‘What time’s check in?’
A question that used to come in from guests all the time.
- ‘Excited for our trip, what time is check in ?’
Me replying on my phone while I should instead be riding my bike and not worrying about check in times.
- ‘Hey (guests name), Thanks so much for reaching out. Check in is anytime after 3pm. Thanks!’
After doing anything about 100 times, I get frustrated and then build a system to solve the problem. Now when a guest books one of our properties, we lay the groundwork in the introduction message. We don’t give people all the information in one message, because they won’t read it all. Instead, we give them some basic information, and forecast them when the next bit of information is going to come. Example below.
- Hey {{guest_first_name}}, Thanks for the booking, we're so happy to host you! Everything about the house should be pretty straight forward. Read through the house details and guest packet in your guest portal ahead of time just so we’re all on the same page. If you plan on going out to eat I’d recommend making reservations in advance, things have been busy lately. As a reminder, check in is at 3pm and checkout is at 11am.
We’ll touch base again morning of check in just to make sure you have everything you need. The exact address will be available 24 hours prior to check in just for safety reasons. The wifi and door code details will become available a few hours before checking in. In the meantime if you have any questions let us know and we'll do our best to answer them.
Thanks!
As you can see, we give the guests some basic info and direct them where they can find more information they may be looking for. We always aim for a kind and professional tone, but have fun with this part and let your own personality shine through here. At the end, we forecast to the guest when their next bit of information will come through. To give some clarity, I’ve spoken to frustrated hosts managing ONE property that are sending a gazillion messages a day. We’re currently managing thirty short term rentals and are manually sending about 8 messages to guests per day, the rest are automated but feel personal.
How? Good systems.
As promised, value in under a minute.
If you’re interested in our services for your own Short Term Rental, we’re taking on new clients through April 1, 2026. Hit the link below to set up an intro call.
- Jaryn