Just ask Ara: Travelodge welcomes new AI assistant to help with customer queries
Now available for customers staying at UK Travelodge hotels, it can help guests with questions regarding their upcoming stays
Travelodge has launched a new AI assistant, Ara, which is available now to customers staying at its UK hotels.
Ara has been designed using generative AI to help customers with simple questions about their upcoming stays and aims to deliver quick, helpful answers to queries about parking, breakfast options, nearby attractions and more.
Once they’ve made a booking at a Travelodge hotel, customers will be sent a link to Ara which they can access 24/7, perfect for any early-morning or late night queries. Customers simply type in their question and Ara will deliver an answer in a matter of seconds. Guests can currently access it via the Travelodge website, either on a computer or mobile device.
Following a successful three month trial in Greater London and Birmingham, Ara is now available to customers at all Travelodge hotels across the UK.
Ara is already proving popular with customers, with the hotel chain logging 20,000 interactions a month. The most common topics include hotel and parking information, nearby local amenities, and food options like breakfast and dinner. One customer even asked:
“Can Travelodge decorate my room for Valentine’s Day?”
Ara has been designed to work alongside Travelodge’s existing dedicated customer service team. By handling the quicker and more common customer questions, Ara will free up time for its human customer service colleagues to deal with more complex queries.
A Travelodge spokesperson said: “We are really excited to launch a customer-facing AI assistant offering a 24/7, ultra fast way for customers to ask any questions about their booking.
“We’ve been testing it behind the scenes for a number of months to ensure we gave the best possible experience to our customers. Feedback has been really positive so far with guests appreciating the speed and availability of Ara. We’ll continue to test and learn from Ara.”
The new Ara assistant continues Travelodge’s digital transformation which aims to continuously improve the experience for customers and colleagues. Last year, it launched a new mobile app, featuring Apple Pay, Google Pay and biometric login.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
The Travelodge Press Office
T: 01844 358 703
E: pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk
Notes to Editors
About Travelodge
Founded in 1985, Travelodge is Britain’s very first budget hotel chain and today is one of the largest budget hotel chains in the UK, with a portfolio of over 600 hotels and over 47,000 bedrooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain.
In Spain, Travelodge has an established profitable presence and has ambitious growth plans within this market and has identified the top key locations where it would like to open additional hotels in Spain.
Welcoming over 22 million guests annually across the UK, Ireland and Spain, the majority of Travelodge hotels are located in major cities, towns and holiday hotspots as well as by airports and key business hubs. With over 96% of its hotels rated 4* or above on TripAdvisor, Travelodge is proud to offer guests across its diverse customer base a good value experience – whether they are travelling for business or leisure.
Whether out celebrating a birthday, going to a concert or sporting event, visiting friends and family, taking a business trip, working away from home, or taking a short break, we help people to go and do their thing by Being the Brilliant Base.
Travelodge continues to invest in its ongoing hotel refit programme and has already upgraded c.60% of the Travelodge room estate to its new design. The brand is also continually evolving its quality offering to deliver a better experience for its diverse mix of business and leisure guests such as its new look Bar Cafe design, 85 Bar Café, which has been rolled out to selected UK hotels as part of the refit programme.
Travelodge is focusing on its environmental and social impact, with sustainability integral to its business strategy. Its Better Future sustainability plan aims to build a more sustainable future for its customers, colleagues and the planet, underpinned by three core pillars: Inclusive – ensuring we are accessible, inclusive and well-priced to our customers and colleagues; Caring – creating a caring and healthy environment for our colleagues and customers and ensuring their wellbeing; and Conscious – Travelodge is conscious of its impact on the planet, taking into account the waste it produces, the energy and other resources it consumes and the carbon emissions it generates.
For further information visit the Travelodge website or Travelodge LinkedIn.