Guest messaging

Airbnb Message Templates: The 8 Messages to Schedule Once and Never Write Again

Guestkept · 2026-06-08 · 8 min read

Hospitality at scale is mostly timing. The same sentence that delights a guest at 9am ("Here's everything for check-in!") fails at 10pm the night before, when they're already anxious and packing. Great hosts aren't writing better messages at better moments — they wrote the messages once, scheduled them, and let the system be punctual on their behalf.

Airbnb's built-in scheduled messages feature (Menu → Messages → Scheduled messages) supports exactly this, with shortcodes that auto-fill the guest's name, dates, and door codes. Here are the eight messages worth scheduling, with timing and the reasoning behind each.

1. Booking confirmation — within an hour of booking

The job: reassure, and set expectations for what happens next so the guest never wonders.

Hi {guest first name} — thanks for booking, we're looking forward to hosting you {check-in date}! You're all set: I'll send full check-in details the day before you arrive, and parking is {one-line answer}. One question whenever you know it: roughly what time do you expect to arrive?

That arrival-time question matters: it surfaces early check-in hopes a week early, while they're still easy to handle.

2. The week-out — 7 days before check-in

The job: collect remaining logistics and open the concierge channel. Include check-in/out times, parking, one seasonal line ("pack layers — evenings drop fast"), and a genuine offer to recommend things. Guests who feel hosted before arrival review like guests who were hosted well.

3. Check-in details — the day before, at 9am

The most important logistics message, and the one to make ruthlessly complete: written-out address, exact parking, door code with keypad steps, wifi network and password, and where the house guide lives. Two rules: send it in the morning (an evening send catches travelers mid-transit and anxious), and end it with "if anything isn't right when you walk in, message me first — I can usually fix things within the hour." That sentence redirects walk-in problems from the review box to your inbox.

4. The settled-in check — check-in evening, around 8pm

Hi {guest first name} — hope you're settled in! Just checking everything's as expected. If anything needs attention — temperature, wifi, anything missing — tell me now and I'll get it sorted tonight or first thing tomorrow. Otherwise, enjoy; I'll stay out of your way.

This is the highest-leverage message of the eight. Every problem a guest mentions tonight is a problem fixed before it becomes a paragraph in a review — and guests who had a problem promptly fixed routinely rate higher than guests who had no problem at all. The save becomes the story.

5. The mid-stay touch — day 3, for stays of 4+ nights

Longer stays need one show of presence without hovering: where extra linens are, that the washer is theirs, an offer to restock. One message, value-dense, then silence.

6. The checkout preview — day before checkout, 5pm

List the checkout tasks the evening before, never the morning of. And keep the list to four tasks: start the dishwasher, pile used towels, bag the trash, lock up. Long chore lists ("strip beds, vacuum, take bins to the curb") are among the most-cited complaints in low reviews — guests feel charged a cleaning fee and assigned the cleaning. We've written more on this in our checkout instructions guide.

7. The send-off — checkout day, 1pm

Two sentences: thanks and safe travels, plus "if you left anything behind, message me." Warm, closes the loop, sets up tomorrow's message.

8. The review ask — the morning after, 10am

Hi {guest first name} — hope you made it home smoothly! I just left you a 5-star review; thanks for treating the place so well. If you have two minutes, a review of your stay would mean a lot — reviews are how a small listing like ours gets found. And if anything kept your stay from being 5 stars, I'd genuinely rather hear it here first so I can fix it for the next guest.

Why this phrasing: it leads with reciprocity (you reviewed them first — and Airbnb notifies them, which is itself a nudge), names the stakes without begging, and gives the almost-happy guest a private outlet for 4-star feedback. Never offer anything in exchange for a review — it's against Airbnb's terms and reads as desperate.

The five style rules for every message

1. First sentence does the job. Guests read on phones, mid-errand. Front-load the answer.
2. Specifics beat warmth. "Check-in opens at 3 and your code is 4821" is more hospitable than three sentences of welcome containing no information.
3. Send between 8am and 9pm guest-local time. Scheduling makes this automatic.
4. One emoji per message, maximum. Zero is fine.
5. Never send angry. Hard messages get a 30-minute cooling delay — what you write is evidence, to future guests and to Airbnb support.

What about the other 52 situations?

These eight run the happy path. The messages that actually rattle new hosts are the other kind: the discount haggler, the "code isn't working" at 11pm, the smoke smell, the vague refund demand, the review extortion attempt. Those can't be scheduled — but they can absolutely be pre-written.

Scheduled-message questions, answered

Do scheduled messages feel robotic to guests?

Only badly-written ones. A message with the guest's name, real specifics (parking, codes, a seasonal tip), and a question that invites reply reads as attentive, not automated — most guests never suspect a schedule. The tell of a robotic message isn't automation; it's vagueness. "We hope you have a wonderful stay!" with no information is robotic even when typed live.

What shortcodes does Airbnb support?

Guest first name, check-in/checkout dates and times, listing name, city, and — crucially — the door code if you use an Airbnb-integrated smart lock. Codes via shortcode mean the check-in message stays accurate even when codes rotate per stay.

Should I still send anything manually?

Two things. First, a one-line personal touch on top of the schedule when something gives you the opening — they mentioned an anniversary, a dog, a marathon. Thirty seconds, outsized effect. Second, all problem-response messages: never automate apologies or anything involving money.

What about guests who book same-day?

Airbnb collapses the schedule sensibly — the confirmation and check-in details merge into what sends immediately. Read your templates once imagining a 4pm same-day booking; if message 1 promises "details the day before you arrive" make sure message 3's trigger is "at booking, if within 24 hours of check-in."

Vrbo and direct bookings?

Vrbo has its own scheduled-message system (less flexible triggers, same idea); for direct bookings, tools like Hospitable or your PMS handle it. The eight-message structure transfers unchanged — only the shortcode syntax differs.

The three mistakes that undo a good message system

Set-and-actually-forget. Templates reference reality — the parking situation, the café in the week-out message, the checkout time. Reread all eight quarterly; one stale fact ("the bakery next door" that closed in March) makes every message feel automated. Over-messaging. Eight messages across a stay is attentive; twelve is needy. Resist adding "just checking in!" touches that carry no information — every message should answer a question or solve a problem. Mismatched voice. If your listing is breezy and your messages read like a hotel chain's legal department, guests feel the seam. Write the templates once in your own voice, out loud if it helps, and they'll carry it forever.

And if you're setting up your whole operation, the messaging system is System 4 of eight in the 5-Star Host System — alongside pricing, listing, cleaning, and the problem playbooks.