Free template
Airbnb welcome message template
One welcome message isn't a system; five short ones are. Each does a single job at the moment it matters, and together they replace most of the back-and-forth a stay generates. Copy them, set them up to send themselves, and stop rewriting the same paragraph.
Copy the template
1 · WHEN THEY BOOK Hi [FIRST NAME], thanks for booking. I'm glad you're coming. You're in [NEIGHBOURHOOD] from [DATE] to [DATE]. Here's everything about the place, including check-in: [LINK] Anything you want me to know before you arrive (early arrival, a birthday, someone who can't do stairs), just say. - [YOUR NAME] 2 · A WEEK BEFORE Hi [FIRST NAME], [N] days to go. If you haven't yet, could you fill in your arrival details here? [LINK] It takes two minutes and means everything is ready when you land. Roughly what time do you think you'll arrive? - [YOUR NAME] 3 · THE DAY BEFORE Hi [FIRST NAME], you're arriving tomorrow. Address: [FULL ADDRESS] Getting in: [LINK] Check-in from [TIME]. Your entry code appears on that page tomorrow morning. Travelling from [AIRPORT/STATION]? [THE ROUTE YOU'D RECOMMEND.] - [YOUR NAME] 4 · MID-STAY Hi [FIRST NAME], hope [PROPERTY NAME] is treating you well. Anything you need? [ONE SPECIFIC, TIMELY SUGGESTION: the market that's only on Saturdays, the place worth booking ahead.] - [YOUR NAME] 5 · AFTER CHECKOUT Hi [FIRST NAME], thanks for staying. You left the place in good shape. If you have a minute, a review really does help: [REVIEW LINK] And if anything fell short, tell me first; I'd rather fix it. You're welcome back any time. - [YOUR NAME]
One message, one job
The failure mode isn't tone, it's cramming. A booking confirmation that also contains parking, wifi and checkout gets read once, weeks early, when none of it is relevant. Five messages that each do one thing get read at the moment they're useful.
Ask one question, and make it easy
The pre-arrival message exists to get an arrival time out of the guest; that's the fact that changes your day. Ask exactly one thing and it gets answered. Ask four and you get a reply to the last one.
Say something only you could say
Every host writes "let me know if you need anything". Nobody acts on it. One specific line (the bakery that sells out by nine, the tram that's faster than the taxi) is what makes a guest read the next message you send.
Ask for the review after the door has closed
A review request during the stay is asking for a verdict before the story ends. A day or two after checkout, the stay is complete and still fresh. Offering to hear a problem privately first isn't a trick to suppress reviews; it's the difference between fixing something and reading about it in public.
Questions hosts ask
How many messages should I send an Airbnb guest?
Five covers a normal stay: booking, a week before, the day before, mid-stay and after checkout. More than that reads as noise, and guests start skimming the one message that mattered.
Should I automate Airbnb guest messages?
The scheduled ones, yes: they're the same message every time and sending them by hand is how they get skipped on a busy week. Keep anything responding to a specific guest personal; automation is for the messages that would otherwise not go out at all.
What should the first message to an Airbnb guest say?
Confirm what they booked, hand them one link with everything on it, and invite the information you'd rather have early: an odd arrival time, an access need, an occasion. Save the detail for the messages closer to arrival.
How do I ask for a review without being pushy?
Once, a day or two after checkout, in a short message that thanks them first and offers to hear a problem privately. A single well-timed ask outperforms a reminder sequence, and it doesn't cost you the goodwill of the stay.