What the agent handles
- Checks availability and rates
- Takes booking requests
- Sends directions and check-in details
- Answers pet and guest limits
- Logs maintenance issues from guests
Hospitality and food
AI receptionist for cottage and vacation rentals
Answers availability and rate questions for cottages, cabins and chalets, takes booking requests, and sends directions, check-in details and house rules.
CallerIs the lakefront cabin free over the long weekend in August?
CallerWe're here but the lockbox code isn't working and it's getting dark.
CallerCan we bring our dog? He's big but really well behaved.
Where calls go
ReservationsProperty caretakerCleaning crewOwner
Warm transfer: When guests are locked out, lose power or hit a plumbing problem during their stay, the agent warm-transfers to the on-call caretaker.
What it books
Cottage and cabin stays
Why cottage and vacation rental owners miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
Cottage rental calls rarely reach anyone sitting at a desk. The owner or rental manager is in the boat delivering firewood, mid-turnover with a vacuum running, or two hours up Highway 11 between properties, often with no signal at the lake. Saturday is the hardest day: one group is checking out by 10, the cleaners need in by 11, the next family wants directions by 2, and three more people are calling about the August long weekend.
RealVoice works as a phone answering service for cottage rentals that knows each property. It answers availability and rate questions for every cottage, cabin and chalet from your booking calendar, which the team connects during setup, or from the dates and weekly or nightly rates kept in the RealVoice schedule. It explains your Saturday-to-Saturday rule in July and August, sleeping arrangements, pet policy, dock and boat access, and septic and firewood rules, and takes booking requests with dates, group size and pets. Directions, check-in steps and house rules go out by text.
It doesn't approve an extra guest, promise a refund for a rainy week or hand out access codes unless your rules allow it. When a guest is locked out at dusk, the hydro goes out or the bunkie toilet backs up, it puts them through to your on-call caretaker with the property name and the problem already read out. If the caretaker is out of range, the details go by text and email right away and the guest hears what happens next.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi, we're at the cottage but the lockbox code from the email isn't working, and it's getting dark.
- AI receptionistLet's sort it out. Which cottage are you booked at, and what name is the booking under?
- CallerLoon Point, under Patel.
- AI receptionistThanks, Mr. Patel. Loon Point has a carved wooden sign at the end of the driveway on Kennisis Lake Road. Is that the sign where you parked?
- CallerHang on... no, the sign here says Birch Hollow.
- AI receptionistThat explains it. Birch Hollow is the neighbouring property. Loon Point is the next driveway north, about two hundred metres up, with a green boathouse. The code from your email is for that lockbox.
- CallerOkay, we're there now. It opened. Sorry about that.
- AI receptionistNo trouble at all. I'll let Dave, the caretaker, know you're in. Enjoy the lake, and call this number any time if something comes up.
After the call: Dave gets a short text and email that the Patels are in at Loon Point after a wrong-driveway mix-up, so he isn't sent out for nothing. The owner sees the call summary and recording in the RealVoice portal and can add a line about the neighbour's sign to the next guest's check-in text.
How it fits your day
- Saturday turnover
- Check-out questions, early check-in requests and calls from the cleaning crew are handled while you're driving between properties.
- Winter booking season
- January and February are when families plan their summer week. Past guests get a text that next summer's calendar is open, and availability and rate calls are answered in the evenings, when people sit down to plan, and requests arrive with dates, group size and pets.
- Long weekends
- Victoria Day, Canada Day and the August civic holiday fill first. When a caller's first choice is taken, the agent offers your other cottages or shoulder-season dates.
- Something breaks at night
- No power, no water or a lockout reaches your on-call caretaker; a dripping tap or slow Wi-Fi is logged for the morning.
Your software
Today it books cottage and cabin stays into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, keeps every call and guest note there, and texts guests a confirmation with directions and check-in details. If you run Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify or OwnerRez, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
A July week at a four-bedroom waterfront cottage can rent for $3,000 to $5,000, and the family asking about it is usually calling every listing on the lake that same afternoon. Miss the call during turnover and the week goes to whichever owner picked up. Two lost peak weeks in one summer can be close to $10,000. Put your own weekly rates into the missed-call calculator on our homepage.
Questions cottage and vacation rental owners ask
Can it give guests the lockbox code?
You decide. It can text the code once it has confirmed the guest's name and booking, or you can keep codes out of its hands so every lockout goes to the caretaker.
Can it check availability across several cottages?
Yes. Each property has its own dates, rates, sleeping count, pet rule and minimum stay. If the cottage a caller wants is booked, it offers others that are open for those dates.
How does it handle deposits?
It doesn't take card payments. It explains your deposit and balance terms, such as an Interac e-Transfer within 48 hours to hold the week, and texts those instructions. You confirm the booking once the deposit arrives.
What if a guest calls with a problem mid-stay?
Lockouts, power or water failures and anything that makes the cottage unusable go to your on-call caretaker by warm transfer. Smaller issues are logged with the property, the guest and a description, and sent to whoever looks after that cottage. Guests can text a photo of the problem to your number, and it's kept with the call in the portal.
Can it answer when I'm out of cell range at the lake?
Yes. Forward your number to it, all the time or only when you don't pick up, and it answers wherever you are. Messages wait for you as texts and emails, and you can call your own line from your cell to have them read to you.
Hear it as your own cottage rental business's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.