About Devon Hotel: The Devon Hotel New Plymouth & Conference Centre is the largest hotel in New Plymouth, New Zealand — boasting luxury accommodation, a conference centre for up to 300 guests, an all-year heated outdoor pool and spa, a lounge bar, and the popular Marbles Buffet Restaurant.
General Manager Michael Borostyan describes service as a core value for the business:
"Communication is key for us, we want to do our best at every interaction, to provide the best customer service. We do that to ensure we maximise every possible opportunity."
Devon Hotel's Facebook Messenger account was already active. Michael knew that website chat was the next step — but understood the importance of speed.
"I knew providing chat enhances our service paradigm. People like speed. But that's not easy to do without getting more staff. We run a small hotel team, one or two people on the front desk, and we want them focused on the guest in front of them — and chatbot allows us to provide more time for great customer service."
"We've received so many restaurant bookings that based on that alone it's paid off a year of Yonder in just a couple of months."
Devon Hotel had never used website chat before. After installing Yonder's AI chatbot — which connects with a range of hotel and tourism booking systems:
"I'd say we're getting around 60% of questions answered without a need for staff help, and I can see it can get better."
The chatbot started delivering results quickly.
"It started delivering results really quickly, it was great. I'd say it started at around 80% [of its potential], we're now at 85%. I can see over time it's learning and we're optimising the responses to get better."
Messages are classified as open or closed in Yonder's conversation panel. The front desk responds when they can, while Michael reviews and closes conversations to ensure quality control.
"I like doing that because I learn from what people are asking and I check my staff have responded to the right ones and given our best to get business out of the enquiries."
Michael also tracks chatbot performance — monitoring click-throughs to the booking system and sharing highlights with the hotel's owner.
"It needed to be easy to use, fit for purpose, and knowledge it will deliver results. It needed to provide a user friendly experience and add to the value of the business."
Michael's final word:
"It pretty quickly demonstrated its value for us. The team is happy, I'm happy and our owner (who's pretty demanding) is happy too."
Book a demo to see how Yonder's AI Chatbot can pay for itself in weeks.