Guest communication in a small hotel: who answers what, and when?

Short answer: you organise guest communication in a small hotel in three layers. The fixed messages (confirmation, payment, practical information before arrival) go out automatically. All guest questions come together in one inbox, whatever the channel, with the booking next to them. And you agree who follows that inbox at which moment. The difference from a B&B lies mainly in that last layer: there are several people, so there are two new risks. Two colleagues answer the same message, or both think the other one will.

If you run a B&B on your own, automating guest communication is the best place to start: it covers which messages to send and when. This article is about what changes once a team is working the front desk.

What is different in a hotel

In a B&B, communication lives in one person's head. They know the guest in room 3 is arriving late and that last week's family asked for a cot. In a small hotel, shifts change. The evening colleague does not know what was promised on the phone that morning.

On top of that, messages arrive by many routes: the Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia chat, the general email address, WhatsApp, the phone and the guest asking something at the desk. As long as every channel has its own screen, someone is always looking in the wrong place.

So the point is not sending more messages, but having one place where everybody sees the same thing.

Layer 1: what goes out automatically

Anything that is the same for every guest and belongs at a fixed moment needs no typing:

• the booking confirmation, with payment instructions for a direct booking
• the payment reminder and the payment confirmation
• the practical information a few days before arrival: check-in time, parking, how to get in
• the cancellation confirmation
• the review request after departure

Watch out with platform bookings: guests often pay through the channel there, so a payment reminder from you only confuses them. Set per message which bookings it applies to. What belongs in the message before arrival is covered in the pre-arrival message.

A hotel has an extra advantage here: this removes plenty of questions before they reach the desk. Every wifi code in an automatic message is one phone call less during the check-in rush.

Layer 2: one inbox, with the booking alongside

For everything that cannot be automated, you want a single list of conversations. Three things make that list usable for a team:

1. A clear status. What is waiting for a reply, and what is not? Nobody needs to follow up a "thanks, see you tomorrow", but otherwise it stays in the list.
2. The booking next to the conversation. Whoever replies should see the arrival date, the room and the earlier messages without searching. That includes the colleague who has never spoken to this guest.
3. Standard replies per question. Not to sound cold, but so that everyone says the same about parking, breakfast times or late check-out.

Language matters too. In a hotel, not every colleague speaks every guest's language. A translation under the incoming message and templates in the guest's language mean the evening shift can answer a Portuguese question as well.

Layer 3: agreements on who answers

This part is not software. But without these agreements, the best inbox will not help:

• One person responsible per shift. Whoever is at the desk follows the inbox. If that is unclear at handover, nobody does it.
• A handover that is in the system. Promises belong on the booking or in the conversation, not on a note. The next colleague must be able to read "late check-out agreed until 12:00".
• An agreed response time. Decide what "fast" means, per moment. A guest arriving today comes before a question about next month.
• What can the desk decide alone? Agree how far a colleague may go with a complaint, a discount or a free cancellation, and when it goes to the owner. That prevents both waiting time and conflicting answers.
• A plan for the night. If the desk is unstaffed, say in your automatic messages what a guest should do if there is a problem.

What stays human work

Automate too much and your hotel feels like a call centre. Write these messages yourself:

• a reply to a complaint or a bad review
• a question about something personal: a birthday, a diet, someone with limited mobility
• a change that costs or brings in money
• a group request or a corporate client

A template can be a start there, but read what the guest actually asked.

How this works in BedFlow PMS

In BedFlow PMS, the automatic messages show on one timeline which emails and WhatsApp messages go out, and for which bookings. The Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia chat and your WhatsApp conversations come together in the guest messages: what is waiting for a reply is at the top, the booking is on the right, and suggestions and your templates sit above the text box. Messages in another language get a translation underneath. The chat with the platforms is a paid add-on; the WhatsApp inbox is included in your subscription.

Each colleague gets their own login with their own rights: the desk can get the bookings and guest communication, for example, but not the settings or the invoices.

Curious whether it suits your hotel? See the pricing, or try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days at bedflow.eu.