Ästad Vingård was one of the first hotels to go live with Guest XP, VISIT’s AI-powered guest intelligence solution, bringing accommodation, spa and restaurant data together into a single guest profile. Six months on, Kajsa Sahlin Süslü (Partner Director, VISIT), Carl Bjerkne (CEO & Founder, Guest XP) and Edvin Elghag (Hotel Director, Ästad Vingård and Varbergs Kusthotell) sit down to revisit what’s changed since – and where AI-driven guest recognition is heading next.

A guest journey that adapts to each guest

Carl walks through a guest journey flow built together with Ästad Vingård and live throughout the summer: a personalised pre-stay message sent ten days before arrival, regardless of booking channel (direct, BookVisit, OTA or phone), that prioritises whatever a guest hasn’t already booked. Edvin gives a concrete example from Ästad itself: guests who bought into the hotel’s wine subscription on a previous visit can be reminded of specific vintages now in stock — a personalisation touch he credits for a strong first year for the subscription.

Three days out, a WhatsApp message follows (falling back to SMS where needed), linking into “My Booking” in BookVisit – Carl reports open rates of 75–85% across the rollout, notably higher than email. The platform also supports two-way replies inside the WhatsApp thread, though Edvin is candid that Ästad hasn’t gone all-in on enabling guest replies yet, since it requires staff able to respond at any hour. On arrival, Edvin confirms one piece already running day-to-day: check-in itself triggers an itinerary by SMS with meal and spa times, cutting down on guests forgetting details from a booking made months earlier.

Where chatbots still fall short

Edvin is candid about the limits of guest-facing AI today: chatbots handle only the simplest requests and break down on anything layered — a specific room type paired with a restaurant table on a particular date, for instance. Solving those cross-system requests, rather than simple FAQs, is what he sees as the real opportunity: staff copiloting tools, and eventually near-full automation of straightforward bookings. Carl adds a sequencing argument from Guest XP’s side — AI can only add real value once guest data and guest communication channels (web, WhatsApp, email, SMS) are unified in one place, rather than fragmented across separate systems.

The next problem to solve: group bookings

Edvin describes today’s group and conference process at Ästad as still largely manual — Excel templates and guest lists that get pasted into VisBook as plain text rather than real guest profiles, meaning most attendees’ details are never properly captured. Carl says Guest XP has already gone live with a new form-based flow at a handful of other hotels this summer, capturing contact and dietary details from every attendee individually — with around 85% filling it in even when optional. Ästad and Varbergs Kusthotell aren’t live with it yet, but both expect to show more around VISIT Summit.