In August the property is full, the phone keeps ringing and the coffee goes cold on the desk. And every year, with different names and different number plates, the same characters turn up.
We love them all. Without them there would be no season. Here is how to recognise them, and how to look after them without losing your cool.
1. The one who asks about check-in time three times
How to spot them: once on Booking.com, once by email, once on the phone. The answer was "from 15:00" all three times.
How to look after them: they are not absent-minded. They just cannot remember where they read it. Put the time in the pre-arrival email, in bold, together with "what if you arrive early". And for the fourth time, which will come at 23:00, the Bookmatrix.com AI agent knows the property's check-in time and answers within minutes, politely, as many times as it takes.
2. The early bird
How to spot them: 10:15 in the morning, standing at reception with two suitcases, an inflatable crocodile and a big smile. "We left early to beat the traffic."
How to look after them: the suitcases stay, they go for a swim. Meanwhile reception sees on the calendar which rooms the housekeepers have already marked "clean". If a room of their type is ready at 13:00, you send them a message. They will remember it in the review.
3. The night owl
How to spot them: their messages are timed 02:47. "Is there parking?" "What time is breakfast?" "Can we bring the dog?"
How to look after them: not by waking up yourself. For routine questions the AI agent answers in the guest's language, with the facts you gave it. If it does not know the answer (the dog, say, if you never told it your policy), it does not guess. It says a team member will confirm, and the conversation waits for you in the morning. More in The 3 a.m. message.
4. The inspector
How to spot them: within ten minutes of check-in they have found the dripping tap, the flickering bathroom light and the torn insect screen. They report them all at once.
How to look after them: by thanking them, sincerely. They just did a free quality check. Each problem becomes a ticket in the ticket system, with the room, a photo, a priority and the technician who takes it. The technician sees it on their list and closes it when done, and you know when to tell the guest "it's fixed". An inspector who sees they were heard usually writes good reviews.
5. The polyglot
How to spot them: they write in Polish. Or Romanian. Or Czech. The message is long and contains three question marks.
How to look after them: with Bookmatrix.com PRO, one tap on the message shows the translation in your language. The AI agent prepares the reply in the guest's language and, if you keep it in suggest mode, waits for your approval. The guest gets an answer they understand, and you did not open a single translation app.
6. The one who comes back every year
How to spot them: they know the housekeeper's name, ask for "the same room as last year" and bring sweets from home.
How to look after them: you remember too. The guest card keeps all their previous stays, messages and notes, so you know which room "the same room" was without digging through notebooks. And next time, let them book direct on your own website, with no commission, because they are coming anyway.
What they all have in common
None of the six is a "difficult" guest. They all want the same thing: to know what will happen, and to get an answer when they ask. The secret of August is not working longer hours. It is letting the routine answers go out on their own, so you have time for the guest standing in front of you.
Want someone to answer messages while you sleep? Start the free 14-day demo with your own rooms at bookmatrix.com/demo, no card needed. Or leave your details at bookmatrix.com/form and we will call you on the next working day. You can also call us at +30 2351 151525.