Four friends laughing over a phone together
Housekeeping in white gloves smoothing the sheets on a hotel bed
A traveller with a backpack walking a cobbled old-town street
A traveller reading a map on a city street
A group of friends at a mountain lookout on a day trip
An old-town street seen through a stone archway

Guest experience platform for hotels & hostels

Every guest, looked after before they book, as they arrive, out exploring, around town, on day trips, when they return

Create your own demoBook a meeting
guests served
3.5M+
rooms
37,304+
cities
163

Trusted by hotel groups and hostels in 163 cities

ihgaccornovotelradissoncapellacrowne plazaindigost christophersostello belloyellowsquareflying pigquestmantraeuropes famous hostels

The guest journey

With your guests for the whole trip.

From the first search to the next stay.

  1. 01Planning

    “I want to take a trip.”

    Travellers find things to do on What’s On, picked by local hotels and hostels.

    For youSeen before guests choose where to stay.

  2. 02Booking

    “Where should we stay?”

    Partner properties are listed on What’s On, and guests book with you directly.

    For youMore direct bookings.

    • Direct bookings
  3. 03Arriving

    “We’ve just landed.”

    Online check-in before they arrive, then one QR code for everything about the stay.

    For youShorter queues at the desk.

  4. 04Staying

    “Can we book the spa?”

    Eli answers questions day or night, in the guest’s language, and passes the rest to your team.

    For youFewer repeat questions at reception.

  5. 05Exploring

    “What should we do tonight?”

    Tours, day trips and shows to book, alongside your own events.

    For youCommission on what they book.

  6. 06Coming back

    “Let’s come back next year.”

    Late check-out, extra nights and a review request at the right time.

    For youGuests who return.

What is FreeGuides?

Three things change for your property.

One platform from the first search to the next stay, on property and off.

Bookings

Booked direct

Travellers find you on What’s On and book with you, not an online travel agent.

Front desk

Fewer repeat questions

Eli answers first, and only what needs a person reaches your team.

Revenue

Earn when guests go out

Commission on the tours, day trips and shows they book.

The platform

Everything behind one QR code.

01 / 08

Digital compendium

The room binder, rebuilt for phones and in every guest’s language.

  • Highlights up front
  • Every language, automatically
  • Update once, every room has it
  • Your brand, not ours
More about the digital compendium →
A FreeGuides digital compendium for Ostello Bello Roma Colosseo, showing Wi-Fi, check-in times and quick actions

Key cards & stands

Your QR code, where guests look.

Wooden key cards, stands and stickers, made with your logo.

Order key cards & stands
An engraved ibis budget wooden key card next to a wooden “Hotel & local info” card with a QR code

Wooden key cards

Engraved timber key cards, with your logo on one side and your QR code on the other.

  • Standard key card size
  • Seven woods, same price

From 63c a card

A wooden “Hotel & local info” QR stand for Quest Collingwood on a desk

Wooden QR stands

Engraved timber stands for reception, desks and bedside tables.

  • 105 × 70 mm face
  • Seven woods, same price

A$6 a stand

Two printed InterContinental “Hotel and local info” key cards with a QR code, held up outside the hotel

Printed key card inserts

Full-colour inserts for your key card wallets, with your photo, logo and QR code.

  • Standard key card size
  • Your photo and colours

12.5c a card

A small square Quest “Hotel & local info” QR sticker on a hotel room wall beside the light switches

QR stickers

Small and large stickers for bedsides, light switches, doors and public areas.

  • 90 × 90 mm and 100 × 150 mm

First 200 free, then 20c a sticker

Prices are in Australian dollars.

Who it’s for

Built for every kind of stay.

HotelsEvery guest question answered before it reaches your front desk.From A$128 a month per property
HostelsGet guests out of their bunks and into your bar, your events and your city.From A$36 a month for 60 beds
ApartmentsA house manual and a 24/7 assistant in every apartment.From A$128 a month per property
Airbnb hostsStop answering the same guest messages at 11pm.From A$128 a month per property
Want your exact price?Every price here is a starting price. Tell us about your property and we’ll send you yours, or go through it with Daniel, our founder.
Get your priceBook a time with our founder

From our customers

What changes at the front desk.

“We stopped printing compendiums. Guests prefer scanning.”
Novotel Darling Harbour
“Eli handles the 2am questions we used to dread.”
Crowne Plaza Coogee
“The walking tours are the most popular thing we offer now.”
Lylo Auckland

FreeGuides Tours

Your neighbourhood, as a tour travellers can buy.

Tours you publish on FreeGuides can also be listed on FreeGuides Tours, our marketplace of self-guided tours in 400+ cities, so travellers who aren’t staying with you still discover you.

Explore FreeGuides Tours
A FreeGuides self-guided tour in Venice with the route map and the guide introducing herself

Questions hotels ask us

What is FreeGuides?

FreeGuides is a guest experience platform for hotels, hostels and apartments that covers the whole guest journey, from planning the trip to coming back. Before the stay, travellers find partner properties on What’s On by FreeGuides and book direct. On property, one QR code in each room opens self check-in, a digital compendium, reservations, an AI receptionist called Eli that passes what needs a person to the right one, a guest group chat and a What’s On of events and excursions, in the guest’s own language and with no app to download. Off property, it earns you revenue from the walking tours, excursions and shows guests book, and lists your restaurant, bar and spa for travellers staying elsewhere.

Do guests need to download an app?

No. FreeGuides is 100% web-based. Guests scan the QR code and it opens in any modern mobile browser, in their own language.

How long does setup take?

About 48 hours from sign-up to QR codes in rooms. Tell us about your property in a two-minute form, we build your profile and first three walking tours, and we post you QR stickers and stands.

How many languages does it support?

100+ languages, detected automatically from the guest’s phone. The compendium, recommendations and Eli all respond in the guest’s language.

How does the AI receptionist work?

Eli answers from your own compendium, recommendations and tours, 24/7, in the guest’s language. If it cannot solve a problem in two attempts it hands the guest to reception, and medical or safety issues go straight to a human. You can read every conversation in the dashboard.

Can we earn revenue with FreeGuides?

Yes, on and off property. Guests book excursions, walking tours, experiences and show tickets through GetYourGuide, Viator, GuruWalk, Ticketmaster, ExperienceOz and Blys, and your property earns commission. On property you sell tickets to your own events through Stripe, and with the PMS integration you sell upgrades, early check-in, late check-out and extra nights straight into your PMS.

How much does FreeGuides cost?

Plans start at A$128 a month for Basic and A$200 for Premium, and your price depends on your property’s size and location. A 60-bed hostel in Australia pays from A$36. Basic includes the digital compendium, events and excursions, and analytics. Premium adds Eli, self-guided walking tours, local recommendations, upsells and the PMS integration. Plans for each kind of stay are on the pages for hotels, hostels, apartments and Airbnb hosts.

Is FreeGuides GDPR compliant?

Yes. FreeGuides is GDPR compliant, guests’ phone numbers are never shared, and guest chat members are removed automatically on their check-out date.

See what your guests would see.

Tell us about your property in two minutes and we’ll build your own demo: your compendium, local map, AI receptionist and first walking tours.

Create your own demoBook a meeting