Customer story · GrandStay Hotels
GrandStay Hotels lifts guest satisfaction 42% with Chatref
A 34-property hotel chain automated 81% of guest inquiries across 7 languages, cut front desk phone load in half, and recovered $68k in bookings every month.
Featured on
GrandStay Hotels, a 34-property mid-scale chain operating across the US and Canada, used Chatref to automate booking questions, multilingual concierge requests, loyalty program inquiries, and post-stay follow-ups. Within 120 days, guest satisfaction rose from 74% to 96%, 81% of inquiries resolved without human intervention, and the brand recovered $68,000 in monthly direct bookings from previously missed inquiries. Chatref paid for itself in 8 weeks.
Hospitality / Hotel chain · 1,850 employees · Minneapolis, MN
At a glance
GrandStay Hotels in a nutshell.
42%
Higher CSAT
81%
Queries automated
$68k
Bookings recovered
50k
Monthly savings
- GrandStay runs 34 properties across the US and Canada, serving 1.2 million guest nights annually.
- Chatref handles 14,200 guest conversations weekly, with 81% requiring zero front desk intervention.
- Multilingual coverage in 7 languages lifted international guest CSAT from 69% to 94%.
- Recovered direct bookings from missed after-hours inquiries add $68,000 in monthly revenue.
- Front desk teams save 6.4 hours daily per property and the chain hit full ROI in 8 weeks.
The story
How it played out.
About GrandStay Hotels
GrandStay Hotels operates 34 mid-scale properties across the US and Canada, serving 1.2 million guest nights every year. The brand blends business travel, extended stay, and leisure properties under one reservation system, with corporate headquarters in Minneapolis.
- Industry Hospitality / Hotel chain
- Size 34 properties, 1,850 employees
- Location Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Using Chatref since February 2026
The challenge
GrandStay's front desks fielded an average of 220 phone calls and 140 emails per property daily, most of them repeat questions about rates, cancellation policies, pet rules, parking, breakfast hours, and loyalty points. Busy check-in windows forced guests to wait on hold, and after-hours inquiries rolled to voicemail with no follow-up.
Roughly 31% of inbound website chat sessions came from international travelers in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, or Mandarin, and the team had no consistent way to respond. Mystery-shopper data showed GrandStay was losing an estimated 480 direct bookings monthly to OTAs whenever a guest could not get a fast, accurate answer about availability or cancellation.
VP of Guest Experience Sofia Alvarez needed 24/7 multilingual coverage, live room availability answers, and loyalty program help – without adding reservations staff at every property or paying OTA commissions on bookings the brand could win directly.
The solution with Chatref
GrandStay piloted Chatref at 4 flagship properties for 6 weeks. After the pilot resolved 78% of inquiries without escalation and drove a measurable lift in direct bookings, the chain rolled the agent across all 34 properties. The team uploaded rate sheets, cancellation rules, loyalty program terms, property descriptions, and historical front desk transcripts.
- Live availability Real-time room rates, inventory, and packages synced from the PMS so the agent never quotes stale pricing or sells a sold-out night.
- Multilingual concierge Fluent English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin on booking, policies, and local recommendations.
- Loyalty answers Instant help on point balances, tier benefits, earning rules, and redemption options without routing through the corporate loyalty line.
- Pre-arrival help Automated answers on check-in times, parking, pet policies, breakfast, and ADA accommodations trained on each property's real rules.
- Smart handoff Group bookings, complex complaints, and VIP requests routed to the right human at the right property with full conversation context.
Results after 120 days
Chatref now handles 14,200 weekly guest conversations, with 81% fully automated. International guest satisfaction jumped from 69% to 94%, and overall CSAT rose from 74% to 96%. After-hours direct bookings climbed 37%, recovering $68,000 in monthly revenue previously lost to OTAs or abandoned entirely.
Front desk teams save an average of 6.4 hours daily per property on repeat calls and emails, which translates to chain-wide monthly savings of roughly $50,000 and faster in-person check-ins. Loyalty inquiry volume into the corporate call center dropped 64%, freeing that team to focus on tier upgrades and member retention.
Post-stay survey scores flagged the Chatref agent as the single biggest driver of the guest experience improvement, and the chain hit full ROI in 8 weeks.
Chatref changed how we serve guests. They get instant, accurate answers in their own language at any hour, and our front desks can actually focus on the people standing in the lobby. The direct booking lift alone paid for the entire rollout.
Explore
More customer stories.
What does GrandStay Hotels do?
GrandStay Hotels, a 34-property mid-scale chain operating across the US and Canada, used Chatref to automate booking questions, multilingual concierge requests, loyalty program inquiries, and post-stay follow-ups.
What problem did GrandStay Hotels solve with Chatref?
Chatref handles 14,200 guest conversations weekly, with 81% requiring zero front desk intervention.
What results did GrandStay Hotels see?
GrandStay Hotels reached 42% higher csat, with 81% queries automated. Recovered direct bookings from missed after-hours inquiries add $68,000 in monthly revenue.
How long did it take GrandStay Hotels to go live?
GrandStay Hotels launched quickly and started seeing results within the first weeks. Chatref trains on your existing content, so most teams go live in days, not months.
How much does Chatref cost?
Chatref is pay-as-you-go. You start with $50 of free credit, then pay only for what you use. There is no subscription, no per-seat fee, and every feature is included.
Can I get results like GrandStay Hotels?
Yes. Train a chatbot on your own docs, FAQs, and past tickets, deploy it on your website and other channels, and let it answer the routine questions. Start free with $50 of credit.
Ready to run your own GrandStay story?
Build a Chatref agent on your own property content in 5 minutes. $50 free credit, all features included, no subscription.
See the full pricing or browse more customer stories.