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Category: Guest Communication
By: James Wu
Reply by Brittany Simmons:
After hosting for 3 years and a LOT of trial and error, I've landed on 5 messages total. Any more and guests feel annoyed. Any fewer and you're fielding avoidable questions. Booking confirmation — send right away. Keep it short and warm: "Thanks for booking! Check-in is [date] at [time]. I'll send detailed instructions a couple days before. Hit me up if you have questions!" Pre-arrival (2 days out) — this is the BIG one that prevents 80% of guest questions. Put EVERYTHING in one message: address with a Google Maps link, door code, parking instructions, WiFi name and password, check-in/checkout times, quiet hours. I used to split this across multiple messages and guests would miss half of it. Check-in evening (around 8pm) — super casual: "Hey! Hope you got settled in okay. Everything working alright? Let me know if you need anything." This catches problems early before they become bad reviews. Mid-stay (day 3, only for 4+ night stays) — "How's the trip going? Need any restaurant recs?" Just a touch point that makes hosting feel personal. Checkout morning — clear instructions plus a gentle review ask: "Checkout's at [time]. Just start the dishwasher and leave towels in the tub. If you enjoyed your stay, we'd really appreciate a review — it means a lot! Safe travels." Since I got this dialed in, my guest-initiated questions dropped like 70% and my communication rating went from 4.7 to basically 5.0. It's all automated through Hospitable (https://hospitable.com) so I set it up once and basically forget about it. The house manual link in that pre-arrival message does a ton of heavy lifting — create one at https://strspecialist.com/tools/house-manual-generator if you don't have one yet.
Reply by Tyler Jackson:
Great templates above. I'll add a few messaging DON'Ts that I learned the hard way: **DON'T:** - Send more than 5-6 messages total (guests feel surveilled) - Ask for a 5-star review specifically (against Airbnb TOS — ask for "a review" generically) - Send long paragraphs — use bullet points and emojis for scanability - Repeat information they already received - Message late at night (schedule messages during daytime hours) - Be overly casual with strangers or overly formal with repeat guests **DO:** - Personalize with guest's first name - Include a local restaurant recommendation (shows you care + helps them) - Respond to ALL messages within 1 hour during waking hours (Airbnb tracks response time) - Use Airbnb's Quick Replies for common questions (saves so much time) - Send a "happy birthday" if you notice their stay coincides with a birthday (mentioned in trip notes) The personalization is what separates a 4.8 host from a 5.0 host. Guests remember when you recommended that amazing taco place or wished them happy anniversary.