{"id":4537,"date":"2026-05-27T13:51:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalagent.bg\/?p=4537"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:58:46","slug":"ai-voice-agent-grand-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalagent.bg\/en\/ai-voice-agent-grand-hotels\/","title":{"rendered":"How we made an AI receptionist for Grand Hotels \u2013 an AI voice agent that answers 24\/7 in Bulgarian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tSummer is peak season, the phones are ringing non-stop, and half of the calls come in the evening after 10:00 PM or on Sunday morning. This is the reality of every large resort hotel in Bulgaria \u2013 and it is precisely this reality that Grand Hotels wanted to change.<\/p>\n\n

In this article, we tell you how we built a complex system of AI agents for three of their largest properties \u2013 Grand Hotel Therme, Grand Hotel Bansko and Grand Hotel Sveti Vlas. A system that answers the phone, understands Bulgarian without an accent, makes real reservations and continues the conversation on Viber if the guest prefers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Why did the hotel need this?<\/h2>\n\n

Before we talk about technology, let's start with the problem. A resort hotel with an Ultra All Inclusive program receives hundreds of calls a day. Half of them are routine - "Do you have a room available for the weekend?", "What does the package include?", "Can I check in late?".<\/p>\n\n

But these calls don't come at a convenient time. They come at 11:00 p.m., when the team has left. They come on Sunday mornings. They come in Russian, Romanian, English, Greek. And every missed call is a lost reservation.<\/p>\n\n

Ready-made IVR systems don't work \u2013 they sound robotic and guests hang up on them. Cheap chatbots don't understand context. And assigning a night shift for each of the three hotels is expensive and difficult to maintain in the off-season.<\/p>\n\n

They needed something different \u2013 a true conversational AI that sounds like a human but has real access to the reservation system.<\/p>\n\n

What did we do?<\/h2>\n\n

We built a "Grand Assistant" - an AI voice agent that answers the phone at each of the three hotels. A Viber channel works alongside it, so the guest can continue the same conversation in writing if it's more convenient.<\/p>\n\n

The system works in several layers. When a guest calls, a specialized speech-to-text module recognizes speech in Bulgarian (or another language, if the client speaks it). The text goes to an intelligent AI agent, which understands the guest\u2019s intention \u2013 whether they are asking about available rooms, whether they want to book, whether they have another question. The answer is returned via a natural voice from ElevenLabs, in which the Bulgarian pronunciation is specially tuned \u2013 \u201eUltra All Inclusive\u201c, \u201eSPA center\u201c, \u201ejunior suite\u201c and dozens of other hotel-specific terms sound correct, without an English accent on the Bulgarian words.<\/p>\n\n

Behind the voice agent is what really makes the system valuable \u2013 a direct connection to the hotel management system. When a guest asks \u201edo you have any rooms available for two children and two adults from July 15 to 20,\u201c the agent makes a real inquiry in real time. When the guest says \u201ebook,\u201c a real reservation is created \u2013 with the right rate, the right meal package, and the right terms.<\/p>\n\n

Confirmation comes immediately \u2013 via SMS, Viber, or email, according to the guest's preference.<\/p>\n\n

The natural voice \u2013 why it matters<\/h2>\n\n

One of the most common reasons guests hang up when calling an automated system is the sound. \u201ePress 1 for reservations, press 2 for information\u201c is an experience we\u2019ve all learned to hate.<\/p>\n\n

Grand Assistant sounds different. When you call, you hear:<\/p>\n\n

\u201e"Welcome to Grand Hotel Sveti Vlas! I am the Grand Assistant. Ultra All Inclusive comfort right on the seashore. What are you interested in?"\u201c<\/blockquote>\n\n

A sentence spoken with a natural rhythm, with correct pronunciation, in a friendly tone. No menus, no options to press. You just talk like you would to a person at the front desk.<\/p>\n\n

This is possible thanks to a combination of modern text-to-speech models and a special pronunciation dictionary, in which every hotel word \u2013 from restaurant names to local geographical names \u2013 is tuned to sound correctly in Bulgarian.<\/p>\n\n

Multilingual by design<\/h2>\n\n

Grand Hotels welcome guests from all over the Balkans and Europe. Grand Assistant recognizes when the caller speaks a language other than Bulgarian and switches to the corresponding language without interruption. This means that a Russian calling from Moscow receives an answer in Russian. A Romanian tourist \u2013 in Romanian. A British guest \u2013 in English.<\/p>\n\n

No pressing buttons. No menu selections. Just natural conversation.<\/p>\n\n

When voice is not convenient \u2013 Viber takes over<\/h2>\n\n

Not everyone wants to talk on the phone. That's why the same AI system works in Viber. The guest can write in the chat, get the same access to check availability and create reservations, and continue the conversation at any time.<\/p>\n\n

If someone has called and later wants to ask something additional, they can text on Viber and the AI agent remembers the context. This is one of the things that makes the experience really different from standard IVR or static chatbots \u2013 continuity between channels.<\/p>\n\n

The results<\/h2>\n\n

After putting the system into real operation, measurements show:<\/p>\n\n