Most hotels don’t struggle with guest messaging because they lack channels. They struggle because messaging becomes another place requests can land—alongside calls, emails, OTA inboxes, and walk-ups at the desk.
A good guest messaging program does the opposite: it reduces operational noise while making guests feel taken care of quickly and consistently. And as messaging platforms become more central to how travelers communicate, hotels are increasingly expected to meet guests where they already are—especially on channels like WhatsApp. Phocuswire
Guest messaging in one minute
Hotel guest messaging is the way your team communicates with guests across the journey (pre-arrival → in-stay → post-stay) via channels like SMS, WhatsApp, email, OTA chat, web chat, and in-app messaging.
A strong program typically delivers:
- Faster responses during the highest-stress moments (arrival, issues, checkout)
- Cleaner shift handoffs (no “can you repeat that?”)
- Fewer repetitive questions (pre-arrival info handled proactively)
Better service recovery (issues solved before they become bad reviews)
Why guest messaging matters now
Messaging has moved from “convenience” to “expectation,” largely because it’s now how travelers handle everyday tasks. Travel brands increasingly use WhatsApp for booking confirmations, travel updates, customer support, marketing, upsell opportunities, and transactional flows—which mirrors what guests are coming to expect from hotels too [Phocuswire].
There’s also a practical service reason: recovery timing matters. Research on service recovery in hotels and hospitality shows that when you recover (and how quickly) can influence satisfaction outcomes [ScienceDirect].
So the goal isn’t “message more.” It’s to design messaging so it’s faster, clearer, and easier for staff to execute.
The hotelier’s messaging framework
The simplest way to build a messaging strategy is to align it to the guest journey. You don’t need 50 automations—you need a handful of high-leverage moments that reduce pressure on your team.
1) Pre-arrival: prevent the questions that pile up later
Pre-arrival is where messaging creates the biggest operational payoff, because it eliminates predictable back-and-forth before it hits the front desk during peak times.
What to cover in your pre-arrival message:
- Check-in/check-out times (and what early check-in depends on)
- Directions + parking basics
- A single “next step” link (often online check-in)
- A clear invitation to reply with questions
Template (arrival essentials):
2) Arrival & check-in: clarity beats cleverness
When guests arrive, they don’t want “brand voice.” They want certainty. A short message that answers the essentials reduces calls and gives guests confidence that help is one message away.
Arrival essentials to include (keep it short):
- Wi-Fi credentials
- Breakfast hours/location
- One way to contact the team (don’t list five numbers)
Template (arrival essentials):
3) In-stay: speed is great, but ownership is what makes it work
In-stay messaging succeeds or fails based on operations. If messages bounce around without a clear owner, guests feel ignored—even if the hotel is trying hard.
This is where you treat messaging like a workflow, not a chat.
Operational rules worth defining upfront:
- Who owns which requests (housekeeping vs. maintenance vs. front desk)
- Escalation rules (when a call beats a message)
- Shift handover expectations (how notes and status are carried forward)
A simple proactive check-in message can also be a quiet game-changer because it catches issues early—when you still have time to fix them.
Template (proactive in-stay check-in):
And again, speed matters: service recovery time has been studied as a meaningful factor in satisfaction outcome [ScienceDirect]
4) Post-stay: protect reviews, capture learnings, drive return stays
Post-stay messaging shouldn’t be just “please leave a review.” It’s also an opportunity to collect feedback privately and learn what patterns show up most often.
What a good post-stay message does:
- Invites happy guests to review
- Gives unhappy guests an easy way to respond directly
- Creates a feedback loop for ops improvements
Template (feedback + review):
SMS vs WhatsApp vs email: the practical view
Hotels often ask “Which channel should we choose?” In reality, many properties support multiple—because guests choose what’s convenient.
Here’s the straightforward guidance:
- SMS: great for short, time-sensitive updates (but can be costly/limited for international guests)
- WhatsApp: a default for many international travelers, and increasingly central for travel brands; WhatsApp has surpassed 3 billion monthly users, which explains why guests expect it to be supported[TechCrunch]
- Email: best for long-form details (confirmations, receipts, policy explanations)
OTA messaging: essential for OTA-origin bookings—but ideally not handled in isolation from the rest of the guest conversation
Automation without losing the “human” feel
Automation isn’t un-hospitality. Bad automation is.
A good principle is: automate predictable moments; keep humans for high-emotion or high-context moments.
Safe to automate:
- Pre-arrival info + online check-in link
- Day-of-arrival essentials
- One proactive in-stay check-in message
- Post-stay feedback / review prompt
Keep human-led:
- Service recovery and complaints
- Complicated requests
- Anything involving empathy, discretion, or exceptions
Hilton’s public positioning around AI reflects this direction: less hype, more practical integration into real-time feedback, messaging, operations, and recognition to improve guest experience[Skift].
The KPIs that make guest messaging an operational lever
If you don’t measure it, messaging becomes “another thing we do.” Start with a small dashboard:
- First response time
- Time to resolution
- Top request categories (housekeeping, maintenance, late checkout, etc.)
- Volume by channel
Guest experience impact (CSAT/reviews themes)
It’s time to upgrade your guest communication approach
If you’re building guest messaging as a system (not another inbox), the strongest approach is to connect messaging to the moments guests already engage with:
- Pre-arrival workflows (so questions are reduced, not shifted)
- Arrival/check-in experience (so the desk isn’t the bottleneck)
- In-stay service requests (so routing and ownership are clear)
- Post-stay follow-up (so feedback becomes actionable)
If you’re rethinking guest communication, Duve’s Communication Hub is designed to centralize conversations and keep teams aligned across the guest journey, ensuring responses stay fast, consistent, and genuinely helpful.
About the author
The Duve team comprises hospitality experts specializing in guest experience personalization, operational optimization, and innovative hotel technologies. With deep industry knowledge, they help hospitality providers elevate service, enhance satisfaction, and drive growth.