💡 Note: This article covers the new version of quick replies and scheduled messages available from the Inbox, which is currently in beta. If you don’t see the option to create them in the Inbox, please follow the classic instructions in this article instead.
The Messages Inbox allows you to centralize and manage all guest communication in one single place, helping you to build trust and relationships with your guests by replying quickly to their questions and concerns. In the following, we’ll guide you through the various features of the Messages Inbox.
Read about:
- Important Features
- Managing Scheduled messages and Quick replies
- Sending MessagesÂ
- Booking DetailsÂ
- Guest Details
Important FeaturesÂ
Accessing the messages inboxÂ
To access the Messages Inbox, go to your left-hand menu and click Inbox. The red notification to the right of Inbox will display the number of unread messages.
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How messages are displayedÂ
Messages in the inbox list are ordered similarly to how your email inbox would be displayed.Â
- Unread messages are shown at the top of your inbox list.
- Message threads are ordered by the most recent message.
💡 Note: It’s not possible to delete inbox messages.
In emails sent to guests, the sender name is always the rental name, and the sender's email address will always be from @messaging.lodgify.com. This cannot be changed.
Search for messagesÂ
With the search feature, you are able to find specific messages according to the following details:
- Guest name
- Booking source
- Booking ID
Use filter
You are also able to filter messages using the Quick filters feature. As soon as you select a filter, your messages list will display accordingly. To return to the normal messages list view, simply select all from the list of quick filters.
| Filter Type | Details |
|---|---|
| All | Displays all of your messages |
| Future Guests | Displays messages from guests with bookings starting tomorrow or after tomorrow |
| Past Guests | Displays messages from guests with bookings ending yesterday or before yesterday |
| Currently Hosting | Displays messages from guests currently staying in the rental, checking in, or checking out today |
| Potential Guests | Displays messages from guests with bookings/inquiries with status Open/Tentative |
| Channels | Display messages from guests who booked via your website, OTAs, or other channels |
| Booking status | Display messages from guests depending on the booking status |
Message details
For you to stay on top of everything related to your guest and their booking, we've ensured to include important details to your messages thread, such as:
- Messages exchanged between you and the guest
- Any scheduled messages that have been sent or are scheduled to be sent to the guest
- Information about changes related to bookings or guest details.
Managing Scheduled messages and Quick replies
You can create and manage your scheduled messages and quick replies, as well as the languages in which they are available, by clicking the gear icon:
Find more information about Scheduled messages and Quick replies.
Available Messages: New vs. Legacy
To simplify your messaging setup, we've consolidated several legacy scheduled messages into a smaller set of streamlined messages. Here's what that means for you.
What changed
Previously, certain booking events triggered multiple separate messages. These have now been merged so that each event triggers a single message, making your message library easier to manage.
How we preserved your content
When merging messages, we kept the content from the most relevant legacy message for each event. For example:
- Booking requested: If you previously had both a "Notify Guest when a reservation is set as tentative" and a "Notify Guest when the guest makes a booking request" message enabled, these are now a single "Booking requested" message. Your content from "Notify Guest when the guest makes a booking request" was carried over.
- Booking rejected: If you previously had both an "Notify Guest when the host rejects a reservation" and a "Notify Guest when a reservation is set as declined" message enabled, these are now a single "Booking rejected" message. Your content from "Notify Guest when a reservation is set as declined" was carried over.
What happens if you customized messages per channel
If you had different versions of a message for different channels (e.g., Airbnb, Booking.com, etc.), we could only keep one version during the merge. In that case, we applied the following priority order:
Airbnb → Booking.com → Lodgify → Vrbo → Expedia
The customization from the highest-priority channel in that list is the one that was preserved in your merged message.
| Name of the Message (NEW) | Description | Legacy Notifications merged | Legacy notification from which the content is pulled |
| Booking accepted | This scheduled message is sent when the booking is confirmed. | Notify Guest when the guest makes a reservation / Notify Guest when the host confirms a reservation / Notify Guest when a reservation is set as booked | Notify Guest when the host confirms a reservation |
|
Welcome message |
This scheduled message is sent on the day of the check-in. | N/A | N/A |
| Inquiry Received | This scheduled message is sent when the guest makes an inquiry. | N/A | N/A |
| Send quote | This scheduled message is sent when you send a quote to the guest. | N/A | N/A |
| Quote reminder | This scheduled message is sent when the quote is about to expire (this is configured within your policy). | N/A | N/A |
| Change request accepted | This scheduled message is sent when you accept a change to the booking requested by the guest. | N/A | N/A |
| Payment Received | This scheduled message is sent when the guest successfully completes a payment. | N/A | N/A |
| Payment failed | This scheduled message is sent when the guest payment fails to be processed. | N/A | N/A |
| Card pre-authorization | This scheduled message is sent when on the day the pre-authorization is issued on the guest credit card. | N/A | N/A |
| Booking request | This scheduled message is sent when the guest submits a booking request. | Notify Guest when a reservation is set as tentative / Notify Guest when the guest makes a booking request | Notify Guest when the guest makes a booking request |
| Quote expired | This scheduled message is sent when the booking quote expires. | Notify Guest when the host expires a quote / Notify Guest when the guest expires a quote | Notify Guest when the guest expires a quote |
| Booking rejected | This scheduled message is sent when a booking request is rejected. | Notify Guest when the host rejects a reservation / Notify Guest when a reservation is set as declined | Notify Guest when a reservation is set as declined |
| Booking canceled | This scheduled message is sent when you cancel a booking. | Notify Guest when the host cancels a reservation / Notify Guest when the host cancels and refunds according to the policy (guest cancels) | Notify Guest when the host cancels a reservation |
| Refund processed | This scheduled message is sent when you issue a refund to your guest. | N/A | N/A |
| Payment reminder | This scheduled message is sent when a subsequent payment is due based on the payment schedule configured in the policy. | Notify Guest when the host requests a payment / Notify Guest when the host requests a scheduled payment 3 days before due date | Notify Guest when the host requests a payment |
| Review request | This scheduled message is sent two days after check-out to request a review to your guest. | N/A | N/A |
| Notify the guest when the host sends an invoice | This scheduled message is sent when you issue and send an invoice to your guest. | N/A | N/A |
| Check-out reminder | This scheduled message is sent one day before check-out. | N/A | N/A |
| Damage charge | This scheduled message is sent when you charge part or the entire amount previously pre-authorized on the guest credit card. | N/A | N/A |
Sending Messages
You are able to directly communicate with guests by sending messages from your Lodgify Inbox, your Reservation section, your Calendar and from your mailbox.
From your Lodgify account
From your Logify account, open a new message and use the text editor at the bottom of the message thread. You can then compose your message in the text field, click Generate with AI, or select one of your Quick Replies from the drop-down menu. You can also attach pictures or files to your messages. Learn how to use AI to generate and improve your guest messages.
All messages sent this way and replies from your guest will be saved inside the booking.
💡 Note: If you receive an error message indicating that your message could not be sent, click on the button next to it to resend it.
If you need to resend a message that was successfully sent, you'll need to do so manually by copying the original message content and sending it again. If it's a message you often need to resend, consider saving it as a Quick Reply for easier access in the future.
From your mailbox
When you receive a booking or inquiry, a notification is also sent to you via email with all the details.
💡 Note: You will receive the notification to the email address you have configured in the rental contact information.
To send an email back to the guest, always reply directly to the notification email or ensure to have the booking's unique Email String CC'd in. Only then, the conversation will be saved inside the booking for proper detail tracking.
Booking Details
Whenever you open a message, it will be accompanied by any relevant booking details, which will be displayed to the right of the message content. To view or manage further booking details, click the ‘open reservation’ icon to the right of the booking ID.
Guest Details
In the Guest Details, you will find the contact information of your guest, so that you can easily reach out to them.
In order to use the Whatsapp function, you must either download Whatsapp to your device, or choose to use their web-version on your desktop device.