Which Solutions Offer Customizable Templates for Guest Communication: Top Platforms Compared

Many hosts report spending 2 to 3 hours a day just on guest messaging, a number that only increases on busy turnover days. From answering pre-booking questions and confirming arrival dates, to sending check in instructions and check out reminders, the time investment adds up quickly.

And it’s not just the volume, it’s the timing. Some Airbnb hosts say that 75% of guest messages come in outside of regular business hours, forcing them to stay glued to their phone well into the evening. Over time, this constant availability leads to burnout and creates room for mistakes.

Guest communication is one of the most time-consuming and stressful parts of running a short-term rental business. That’s why more hosts are turning to automated messages and customizable message templates to streamline their communication. These tools help ensure every guest receives the right information at the right time without requiring round-the-clock effort.

Modern guest messaging software offers more than just basic scheduling. With features like trigger-based automation, editable templates and even AI-generated responses, hosts can stay responsive while reclaiming their time and delivering a smoother guest experience along the way.

In this article, we’ll explore which solutions offer customizable templates for guest communication, walk through the features to look for and highlight real-world results from hosts who’ve already made the switch. Whether you manage one property or an entire portfolio, the right system can help you communicate better, save time and deliver a consistently high-quality experience, all in just a few clicks.

Why Customizable Messaging Templates Are Essential for Guest Communication

As guest expectations rise, so does the need for clear, timely and consistent guest communication from the moment a booking is confirmed to the final review request after check out.

But managing this manually, especially across multiple properties or platforms, isn’t scalable. And when you're doing everything by hand, even the most well-meaning hosts risk falling behind on replies.

In fact, slow response times can directly affect your bottom line. A study found that the average response time to rental inquiries was a lengthy 8.73 hours, with nearly a third of inquiries receiving no response at all. More recent benchmarks show that guests expect faster replies than ever, with live chat averages at 17 minutes and Instagram replies averaging 193 minutes. That’s a far cry from the under-one-minute response time many guests now expect.

This is where customizable messaging templates can make a huge impact. They let you pre-write important messages, personalize them with booking data and automate delivery based on key stages of the guest journey, whether it’s before arrival, during the stay or after departure.

By automating routine communication like check-in instructions, welcome messages or review requests, hosts can meet guest expectations without being constantly online, improving both guest satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Key Benefits of Using Message Templates:

• Save time: No more rewriting the same check-in instructions or answering repeated questions. Templates help reduce manual effort dramatically.

• Stay consistent: Ensure all your guests receive the same important details, from access codes to checkout reminders.

• Improve guest satisfaction: When guests receive timely, helpful messages, they feel more supported throughout their stay.

• Reduce mistakes: Templates minimize the risk of forgetting to send key messages, especially on busy days.

• Add a personal touch: Dynamic fields let you customize templates with the guest’s name, arrival dates, property name and more.

Essential Guest Messages Every Host Should Automate

Real-World Results: How Hosts Are Using Hostaway to Automate Messages

Customizable messaging templates are only as valuable as the results they deliver, and Hostaway’s clients are seeing real, measurable improvements in both operations and guest satisfaction.

Level Up: 90% of guest messaging automated

Vacation rental management company turned to Hostaway to streamline its growing guest communication needs. By leveraging customizable templates and event-triggered automations, they successfully automated 90% of their guest messages, covering everything from pre-check-in instructions and mid-stay updates to post-stay review requests.

This automation gave their team back valuable hours each week, while also creating a more consistent and responsive guest experience. As a result, Level Up reported better reviews and an increase in bookings, all while reducing the operational burden on their staff.

Brightworks Property: 50% fewer calls and 20 hours saved weekly

For Brightworks Property, integrating Hostaway’s messaging system (alongside Breezeway) had a powerful impact on efficiency. By automating key guest communication tasks, they reduced time spent on calls, texts and updates by over 50%.

Even more impressively, they saved 20 hours per week on scheduling cleans and inspections time that could be reinvested into delivering a better overall guest journey. Automating communication helped their team stay proactive, responsive and less reactive to incoming questions or last-minute requests.

https://youtu.be/gf4oyBHqans?si=Ds5q4O3JD3hOvuYV

Lifty Life: 600% growth fueled by automation and centralized messaging

Since switching to Hostaway in 2020, Lifty Life, a Canadian vacation rental management company, has grown by an incredible 600%, scaling from a handful of listings to 40 properties across British Columbia and Alberta.

One of the major drivers of that growth? Streamlining operations through automation. More than half of their guest communication is now automated, powered by Hostaway’s customizable templates and unified inbox, which centralizes messages from Airbnb, Vrbo, Google Vacation Rentals and their direct booking site.

As CEO Connor Griffiths puts it:

“Hostaway is our all-in-one. It’s the brain, the body — it’s the most important system within our company. I would even rank it as more important than Airbnb.”

By reducing the number of tools in their tech stack and eliminating the need to train staff on multiple systems, Lifty Life has saved time, scaled efficiently and maintained a high-quality guest experience even as their team grew to 13 full-time employees.

These case studies show that automated messaging isn’t just a convenience, it’s a scalable solution that empowers hosts to grow, serve more guests and operate with fewer headaches. With tools like customizable templates, event-based triggers and AI-powered replies, Hostaway helps property managers stay focused on what matters most: delivering exceptional guest experiences.

Data Snapshot: The Impact of Automating Guest Messaging

If you’re wondering whether automating your guest messaging is worth it, the numbers speak for themselves. Across thousands of users, Hostaway data shows just how much time and effort hosts are saving with automated messages and customizable templates.

When it comes to automated messaging, most hosts aren’t just experimenting, they’re all in. Here’s how they’re using customizable templates to save time and enhance the guest experience:

• 92% of hosts automate review requests, helping boost ratings with consistent follow-up.

• 78% send an automated “thank you for booking” message, a great way to start the guest journey off right.

• 59% automate check-in instructions, ensuring guests receive arrival details and access codes on time.

• 44% use automation to collect guest contact details, useful for follow-ups and future offers.

• In total, hosts automate an average of 70% of guest messages, saving over 60 hours per month.

These numbers make it clear: automation isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s become a best practice for property managers who want to scale without sacrificing guest satisfaction.

AI & the Future of Guest Messaging

The future of guest communication is already here and it’s powered by AI.

In the past, hosts had two options: spend hours replying to guest questions manually or rely on rigid templates that lacked personality. Now, AI offers a smarter, more scalable third option, one that combines the efficiency of automation with the personal touch of human-like messaging.

Hostaway’s AI Auto Reply: Instant, personalized responses

In 2025, Hostaway launched its AI Auto Reply tool, a feature designed to help hosts respond instantly to guest questions using real-time reservation and property data. Whether it’s a request for the Wi-Fi password, check-out time or local recommendations, the AI system pulls relevant details directly from your Hostaway dashboard to generate accurate, context-aware replies.

This helps hosts:

• Reduce late-night phone calls and repetitive messages

• Maintain fast response times even outside business hours

• Improve service quality and guest satisfaction without extra effort

AI Adoption Is Surging and It’s Driving Real Results

According to Hostaway’s 2024 AI Report, 70% of short-term rental managers have already integrated AI tools into their daily operations. Of those, 35% reported saving the equivalent of four extra workdays per year, a significant boost in efficiency for time-strapped hosts. Meanwhile, 30% use AI specifically to enhance the guest experience, showing that these tools are not just about saving time, but also about delivering better service.

The momentum is accelerating fast. In 2025, adoption of Hostaway’s AI features surged by 170% year over year and the impact is even more pronounced for larger operators. Among property managers handling more than 26 listings, 47% reported major time savings from AI-powered messaging and automation.

Looking ahead

AI isn’t here to replace hosts, it’s here to empower them. By combining automated message templates with AI-generated responses, today’s tools allow you to deliver fast, friendly and accurate information at scale, all while maintaining a sense of personalized service.

As guest expectations continue to evolve, platforms that embrace AI in guest messaging will be better positioned to deliver exceptional guest experiences consistently, effortlessly and at any scale.

Top Platforms Compared: Which Messaging Tools Offer the Most Customization?

There are dozens of tools on the market promising to improve guest communication, but not all platforms are created equal, especially when it comes to automated message templates, customization options and ease of use.

Whether you're managing a few vacation rentals or a large-scale operation, choosing the right platform can make the difference between staying ahead of your message or drowning in them.

Below, we compare some of the top platforms that offer customizable guest messaging tools including automation, template flexibility and multi-channel communication support.

1. Hostaway

Best for: Hosts who want a full-featured, scalable, all-in-one solution

Hostaway offers one of the most comprehensive and powerful messaging systems in the short-term rental industry. Hosts can create fully customizable templates tied to any event in the booking lifecycle from booking confirmation to check out instructions and review requests.

Key features include:

• Ability to have 70% of messages automated, saving users up to 60+ hours/month

• Dynamic fields for personalization (guest name, property, arrival dates)

• Multi-channel support via a unified inbox (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, etc.)

• The new AI Auto Reply tool, which uses real-time reservation data to answer guest questions instantly

“Hostaway is our all-in-one. It’s the brain, the body — it’s the most important system within our company.”  Connor Griffiths, CEO, Lifty Life

For hosts and property managers looking to scale without sacrificing service, Hostaway delivers unmatched automation with the flexibility and depth to match.

2. Hospitable

Best for: Hosts seeking quick AI replies and lightweight automation

Hospitable (formerly Smartbnb) is well-known for its automation capabilities and AI-powered replies. It’s especially useful for solo hosts who want to automate messages like check in details or mid-stay check-ins. However, it lacks the multi-channel unified inbox and deeper operational tools that larger portfolios often need.

3. Tokeet

Best for: Budget-conscious hosts seeking template automation

Tokeet offers a decent range of automated message templates, including pre-stay and post-stay messages. It integrates with major OTAs and includes workflow-based automations, but its interface can feel a bit dated compared to newer platforms. Good for solo hosts or small portfolios on a tight budget.

4. OwnerRez

Best for: Hosts with complex rules and niche workflows

OwnerRez is known for its rule-based automation engine, offering full control over message scheduling and logic. It’s highly configurable but comes with a steep learning curve and a less intuitive UI. Ideal for technically minded hosts with specific operational needs.

Feature comparison: Messaging tools at a glance

If you're looking for a platform that combines advanced automation, full customization and support for multi-channel operations, Hostaway stands out as the most complete solution on the market today.

Automate Smarter, Host Better

Great communication isn’t just about speed, it’s about consistency, clarity and making guests feel cared for at every step of their stay.

Whether you’re sending a booking confirmation, check-in instructions or a heartfelt review request, using automated message templates helps you stay on top of guest needs without being tied to your phone 24/7.

As we’ve seen through real-world examples and data, the right platform can save you hours each week, reduce guest questions and improve overall guest satisfaction, all while helping you scale more confidently.

So if you're ready to stop copying and pasting messages and start delivering exceptional guest experiences with less effort, investing in smart messaging automation is the next best step.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What’s the difference between guest messaging software and a property management system (PMS)?

A property management system (PMS) is a broader platform that helps you manage reservations, calendars, pricing and operations across multiple properties. In contrast, guest messaging software is focused specifically on automating and organizing communication with guests. Some PMSs (like Hostaway) offer robust messaging features built-in, while others may require third-party integrations to handle guest communication effectively.

2. Can automated messages still feel personal to guests?

Yes, if the platform supports dynamic fields and smart timing. The best tools allow you to insert personal details like the guest’s name, arrival dates or property-specific instructions directly into your templates. Combine that with a friendly tone and thoughtful scheduling and most guests will never know the message was automated.

3. Is it safe to include access codes or sensitive info in automated messages?

Yes, but only if the platform supports secure message delivery and conditional logic. Many advanced platforms allow you to send sensitive details, like keyless entry codes or Wi-Fi passwords, only after the booking is confirmed or shortly before check-in. Look for systems with role-based access and secure transmission protocols for peace of mind.

4. How do I know if automation is affecting guest satisfaction positively or negatively?

Monitor your guest reviews, especially those that mention communication or responsiveness. If you notice fewer questions during stays and more comments about “smooth check-in” or “clear instructions,” that’s a strong sign your automated messaging is working. Some platforms also offer analytics or feedback tracking so you can directly measure the impact of your communication strategy.

5. How often should I review or update my automated templates?

At a minimum, review them once per season or any time your property changes (e.g., new amenities, different check-in processes). Outdated instructions or tone-deaf messages can hurt the guest experience, even if the automation works perfectly. Regular updates ensure your messaging reflects your current branding, property details and service expectations.