Guest Messaging Guide and FAQ

Guest Messaging brings every conversation with your guests into one place — across all your booking channels — and uses an AI Assistant to take routine questions off your plate. This comprehensive guide explains how the feature works and answers the questions hosts ask most often.

What is Guest Messaging?

Guest Messaging is a unified communication platform that centralizes all guest conversations from multiple booking channels into a single inbox. It includes three main components designed to streamline your guest communication:

• Inbox — Messages from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Holidu, and direct bookings in one place
• AI Assistant — Answers common guest questions automatically 24/7, informed by your property's local context
• Scheduled Messages — Check-in details, access codes, and arrival information sent automatically for every booking

Where to Find Guest Messaging

Accessing Guest Messaging is straightforward:

1. Open the Holidu web app
2. In the left navigation menu, click Messages
3. Select Inbox to view your guest conversations

From the Messages section, you can also access Scheduled Messages to set up automatic messaging for your bookings.

How to Use Your Inbox

The Inbox is your central hub for all guest communications. Here's how to use it effectively:

Viewing and Organizing Conversations

Each booking appears as a single conversation thread, regardless of which channel the booking came from — Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Holidu, or direct booking. This unified approach eliminates the need to manage multiple messaging platforms.

Sending Messages to Guests

To send a message to a guest:

1. Locate the relevant conversation thread by booking or guest name
2. Type your response in the message box at the bottom of the conversation
3. Click Send to deliver your message

Using Automatic Translation

Guest Messaging includes built-in translation functionality. Simply compose your message in your preferred language, and it will automatically appear to your guest in theirs where possible. This feature eliminates language barriers and allows you to communicate naturally with international guests.

Viewing Scheduled Messages

Scheduled messages — such as check-in instructions and access codes — are sent automatically by the system. These messages also appear in your conversation thread for complete visibility and record-keeping. You can manage and view all scheduled messages in the Scheduled Messages section of your Messages hub.

Message History and Visibility

You can view messages for upcoming, current, and past bookings. This message history is available for a limited period after guest checkout, allowing you to reference previous communications when needed.

Staying Informed with Notifications

You receive a notification for every new message in your conversations — similar to receiving a WhatsApp message. This includes messages the AI Assistant sends on your behalf, ensuring you always know what's been said in your name and can step in at any time if needed.

AI Assistant: Answering Questions Automatically

The AI Assistant is designed to handle routine guest questions 24/7, allowing you to focus on more complex matters and property management.

What the AI Assistant Does

Your AI Assistant automatically answers common guest questions informed by the local context of your property. Questions typically include check-in information, WiFi details, directions, local recommendations, and other frequently asked topics.

Choosing Which Topics the AI Assistant Handles

You have complete control over which guest questions the AI Assistant answers. To manage these settings:

1. Go to your Messages section
2. Click the Manage settings gear icon in your Messages header
3. Review the 8 available topic categories
4. Set each topic to either AI Assistant or Host (you)

The 8 topics you can manage are:

• Property information questions
• Points of interest and local recommendations
• Guest arrival
• Online check-in and guest registration
• Property issues and how-tos
• Special requests
• Check-out and departures
• Invoices, fees, deposits, and local taxes

Your chosen settings apply to all your conversations — both existing and new — so you only need to configure them once. For convenience, you can use Set all to AI Assistant or Set all to Host to quickly apply your preference across all topics.

Topics the AI Assistant Never Handles

Certain sensitive matters always go directly to you or Holidu, regardless of your settings. These include:

• Bookings, payments, and disputes
• Complaints
• Safety and legal matters
• Platform, account, and pre-booking questions

These restrictions ensure that sensitive matters are handled consistently and with proper attention.

When the AI Assistant Can't Provide an Answer

If the AI Assistant encounters a guest question it cannot answer on a topic you've assigned to it, it automatically hands the conversation over to you. This ensures nothing gets stuck, and you can provide a personal response when needed.

Changing AI Settings via Chat

You can adjust your AI Assistant settings conversationally. Simply tell the AI what you want — for example, "stop the AI from answering property issues" or "turn off the AI everywhere" — and it will update your settings and confirm what changed. This makes management quick and intuitive.

Scheduled Messages

Scheduled Messages allow you to automate routine communications with guests, such as check-in details and access codes. These messages are sent automatically for every booking and appear in your conversation thread for your records.

To access and configure your scheduled messages, go to Messages > Scheduled Messages in the Holidu host portal. This ensures critical information reaches guests at the right time, every time.

Collaboration and Sharing Access

Multiple people on your hosting team can access and manage the Guest Messaging Inbox together.

How Do I Enable Access for Collaborators?

Collaborators are not included automatically. To give a collaborator access, go to the specific property in Holidu, navigate to "Collaborators" to adjust that person's access, and enable access to guest conversations. This needs to be done separately for each individual property.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Getting Started

How do I access the Guest Messaging Inbox?
Go to the left menu in the Holidu host portal and select Messages > Inbox. All your guest conversations from supported channels appear here in chronological order.

How do I access and configure scheduled messages?
Go to the left menu in the Holidu host portal and select Messages > Scheduled Messages. Here you can set up automatic messages for check-in, access codes, and other booking-related information.

Is Guest Messaging included in my account?
Yes — Guest Messaging is included for all hosts at no additional cost. All features, including the AI Assistant and scheduled messaging, are available to you.

Inbox Features

Which channels are supported?
Conversations with guests from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Holidu, and direct bookings are fully supported and unified in your Inbox.

What if a guest messages me outside the Holidu platform?
Guests may still contact you via email or phone outside Holidu, but all channel-based messages from booking platforms are automatically synced to your Inbox. You can respond to external contact through your own channels, but maintaining conversations in Holidu ensures complete record-keeping.

Can I message guests for manual calendar blocks?
No — messaging is only available for actual bookings. Manual calendar blocks do not have associated messaging functionality.

How long can I view message history?
You can view messages for upcoming, current, and past bookings. Message history is available for a limited period after guest checkout.

AI Assistant

What does the AI Assistant do?
The AI Assistant automatically answers common guest questions 24/7, such as check-in information, WiFi details, directions, and local recommendations — all informed by the local context of your property. It handles the questions you assign to it, reducing your workload and improving response times for guests.

Can I choose which questions the AI Assistant answers?
Yes. Open Manage settings (the gear icon in your Messages header) to see 8 topic categories and set each one to AI Assistant or Host. Your choice applies to all your conversations, existing and new, so you only need to set it once. Use Set all to AI Assistant or Set all to Host as shortcuts to apply your preference across all topics at once.

Are there topics the AI Assistant never handles?
Yes — bookings, payments and disputes, complaints, safety and legal matters, and platform/account/pre-booking questions always go through Holidu directly, since these need Holidu's direct action or require consistent handling. You cannot change this, and you do not need to — it keeps sensitive matters managed appropriately.

What if the AI can't answer a question on a topic I've assigned to it?
If the AI Assistant encounters a question it cannot answer on an assigned topic, it automatically hands the conversation over to you. This ensures nothing gets stuck and you can provide a personal response when needed.

Can I change my AI settings by chatting with the AI Assistant?
Yes. Tell the AI what you want — for example, "stop the AI from answering property issues" or "turn off the AI everywhere" — and it will update your settings and confirm what changed. This conversational approach makes management quick and intuitive.

Notifications and Translation

How will I know about new messages, including ones the AI Assistant sends?
You get a notification for every new message in your conversations — the same way you would receive a WhatsApp message — including messages the AI Assistant sends on your behalf. This replaces the old batched "unread messages" alert, so you always know what has been said in your name and can step in at any time.

Does Guest Messaging automatically translate messages?
Yes. Simply compose your message in your preferred language and it will automatically appear to your guest in theirs where possible. This feature eliminates language barriers and lets you communicate naturally with international guests.

Collaboration and Support

Can multiple people use Guest Messaging?
Yes — hosts and invited collaborators can access and respond to the same Inbox. Access must be enabled separately for each collaborator and each property.

What if a message needs Customer Service support?
The Holidu Customer Happiness team can join conversations when needed. Click the support button at the bottom right corner of the Messages section to request assistance from our team.

Key Takeaways

• Guest Messaging unifies all your guest conversations from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Holidu, and direct bookings into a single Inbox
• The AI Assistant handles routine questions 24/7 on topics you choose, automatically handing over complex matters to you
• Scheduled messages automatically send important information like check-in details and access codes for every booking
• Automatic translation lets you communicate naturally with international guests
• Notifications keep you informed of every message, including those the AI Assistant sends on your behalf
• Hosts and authorized collaborators can share access to the same Inbox
• The Holidu Customer Happiness team is available to support conversations that need human assistance
• Certain sensitive matters — including payments, complaints, and legal issues — always go directly to you or Holidu for appropriate handling

For further questions or support, contact the Holidu Customer Happiness team through the support button in your Messages section.