Zostel Answers Every Guest in Seconds, Around the Clock, with Osvi AI

Introduction

Most Zostel guests start with a WhatsApp message or a quick call to the property, and they usually want to book right then. As the network grew, so did these conversations: guest chats through the agents have grown more than fourfold since July, with group conversations growing at the same pace. Zostel wanted every guest, at every hour, to get an answer in the moment they were ready to book.

Challenge

• Demand that never sleeps:

  More than a quarter of guest messages arrive before 9am or after 9pm, and property phones ring at all hours. Zostel needed a way to be fully present outside a working shift without adding headcount at every property.

• Group bookings with many moving parts:

  Every group stay has to clear availability, property policy, weekday rules, meal plans and discounts before it can be priced. With group demand growing fast, Zostel wanted this to run instantly and consistently every time.

• Keeping the team on high-value work:

  Zostel's ops team is at its best on special requests, escalations and guests who need a personal touch. The goal was to take repetitive booking steps off their desk so they could focus there.

Approach

Zostel and Osvi built a set of specialist agents: Zobu for guest enquiries on WhatsApp, a group booking agent across chat and voice for group and B2B stays, and a voice agent on property phone lines.

• Zobu books inside the chat:

  Zobu checks live availability, applies property policy and any coupon, and creates the booking within the conversation. Guests get a first reply in about 5 seconds and a booking link in about 3 minutes, whether they write at noon or at midnight.

• Group pricing in one conversation:

  The group agent collects headcount and dates, runs every pricing check and sends a booking link, then stays with the guest until payment is done. 81% of payments are completed through links the agent generates. Groups that need something special reach the team with every detail already captured.

• Every property call answered:

  The property voice agent picks up every call, takes enquiries and booking requests, and flags anything that needs staff. About one in five calls comes in before 9am or after 9pm.

• A friendly nudge before quotes expire:

  When a group has a quote but hasn't paid yet, Ananya, the group agent's voice, calls before the link expires. About one in three groups she reaches confirms on the call, and anyone whose link has lapsed gets a fresh one on WhatsApp.

Cancellations, disputes and special requests go straight to Zostel's team as a single ticket with the guest's number, booking and issue attached, so every handoff starts with full context.

Results

Every new guest now hears back in seconds and has a booking link in about 3 minutes, at any hour. 69% of Zobu chats and 77% of group chats are fully resolved by the agents, and Zobu sends a booking link in 35% of conversations. Monthly bookings through the agents grew 50% between June and August 2026, and Zostel's ops team now handles 10× the volume per person while spending its time where a human touch matters most.