. Arrangements for keys or entry need a person, not a policy paragraph.
A morning routine that takes minutes
Open the panel and read the overnight requests. For each one, check the dates in the engine and either send the booking link for free dates or offer the nearest alternative. The assistant has already collected dates and contact details, so no reply starts from a bare "do you have a room?".
What to put in the information you give the assistant
- Dog and child policy, with charges per night
- Breakfast times and what is included
- Check-in and check-out windows, and what to do about late arrival
- Parking, charging, accessibility and bed types in plain words
- Cancellation terms, copied from your engine's terms
- What you do not have: spa, pool, lift. Saying so stops the assistant guessing.
Agenta Front Desk answers from this information on WhatsApp, Instagram DM, Messenger and your website, and passes booking requests and unanswered questions to you. It does not read your engine's calendar, quote availability or confirm a room, so the engine stays the single source for all three.
Give night-time enquiries an answer and keep the booking in your hands.
Try it free for 14 days →Frequently asked questions
Should the assistant tell guests which rooms are available?
No. Availability should come from your booking engine only. The assistant collects dates, guests and contact details and passes the request to you to check.
What should I put in the information I give the assistant?
House rules: pets, breakfast, check-in and check-out times, parking, charging, bed types and cancellation terms. Leave out live availability and seasonal room rates.
What if a guest asks about something I have not written down?
The assistant says it has no confirmed information and offers to pass the question to your team. In our test it did this for a spa and a swimming pool the guesthouse does not have.
Does Agenta Front Desk confirm a room reservation?
No. It records the request and waits for you to confirm availability. It does not read your booking engine calendar.
Does it work with my booking engine?
It runs beside it. Guests book in your engine; Front Desk handles the questions and requests around the booking, and it does not read the engine calendar or quote its availability.