How Hotel de Sterrenberg saves one FTE and earns €75+ extra per room

Hotel de Sterrenberg is a 4-star boutique hotel in one of the largest nature reserves in the Netherlands, where guests are invited to relax, recharge, and reconnect with themselves. Delivering on that promise means guests need to have a friendly, hassle-free experience from booking to check-out, and a front desk where staff spend meaningful time with guests rather than frantically responding to messages.

The Challenge: Front desk staff spending too much time responding to messages

Located in the woods of the Veluwe, guests come to Hotel de Sterrenberg to switch off from their busy lives and enjoy the wellness and nature activities on offer. This peaceful experience starts from the moment they visit the hotel’s website, and should last until they check-out.

Yet, the front desk team found that they were constantly snowed under answering the same questions, resulting in delays in responses and making them less available for the conversations that matter. Whether that’s a recommendation for a walking trail through the forest, advice on the spa packages, or simply a warm welcome at check-in.

And whenever staff had a spare moment, there were always plenty of administrative tasks, such as updating guest files in the PMS, to catch up on. Hiring more front office staff was not the answer as it would increase costs and involve a significant onboarding process to get the new member up to speed on the level of service guests expect.

The Solution: Automating 90% of messages to guests from pre-arrival to check-out

Hotel de Sterrenberg’s Director, Liset Bom, knew there must be a better way to handle these questions, and after some research she decided to use Runnr.ai:

“The brief we gave Runnr.ai was to make sure that frequently asked questions and repetitive work get resolved as quickly as possible. That way we can give our guests a quick answer online, but it also means we can be here on the floor with more attention.”

Since May 2025, the hotel has relied on Runnr.ai to proactively send guests information before and during their stay, as well as handle 90% of all inbound guest messages across WhatsApp. OTA inboxes, and email. This includes everything from welcome messages to FAQs to booking extra services.

Runnr.ai is trained to respond just like a staff member would, using the hotel’s unique tone of voice, existing knowledge base, and the guest’s booking details in the hotel’s PMS, Mews. It also connects to the hotel’s restaurant booking system, Zenchef, so that a table reservation is instantly created in the system when a guest requests one on WhatsApp, Booking.com or another channel.

The Result: Better guest experiences, increased upsells, and reduced staff costs

By automatically handling 90% of messages to and from guests, Hotel de Sterrenberg has seen a positive impact on staff productivity, financial results, and most importantly, guest experience.

Giving staff more time to spend with guests and to manage sensitive issues

As Runnr.ai handles 90% of all guest communication at the hotel, across WhatsApp and the hotel's other inbound channels, front desk staff have more time to spend welcoming the guests in front of them and providing an excellent, friendly service to them throughout their stay.

It also means staff have time to deal with the more sensitive messages that need a human touch. When a sensitive message pops up or if Runnr.ai doesn’t have the answer, it flags the message for a staff member to easily take over the conversation. Staff can update the knowledge base at any time so Runnr.ai is always responding in line with the latest information.

Work of one FTE covered by Runnr.ai

With the majority of guest messages now handled automatically, Hotel de Sterrenberg saved hiring an additional FTE. This results in a significant time and cost saving for the hotel, as hiring new staff is expensive and involves lengthy onboarding. It is especially impactful during peak seasons, as Runnr.ai responds to messages 24/7 even when the hotel is at full capacity.

Incremental upsell revenue of €75 per room per month on average

Often guests are open to booking extra services before or during their stay, but are simply unaware of the options or are overwhelmed when they get a long list during check-in. Runnr.ai’s personalized upsell prompts offer guests relevant extra services, such as breakfast add-ons or dinner reservations, at the moment they’re most likely to book them.

These automated upsell prompts have enabled Hotel de Sterrenberg to earn €75 on average per room per month since using Runnr.ai. And even better, the guest’s chosen extra services are automatically added to their booking in the PMS or confirmed on Zenchef so no manual admin is needed.

Reviews reflect the guest experience

While Liset Bom had a feeling that guest experiences had improved since starting to use Runnr.ai, the proof is in the pudding:

“We see that Runnr.ai has a hugely positive impact on the guest experience. We literally see in our reviews that we're easy to reach on WhatsApp and that we give good answers to their questions.”

Guest review of Hotel de Sterrenberg on TripAdvisor.com

Advice to other hotels considering automated guest messaging

With 90% of guest communication now running on autopilot, Hotel de Sterrenberg has built a solid foundation that lets the front desk team double down creating a space for guests to relax, recharge, and connect. As for whether Liset would encourage other properties to use Runnr.ai too, she says:

“I would recommend Runnr.ai to anyone who wants to give their guests extra attention, both online and offline. And on top of that, of course, save euros and earn extra revenue at the same time.”

Get started with Runnr.ai

Used by 750+ accommodations across Europe, Runnr.ai is the platform of choice for hotels to automate messages across WhatsApp, SMS, OTA inboxes, webchat, and more, so hospitality teams can focus on real hospitality.

Ready to upgrade your guest communication? Book a demo or simply try Runnr.ai on WhatsApp.