Hotel guest messaging over iMessage with an AI concierge

Who uses iMessage for hotel guest messaging?

ZeroSettle's guest line suits boutique hotels, inns and direct-booking vacation-rental managers whose guests lose the confirmation email with the check-in details, call the front desk for small things, and ignore the hotel app.

ZeroSettle is an iMessage API: a real phone number on real iMessage, running on Apple hardware we operate for you, that your code texts customers from and hears back on through a bearer token and signed webhooks. On a guest line the hosted AI agent replaces that code, as on an after-hours AI receptionist or an event help line (more on the use cases hub).

How iMessage for hotel guest messaging works, step by step

Guests text the number in their confirmation email, and ZeroSettle's hosted agent answers from facts you wrote; anything needing a person goes to the front desk.

1. The confirmation email and the welcome card say “Text us anything during your stay”, with an sms: link (a QR code on the card) prefilled with the booking reference.
2. The guest adds a question and sends, so the thread starts from their side.
3. The line group is Managed by AI Agent (Beta). The agent shows the typing bubble and answers in up to three texts from the business_context: check-in times, parking and its map link, breakfast hours, the Wi-Fi network, nearby restaurants and house rules.
4. For towels or a noisy neighbor, the agent gives the front desk's extension: a line the agent manages doesn't accept staff replies from the console, though staff can read every thread there. For staff in the thread, run the line as Managed by API instead.

The booking reference is for staff: the agent doesn't look up reservations on its own, but the front desk can match the thread to the booking.

Example conversation: hotel guest messaging

A guest on a late flight asks about check-in, parking and food, and the hosted agent answers from the business context below.

Setup: a booking-reference link and the hosted agent

A ZeroSettle guest line needs one link in your email template and one saved business context; an agent-managed line never calls your webhook, so there is no server to run.

<a href="sms:+18055550100&body=Hi%2C%20booking%20ref%20HX4471.%20">Text us anything during your stay</a>

Your email system fills in each reference (short and opaque, never a secret). The &body= form is the one the ZeroSettle docs use, and it opens Messages on a guest's iPhone; RFC 5724, the IETF standard, writes it ?body=. On Android the link opens the SMS app, so print the front desk's number and email beside it. Getting customers to text first covers QR codes.

The business context is the concierge's only source of facts, up to 40,000 characters. The agent answers whoever texts the number, so if you wouldn't print it in the lobby, leave it out: no door codes or room numbers.

You are the Wren Hotel's automated concierge. Say so in your first reply.
Check-in from 3 PM; check-out by 11 AM. Parking: through the gate on
Alder St; give the valet your name. Map: https://example.com/wren/parking
Breakfast 7-10:30 AM in the courtyard.
Wi-Fi network "Wren Guest"; the password is on the welcome card.
Late food: Rosa's Taqueria, 4-minute walk, open until midnight.
You can't see reservations or bills; never promise late checkout.
Towels, noise or anything you can't answer: dial 0 from the room,
or call the front desk at (805) 555-0142.

Then switch the line group to Managed by AI Agent in the console's Messaging tab, or with one call that also turns off the default sales goal and follow-ups:

BASE=https://portal.zerosettle.io
jq -n --rawfile ctx wren-context.txt '{managed_by: "zerosettle", business_context: $ctx,
  goal_enabled: false, triggers: []}' |
curl -s -X PUT "$BASE/api/imessage/agent" -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data-binary @-

The default goal, purchase, steers toward a sale a concierge doesn't make, and the default follow-up trigger texts a guest who went quiet the next morning, a credit each. Keep response_time at instant; hard_to_get answers about a day later. Set the line's name and photo to the hotel's. The AI agent docs list every setting.

Limits and consent for hotel guest messaging

Guests text first, so ZeroSettle never counts them as new contacts. The limit that matters is AI credits: one per text the agent sends, 1,000 a month on Pro.

Credit math. If 200 guest parties text in a month and each stay draws four agent texts, that is 800 credits, inside Pro's 1,000. At six texts a stay the month needs 1,200: add one 1,000-credit pack for $50. At zero the agent goes quiet and doesn't catch up after a refill, so act on the text ZeroSettle sends your sign-in number at 20% left.

Consent. Guests start the conversation; text first only guests who gave you their number for stay messages. Post-stay offers need a separate opt-in, and nothing promotional should go before 8 am or after 9 pm in the guest's time zone. ZeroSettle's terms require AI disclosure unless it is contextually evident; the agent says it's the hotel's automated assistant if sincerely asked, and the Wren's context has it say so up front. Rules vary by place; this isn't legal advice.

When ZeroSettle is not a fit for hotel guest messaging

ZeroSettle's hosted concierge answers iMessage guests from a written brief, so it is the wrong tool when:

• Staff need to reply in the same thread the agent answers. An agent-managed line refuses console sends with 403 managed_by_zerosettle. Run the line as Managed by API and answer from the console, or route guest texts to Slack.
• Guests need private details by text, such as a door code for self check-in or their room number. The agent answers anyone who texts the number, so send those from your property system, or from your own server on the webhook after matching the guest's number to the booking.
• Most of your guests use Android phones. The line reaches iMessage only, with no SMS fallback, so those guests need a channel that works on their phones.
• You need PMS lookups such as room status or folios. The hosted agent can use remote MCP servers you connect, but has no PMS integration of its own; your own model on the webhook can call your PMS directly.

How much does iMessage for hotel guest messaging cost?

A ZeroSettle guest line costs the plan price, plus a credit pack in any month the concierge outruns its included credits.

Packs add 1,000 credits for $50 or 5,000 for $200 and never expire. Pro has no setup fee and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the subscription; Growth starts with Book a demo. On Growth, each line group has its own name, photo and agent settings, so properties on different line groups can each have their own concierge, drawing on one shared pool of AI credits. See ZeroSettle pricing, the plans and the API docs, or get a number.