The Messages Every New Airbnb Host Should Send Before Check-In

The guest has booked. Now the clock is running, and the thing that will shape their whole first impression is not your furniture — it is your messages.

Most new hosts handle this in one of two ways, and both are wrong. Some send nothing until the day of arrival and leave the guest guessing. Others send one enormous wall of information the moment the booking comes in, and the guest forgets all of it. There is a better way, and it is simple: right information, right time.

Communication is a sequence, not a single message

A pre-arrival conversation is not one message. It is a short series of short messages, each with one job, sent when that job is most useful. The guest never feels buried, and you are never silent for too long.

Here is the sequence a new host should send before check-in.

Message 1 — Booking acknowledgment

Send it within the first hour or so of the booking. Its job is simple: confirm the reservation and make the guest feel that a real, attentive host is on the other side.

• Thank them for booking.
• Confirm the dates and number of guests.
• Tell them when they will hear from you next and what to expect.

Keep it short. You are not sending logistics yet.

Message 2 — Pre-arrival logistics

Send this a few days before arrival. Its job is to answer the questions guests start asking as their trip gets close.

• Confirm the address and the general arrival window.
• Note anything they need to plan around (parking, access, stairs, a gate).
• Ask if they have any needs or timing constraints.

This is also the right moment to mention anything that helps them arrive comfortably — travel time, a landmark, whether they should bring anything.

Message 3 — Check-in instructions

Send this the day before arrival, or the morning of. Its job is to make entry effortless.

• The exact access method: lock code, key location, building entry.
• Step-by-step directions to the door, not just to the street.
• The check-in time, and what to do if they arrive outside it.

Make this message impossible to misread. Read it back to yourself as if you had never been to the property.

Message 4 — Day-of arrival check

On arrival day, send one short, warm message: a brief "looking forward to having you, here is anything you need to know for today." Its job is not to add information — it is to be present at the exact moment of arrival.

The principles underneath the sequence

• One job per message. If a message is trying to do three things, it is doing none of them well.
• Short beats complete. A guest reads more when there is less to read.
• Right time beats right now. Information sent too early is information forgotten.
• Warm and clear. You can be both friendly and precise. You do not have to choose.

A note for new hosts

You do not need to hide that you are new. Guests respond well to a host who is organised and honest. You do not have to over-promise; you just have to communicate clearly and follow through.

What not to panic about

• A guest who does not reply quickly. Silence is not disapproval. Many guests simply travel without checking messages.
• Needing to adapt. If arrival plans change, your sequence flexes. The order stays the same.

What to watch

• Unanswered logistics. If a guest has not confirmed access details before arrival, follow up once, clearly.
• Access confusion. Any ambiguity about getting in is the one thing that can turn a good arrival into a bad one — fix it before arrival day.

Where this goes next

Your guest is informed and on their way. Now the property itself has to be ready — and ready means more than clean. That is the next stage.

Transition: Your messages are sent and your guest knows exactly what to expect. Now make the property genuinely guest-ready. → 100.6 — Preparing for Your First Airbnb Guest: The Final Guest-Ready Walkthrough