Una by Polydom Now Handles Group Reservations in Apaleo

Group reservations have always been one of the hardest booking scenarios for hotels to automate.

A single-room request is simple: one guest, one room, one rate, one booking flow.

But group reservations are different. A guest may need several rooms, different room types, different guest distribution, children of different ages, breakfast included, refundable and non-refundable options, and a clear total price. In most hotels, this still requires a reservation manager to manually check availability, compare room combinations, explain the rates, and send the final booking link.

Una by Polydom can now do this automatically.

This is a major step forward for AI Agents in hospitality: Una is no longer just answering questions about availability. She can understand a group request, check real inventory in Apaleo, build multi-room options, explain the differences, and guide the guest toward booking.

From “Do you have a room?” to “Can you fit our whole group?”

Una’s Apaleo integration now covers the core booking cycle for both individual and group stays.

The agent can:

search available offers in Apaleo
match rooms to adults and children
build multi-room packages for groups
explain rates, prices, prepayment and cancellation rules
show room details, amenities, beds and photos
generate a booking form link
send booking data through email or webhook
cancel one reservation or an entire booking
notify the hotel team about key events

This means Una can support the full journey from the first guest question to the final booking step.

The real breakthrough: multi-room group reservations

The strongest part of the new Apaleo capability is group booking logic.

When a guest says:

“We are 7 adults and 3 children. We need rooms for 3 nights.”

Una does not simply search for one room and stop.

She understands the total guest composition and starts generating possible accommodation layouts. For example:

one room for everyone, if possible
two-room combinations
three-room combinations
different adult and child distributions across rooms
alternative layouts if the exact request is not available

Una then checks those options against live Apaleo availability and creates package options that make sense for the guest and for the hotel.

Instead of a technical PMS output, the guest receives something understandable, such as:

“Option 1: 2 Double Rooms + 1 Family Room, total €840”

“Option 2: 3 Double Rooms, total €910”

“Option 3: 1 Apartment + 1 Double Room, total €970”

This is the kind of work a human reservation manager usually does manually.

Una understands room preferences

Group guests often know exactly how they want to split the rooms.

For example:

“We need 3 rooms: 2 adults in the first room, 2 adults in the second, and 1 adult in the third.”

Una can process this as room preferences.

She checks whether the requested room distribution matches the total number of guests. If the guest says there are 4 adults in total, but the room preferences add up to 5 adults, Una does not continue with a wrong search. She explains that the numbers do not match and asks for correction.

When the numbers do match, Una prioritizes offers that follow the requested layout.

This is especially valuable for families, friends, delegations, sports teams and corporate groups, where the room split matters as much as the price.

If the exact option is not available, Una suggests alternatives

A traditional booking flow often fails when the exact room combination is not available.

Una handles this differently.

If the guest asks for two rooms with 2 adults in each, but only a different distribution is available, Una can present it as an alternative instead of ending the conversation.

For example:

“The exact requested distribution is not available, but we found an alternative option with a different room split.”

This turns a potential “no availability” moment into a sales opportunity.

Smarter sorting, not just the cheapest price

Group reservations can create dozens or even hundreds of possible room and rate combinations. Showing all of them would confuse the guest.

Una ranks the options based on several factors:

match with the requested room preferences
total price
number of rooms
available capacity
cancellation policies
included services
rate type
diversity of options

This allows Una to show a short, practical selection rather than a chaotic list of PMS results.

The guest can compare the most relevant choices: the most affordable option, the flexible cancellation option, the best fit for the requested layout, or a better room category.

Una explains what the guest is booking

Once the guest is interested in an option, Una can explain the details.

She can show:

room type
number of adults and children per room
children’s ages
rate name and description
total price
city tax
prepayment amount
cancellation policy
cancellation fee
due date
guarantee type

For multi-room packages, Una can also summarize the package in a human-friendly way, for example:

“2x Double Room for 2 adults + 1x Family Room for 2 adults and 2 children.”

This matters because guests often hesitate when they do not understand what is included, whether the rate is refundable, or how much must be paid in advance.

Una removes that uncertainty during the conversation.

Booking link instead of collecting personal data in chat

Una does not need to collect all personal details directly inside the chat.

After the guest chooses an offer or package, Una generates a booking form link. The guest opens the link, enters the required details, and completes the booking in a controlled form flow.

This is important for both usability and security.

The chat helps the guest choose the right option. The booking form handles the final personal data and confirmation step.

In voice scenarios, Una can also send the booking link through a separate channel, so the guest does not need to write down a long URL during a call.

Built-in safety checks

Group bookings are complex, so Una includes several safeguards.

Before generating a booking link, Una checks that:

the selected offer or package still exists
the offer has not already been booked in the same chat
the package has valid items
each item has the required rate plan information
adult counts are present
all selected items use the same arrival date, departure date and currency
the room inventory is not exceeded

The inventory check is especially important. Different rate plans can use the same physical room type. Una checks real room type usage, so she does not build a package that sells more rooms than the hotel actually has available.

Una can also support cancellations

The Apaleo agent can also handle cancellation scenarios.

A guest can request cancellation of:

one reservation
an entire booking with multiple reservations

Una verifies the guest’s first name and last name before canceling. For a full booking cancellation, she checks that the requester is the booking owner.

This helps prevent unauthorized cancellations based only on a reservation or booking ID.

The agent can also run a dry run first, showing what would be cancelled without actually cancelling it. This is useful when a hotel wants to confirm the action before execution.

Email and webhook notifications

Una can send important booking and cancellation events to the hotel team by email or webhook.

This makes the agent part of the hotel’s operational workflow.

Booking and cancellation data can be passed into:

CRM
Google Sheets
Make or Zapier
internal back-office systems
reporting tools
manager notifications

This is where Una becomes more than a guest-facing assistant. She becomes an operational AI Agent connected to the hotel’s real workflow.

Why this matters for hotels

Group reservations are high-value, but they are also time-consuming.

A guest who needs three, five or ten rooms usually creates more work for the reservation team than a standard individual booking. The team must check availability, compare rates, explain room types, calculate totals, manage preferences, and follow up quickly before the guest books somewhere else.

Una helps hotels respond instantly and consistently.

The business value is clear:

more direct booking opportunities
fewer missed group inquiries
less manual work for reception and reservation teams
faster response times
better handling of families and groups
fewer errors in room allocation
clearer price and policy communication
safer cancellation handling
easier integration with hotel workflows

A real example

In the attached Una cabinet screenshots, Una identifies a group reservation request, asks for missing dates, checks available options, and presents several room combinations with prices and conditions.

In another example, Una confirms three single rooms with breakfast at the lowest non-refundable rate and sends the guest a booking link to complete the reservation.

This shows the practical difference between a chatbot and an AI Agent.

A chatbot replies.

Una works.