Pre-arrival messages on Airbnb: templates guests actually read

The pre-arrival messages guests actually read on Airbnb are short, sent at the moment they are needed, and built around one task each: a thank-you after booking, practical details a few days before, and clear arrival instructions on the day. Three or four well-timed messages do more than one long letter sent the minute the booking comes in.

Most hosts already know this in theory. In practice, the first message tries to say everything, the guest skims it on their phone, and the same questions arrive anyway the night before check-in.

Why most pre-arrival messages go unread

A guest who has just booked is happy, but not yet thinking about door codes. A guest standing outside your gate with a suitcase is thinking about nothing else. The mistake is sending information at the wrong end of that journey.

• Too long, too early. A page of house rules sent three weeks before arrival will be forgotten by the time it matters.
• Everything at once. Parking, Wi-Fi, bins, the coffee machine and the hot tub in one block of text. The important line disappears.
• No clear action. The guest finishes reading and does not know whether they need to reply, send an arrival time or do nothing.

Airbnb lets hosts set up quick replies and scheduled messages, so the timing can be planned once and then left to run. The work is deciding what each message is for.

The timing that works

For a typical stay of a few nights, this rhythm covers almost everything:

• Right after booking. A warm thank-you, confirmation of the dates and one question: roughly what time do they expect to arrive?
• A few days before arrival. The practical message: address, parking, how check-in works, what to bring, anything unusual about the property.
• On the morning of arrival. Access details: the code, the key box, the exact entrance, and who to contact if something goes wrong.
• The evening of the first night. A short check that everything is fine. Small problems found now do not become complaints in a review.

One message, one purpose. If a guest has to scroll, the message is doing too much.

Templates you can adapt

These are written for a fictional cottage near Kinsale. Change the details, keep the shape.

After booking. “Hello Emma, thank you for booking Villa Aurora for 14 to 17 June. We are looking forward to having you. Could you let us know roughly what time you expect to arrive? Then we can make sure everything is ready. Best wishes, Niamh.”

Three days before. “Hello Emma, a few practical details for Friday. The address is on your booking; the gate is the green one just after the church. There is free parking for two cars in front of the house. Check-in is from 15:00, and the house has a fully equipped kitchen, so there is no need to bring anything except food for breakfast if you arrive late. Reply here with any questions.”

Morning of arrival. “Good morning Emma. Your key is in the small box to the left of the front door, code 4719. The Wi-Fi name and password are on the card in the kitchen. If anything is not as expected, message me here or call the number on your booking. Safe travels.”

First evening. “Hello Emma, I hope you found everything easily. If anything is missing or not working, tell me now and I will sort it out tomorrow morning.”

What to leave out

Pre-arrival messages are not the place for the full house manual. Put long rules, appliance instructions and local recommendations in the listing and in a guidebook, and link to them only when relevant. Avoid sending the door code days in advance if you can; send it the day it is needed. And never make promises in a scheduled message that depend on something you cannot check, such as early check-in or a late checkout. Those deserve a real reply on the day.

If you manage several apartments, the same sequence works for each one, with different details. That is where small mistakes creep in: the wrong code, the wrong parking note. Our notes on running several apartments cover how to keep each property's information separate.

When the guest replies

A good pre-arrival message invites replies, and replies need answers. “Can we bring the dog?”, “Is there a cot?”, “Our flight lands at 23:00, is that a problem?”. These questions often arrive in the evening or at the weekend, which is exactly when the host is busy. A fast answer matters on Airbnb, where the response rate and response time are visible to future guests; we wrote about that in how response time affects your listing.

Where Concierva fits

Concierva reads each Airbnb message together with its booking, so it knows the dates, the property and the guest's name, and replies from the information you have given it, in the guest's language. Questions about parking, late arrival or a cot get a correct answer straight away; anything about refunds, changes or complaints goes to you with a short summary.

It works alongside your scheduled messages rather than replacing them. You can see how it handles guest conversations on our page about AI for Airbnb messages, and start in draft mode, approving every reply before it goes out.