Field notes

A guest desk that is helpful without guessing.

By Eric Berg · Last updated August 2026

A guest employee can answer from the host's approved facts, capture booking questions, and hand unresolved work back cleanly. It should not invent access instructions, make refund decisions, alter a reservation, or promise a fix the host has not approved.

Where the phone work piles up

• The 2 a.m. lockbox text. A guest standing outside needs accurate access help. The employee should follow approved verification steps and escalate whatever the brief does not answer.
• Mid-turnover. Check-in day puts cleaners, laundry, arrivals, and the guest phone on the same human desk.
• Booking inquiries. A direct-booking caller may need approved property facts before the host can review the request.

What belongs in the brief

Teach the property name, approved check-in process, parking, house rules, amenities, and the questions needed for an inquiry. Keep access codes behind the host's verification process. Unknowns become owner questions, not guesses; refunds, reservation changes, and maintenance promises stay with the host or manager. See the exact product loop.

What it costs

Keeping a front-desk employee after the card-free audition is CA$149 per month, cancel anytime. The same number, approved brief, and everything taught by text stay with the employee.

Fair questions

Does the employee hand out door codes?

The employee follows the check-in process you approve. Anything you have not authorized becomes a message to you, never a guess.

Will guests know it's AI?

Different guests react differently. If asked, the employee answers honestly that it is automated. The audition lets you test the actual experience before keeping it.

Does this replace my property manager?

No - it staffs the phone and the guest thread. You (or your manager) still run the property; you just stop being woken for the wifi password.