Set Up MyPorter Message
← Guides Leggi in italiano

How to reply to Airbnb guests automatically

Every short-term rental host knows: guest questions are always the same. What time is check-in? What's the Wi-Fi password? Where do I park? Any good restaurants nearby? Answering by hand, for every guest, at every hour, eats your evenings and weekends. Here are the options for automating, from simplest to most complete.

1. Airbnb's scheduled messages

Airbnb lets you schedule automatic messages tied to booking events: on confirmation, before check-in, after check-out. It's the first step and worth turning on: a good pre-arrival message with the address, times, and entry instructions already eliminates a chunk of the questions.

The limit is that these are one-way messages. They cover the information you decide to send, not the questions guests actually ask:

  • They don't answer "the fridge isn't working" at 11:30pm.
  • They don't translate: your German guest gets the message in whatever language you wrote it.
  • They only work on Airbnb: guests who book via Booking.com or your own site are left out.

2. Quick replies (templates)

Both Airbnb and Booking.com offer saved replies you can insert with a tap. They cut the time per message, but not the interruption: you still have to read the question, pick the template, tweak it, and send it. The problem with short-term rentals isn't writing the message — it's that the message arrives while you're at dinner, at work, or on holiday.

3. A co-host or property manager

Delegating to a person works, but it has a price: a property manager typically takes 15–25% of revenue, and for one or two apartments that rarely makes sense just for messaging. A co-host from the family works until they get tired of answering at 7am.

4. An AI assistant on WhatsApp

The newest option: a virtual assistant that knows your property and replies to guests directly, on WhatsApp, in any language, at any hour. Not a button tree ("press 1 for check-in"), but a normal conversation:

Hi! What's the wifi password?
Hi Anna! The Wi-Fi network is "Casa Limone" and the password is limone2024. Enjoy your stay! 🍋

The advantages over the previous options:

  • It answers questions, not just events. Guests ask what they want, when they want.
  • In every language. The question comes in Korean, the answer goes out in Korean.
  • On WhatsApp. No app to download: the channel guests already use, whatever platform they booked on. See why WhatsApp is the right channel for guests.
  • It knows when to stop. A good assistant doesn't make things up: when it doesn't know, it forwards the question to you and remembers the answer for next time.

What to automate (and what not to)

The practical rule: automate everything repetitive and informational — schedules, instructions, check-in, local tips, small problems with known fixes. Keep the delicate situations for yourself: serious complaints, refund requests, emergencies. The right automation takes 90% of the messages off your plate and leaves you only the ones where you're actually needed.