What are your best practices for communicating with guests before and during their stay?

[Dina951]

 

I would be grateful if you could share your experiences with me. 😊

[Rose422]

Hello @Dina951  and @Ema3296 

What a lovely place up on the mountains! I hope to be able to stay at your lovely villa one day. I've been living on boats for 3 years and have almost forgotten what it's like to live on land any more! 

First of all, I would suggest communicating on Airbnb as a host. If a guest takes you off airbnb and sends a text message, it's ok to respond by text, however, my experience shows that as hosts we should always initiate communication on airbnb platform. Airbnb always improves all features and the platform is extremely user friendly. 

Secondly, I would suggest not to bombard guests with messages. First message should be upon booking confirmation (if they make a request to book and you have already communicated and answered questions, just say "You are all set and I look forward to hosting you. I will be sending a welcome message the day before your trip with more details. In the meantime, if I can help answer any questions related to your stay, please feel free to get in touch any time". If you have never messaged and it was an instant book, either have an automated message or say "Hello Guest Name, Thank you so much for choosing to stay at my listing. What I love most about my home is who I share it with, so I look forward to making your stay a memorable experience and will be in touch the day before your trip (for checkin info or) with a welcome message", or something like that. 

Thirdly, make sure you have all checkin info and steps to get the key clearly stated in the step by step welcome or checkin info online. Airbnb will automatically share this info. 

Fourthly, the day before the trip send a second message saying, "Hello Guest Name, Your trip is fast approaching and I look forward to hosting you tomorrow. (Say something unique about the listing or something new you did such as you prepared fresh flowers or have a welcome drink or cilantros are growing in the garden, I say weather is nice and coco will likely be out welcoming them onboard, I have bird feeders etc so I say something unique, I usually never leave alcohol as a welcome drink 🙂 as boats are a high risk environment). I would like to share the checkin information with you in a message so that you have clear instructions (here have a text you can copy and paste clean and concise how to get the key, if you can make a picture collage showing step 1-4 or 1-6 how to get there and get the key you can attach it to your message. If you are personally welcoming people, ask if you could have their approximate arrival timeframe to be better prepared, otherwise wrap up with the following). It looks like the weather will be nice and sunny or cloudy and a little chilly, so I would suggest taking a few jackets with you even though I have enough blankets to keep you warm throughout your stay, or something about fireplace or anything else you want to share in one sentence. Wrap up with "I look forward to hosting you and if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch any time"

Your name, your phone number. 

Lastly, please save their phone number in your phone book with their name as a villa guest. If you miss a call you want to make sure you don't ignore and get back right away. 

I also want to share that as hosts we have to keep airbnb's reputation high. If we do something wrong or be ignorant, guests will likely go to other platforms. I have heard some irresponsible stories and feedback from guests and we want to make sure we are always professional and quick to assist with anything. 

Thanks again for being a great new host and I wish you all the best on your hosting journey. 

Rose. 

[Hans797]

Hi, Dina. 

Eventhough I have an online lake house manual which explains most everything, I still send a pre message and a post messages. Here is an example. 

--------------

Good afternoon, Jacqui.

Please contact me anytime day or night if you have any questions or issues.

Here are a few notes for you:

1. The code for the kitchen door on the main level of the lake house is 2659.

2. The key for the primary door at the bottom of the main set of stairs is in the wooden bin next to the mini cabin with the antlers on it. Open the lid. The key is on a lanyard on the right hand side.

3. Check-in is at 4:00 pm and check- out is at 10:00 am.

4. Please place trash and recycling in the three black garbage cans. Once the bags are full please put them in the two sheds on the main parking area. Extra garbage bags can be found in the kitchen cabinet below the small sink.

5. The wireless name is Woehleke and the password is Lakehouse.

6. If the garden and lawn sprinkler system comes on when you don't want it to, turn the water valves located behind the beach shed to horizontal.

7. Help yourself to the canoe, kayaks, paddle boards and anything you find in the beach shed. There are extra water toys, plenty of life jackets and lawn chairs.

8. If you use the barbecue, the valve to turn on propane is in the white plastic box on the wall. Please turn it off when you're done. Please do not turn any of the other valves.

[Hans797]

I also include photos when needed. 

Good morning, Michael.

As your stay at the lake house comes to an end, we sincerely hope that the experiences you shared with family and friends exceeded your expectations. In fact, that is our primary goal.

We are incredibly grateful for the feedback we've received so far from every one of our guests; that is, their comments and reviews have placed the lake house in the top 5% of ALL Airbnbs and a guest favourite.

So it's important to us that we hear from you too. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know now. We will take whatever you say with a view to improve.

Take care, all the best and hopefully we will have the pleasure of hosting you again in the very near future.

Hans & Leslie

[Hazel219]

Hi Dina - we clarify bed arrangements and other logistics like need for parking , arrival time etc by Airbnb messages before arrival . We try to greet guests personally and answer any questions + explain any necessary stuff ( pool alarm , beach towels ) then . We live nearby and so guests are welcome to come with queries or use sms to communicate during the stay

[Paula]

Hello @Dina951 👋

There are some great new suggestions from our hosts! I’m curious—which comment or communication strategy stood out to you the most? Is there one that resonates more with your communication style?

Let us know your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to review them.

Regards,

[Emily2037]

I use the AirBNB messaging system as always the first line of communication. This is because if AirBNB needs to step in to resolve any issues, everything is documented, including images and videos if available. I do provide a cell phone number of my local co-host in case of any issues. But I've learned (the hard way) to always document all communications in case of mis-understanding. Having cameras with a speaker on the outside front door and other walkways, provides additional security measure in case of un-registered guests of the registered guests causing issues. 
If guests do not respond to the messaging system, I always follow up with another one and then call them to remind them to check their messages. I don't get offended when guests complaint or picky about unimportant stuff. It's just part of the business. Be kind to all. 

[Mar92900]

Hi @Dina951 , 

 I host a two bedroom duplex as its own single unit in West Texas. What I do is tell them the door code and some ways to get around (grocery store location, restaurants nearby, etc.). But most importantly assure them that I like to give privacy during their trip so I won’t bother them during their stay but they may still contact me for any issues. 

this has worked well. Most people are thankful and appreciate not being bothered and therefore reciprocate by not asking me for too much either. 

I do try to ensure the home is set up and stocked. The most common ask I get is for more trash bags, and sometimes a late checkout. 

Hope this helps. 

[Mark-And-Laura1]

@Dina951 hi there. I communicate thru the Airbnb messaging. 

[Sharine2]

Hi my name is Sharine Johnson, Boatswain West Nassau. I always acknowledge every inquiry with excitement that they are interested in the first place, and it would be a joy to host them and their quest.  I do the same after checkout and invite them to visit again.