I run hotels in Sweden and built BookingWatch for them, so I am not a neutral party. To keep this comparison fair, every Altek fact below comes from Altek's own website (and, for the Nordic reseller, Visit Group's partner page) as it read on 7 October 2026, with links at the end. Where something was not published, the table says so. Check the vendor's site before you decide — prices and terms change.
BookingWatch and Altek side by side
| Altek | BookingWatch | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI for hotel reservation inquiries: prepares replies and the work behind them (bookings, changes, payment links) | AI assistant that answers the hotel's reservation e-mails |
| How e-mail is handled | By default prepares the reply and waits for staff approval; routine cases can be set to go out on their own | The hotel chooses: drafts that staff approve, or replies sent automatically |
| Inbox connection | Altek for Outlook (add-in) or its own Altek Inbox | Your existing inbox over IMAP — any e-mail provider that supports IMAP |
| PMS and bookings | Mews, Opera Cloud and Visbook/BookVisit named; can create, change and cancel reservations, add guest notes, book restaurant tables and send payment links | Availability and prices fetched from your booking system, provided it exports them |
| Pricing model | Fixed price per hotel per month by size band; does not vary with e-mail volume or season | Monthly fee incl. a number of answered e-mails, then per answered e-mail, with a monthly cap |
| Price | Up to 99 rooms €399/month; 100–499 rooms €549/month; 500+ rooms from €649/month | €45/month incl. 100 answered e-mails, then €0.25 per e-mail, never more than €179/month |
| Minimum per month | €399 (smallest band) | €45 (the monthly fee) |
| Binding period | 12-month committed term after the trial and a rollout phase | None |
| Free trial | 30 days | 30 days |
| Setup fee | None for a single property; no per-integration fees | None |
| Included | Onboarding, training, GDPR documents and data processing agreement, support | — |
| Languages | 100+ languages | Reads e-mails in any language; replies in the languages the hotel chooses |
| Other channels | Web chat and WhatsApp as add-ons (price on request); SMS and voice listed as coming soon | E-mail only |
BookingWatch prices exclude VAT. Altek's pricing page did not say whether its prices include VAT.
What it costs: three example hotels
Altek charges one fixed amount per hotel within each size band, whatever the number of e-mails. BookingWatch charges for the e-mails it answers, up to a cap. The e-mail volumes below are assumptions for illustration — count your own from last month's reservation inbox.
| Example | Rooms | Answered e-mails / month | Altek | BookingWatch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small hotel or B&B | 10 | 150 | €399 | €57.50 |
| Mid-size hotel | 25 | 400 | €399 | €120 |
| Larger hotel | 60 | 900 | €399 | €179 cap |
Assumptions: Altek = the published monthly price for the hotel's size band (all three examples fall in the "up to 99 rooms" band), excluding add-ons such as web chat and WhatsApp. BookingWatch = €45 including 100 answered e-mails, plus €0.25 per additional answered e-mail, capped at €179 (reached at about 636 answered e-mails). Spam, newsletters, OTA notifications and automatic replies are not counted. Discounts, reseller prices and VAT are not included.
With today's prices, BookingWatch has the lower monthly price in 3 of these 3 examples. Over Altek's 12-month committed term, the smallest band adds up to €4,788 a year. The prices do not buy the same thing, though: Altek's fixed price includes actions in the PMS, onboarding and training, which matter most for hotels with a busy reservation desk.
Buying Altek through Visit Group (BookVisit / VisBook)
Hotels using BookVisit or VisBook can also get Altek through Visit Group, which offers it together with its own systems. Visit Group's partner page states a price from 20–60 SEK per room per month, with a personal quote, and describes the e-mail agent as drafting replies that staff review, edit and send. Binding terms were not stated on that page — ask Visit Group.
When Altek is the better choice
- Larger hotels and reservation teams. A fixed price that does not grow with e-mail volume suits a property with a busy reservation desk, and Altek is built around that team's daily work.
- You work in Outlook. Altek's add-in drafts the reply in the Outlook thread your team already uses.
- You want bookings made, not just answered. If you run Mews, Opera Cloud or Visbook/BookVisit, Altek can create and change reservations, add guest notes and send payment links.
- Chains and portfolios. Altek prices portfolios as one contract with one rollout plan.
- You want onboarding and training included in the monthly price.
When BookingWatch is the better choice
- Small or seasonal hotels. You pay per answered e-mail, so a quiet month costs little, and the monthly cap of €179 limits the busiest one.
- No binding period. 30 days free, no setup fee, then cancel at the end of any month — useful if you want to see a full season before committing.
- Any inbox. BookingWatch connects over IMAP, so it works with your current e-mail provider, Outlook-based or not.
- Draft or automatic — your choice. Start with drafts that staff approve and switch to automatic replies when you trust them.
- Built by hotel owners. We use BookingWatch in our own hotels, so it is shaped by the e-mails a small hotel actually gets.
Current BookingWatch prices are always on the pricing page. For a checklist that applies to any tool, read AI e-mail assistant for hotels; for the Danish alternative, see BookingWatch vs Opally.
Switching, or trying both
- Mind the term. Altek's 12-month term starts after the trial and rollout. Decide during the trial, and if you already have a contract, note its end date before planning a switch.
- Count first. Note your rooms and how many guest e-mails you answered last month, in a quiet and a busy month, and compare with the table above.
- Test in draft mode. If you trial both on the same inbox, keep both in draft mode so a guest never gets two replies.
- Use the same test e-mails. Pick ten typical (anonymized) guest e-mails — availability, parking, late arrival, cancellation, a group inquiry — and compare accuracy, tone and language.
- Keep your fact sheet. Your hotel facts and rules are the real work. Keep them in your own document so they move with you to any tool.
Sources: Altek, pricing, retrieved 2026-10-07 (size bands and prices, what is included, 30-day trial, 12-month committed term, add-ons, portfolio pricing); Altek, homepage, retrieved 2026-10-07 (approval vs automatic sending, Outlook add-in and Altek Inbox, PMS integrations and actions, 100+ languages); Visit Group, Altek + Visit AI guest communication, retrieved 2026-10-07 (reseller price from 20–60 SEK per room per month, draft-and-review e-mail agent). BookingWatch prices: pricing page.