Pre-arrival message for your B&B: what to send guests before they arrive (with template)

Short answer: send your guests one message two to three days before arrival with everything they need to get in without calling you: the check-in time, the exact address and where to park, how to get in if you're not there, the wifi, and a way to tell you when they'll arrive. Send it automatically, in the guest's language, by email and where possible via WhatsApp or the booking channel's chat. Below: why that moment, what belongs in it, a template and how to set it up.

Anyone running a B&B or guest rooms knows the questions that come back every week. "What time can we check in?" "Where can we leave the car?" "We won't arrive until ten, is that a problem?" Each question is small, but together they eat your day, usually right when you're serving breakfast or making up a room. The pre-arrival message is the one message that answers most of those questions before anyone asks them.

When do you send the pre-arrival message?

Two to three days before arrival is the best moment for most B&Bs:

• Early enough to still react: the guest can report a late arrival, ask for an extra bed or arrange an early breakfast, and you have time to plan for it.
• Late enough that the message sits at the top of the inbox when the guest prepares the trip. An email from three weeks earlier is forgotten.

You can add a short welcome message on the morning of arrival, with just the check-in time and a link to the information. That isn't repetition: it's the moment the guest is actually on the road.

Someone books for tomorrow or today? Then "two days before arrival" is already in the past. Make sure your booking confirmation already contains the key arrival information, so nothing is missing.

What goes into the pre-arrival message?

Stick to what the guest needs to arrive and get through the first evening. Everything else belongs on a separate guest page or in a digital house manual.

1. Check-in time and what happens if they're later. "Check-in is from 4pm. Arriving after 9pm? Just let us know." That way you hear about late arrivals in time.
2. The exact address and a map link. Not just the street: mention a house number that's actually visible on the façade, the entrance if it's on another side, and a link to Google Maps or another map.
3. Parking. Where it's allowed, whether it's free, whether there's a charger. In practice this is the most-asked question.
4. How they get in. If you're there yourself, say so. If you use a key safe or a smart lock, explain where it is and when the code arrives. Preferably put the code itself only in the arrival-day message or on a personal guest page.
5. Wifi. Network name and password, or where to find them.
6. Breakfast. Between which hours, and whether they need to tell you anything (allergies, early departure).
7. A contact number and a question. "What time do you expect to arrive?" A concrete question gets far more answers than "let us know if you have any questions".
8. Anything still open. Is there a balance to pay, or does the guest still need to fill in details for the guest register? Put it here, with one button.

What does not need to be in it: your full house rules, the history of the building, or five restaurant tips. That makes the message long and pushes the practical information down. Link to your guest page for those.

A template you can copy

Subject: Your stay from Friday 14 November: practical information

Hi Sarah,

In two days you're welcome here. Everything you need to arrive:

Check-in is from 4pm. Arriving after 9pm? Please let us know. Address: 12 Example Street (the green gate next to the bakery), map link: [link]. Parking is free on the small square opposite the house. Getting in: we're here until 9pm. If you arrive later, you'll get the key safe code on the day of arrival. Wifi: network "Guest rooms", the password is in your room. Breakfast between 8 and 10am. Allergies or an early departure? Let us know.

Roughly what time do you expect to arrive? A short reply to this email is enough.

See you on Friday!

Adapt the text to your own house, but keep the order: time first, then address, then access. That's the order in which a guest looks.

Sending it automatically, including to Booking.com and Airbnb guests

Sending a pre-arrival message by hand works as long as you have three rooms and find time every morning. The first time you forget, you get exactly that phone call at half past ten at night. That's why it's better to let it go out automatically. In automating guest communication you'll find the whole guest journey; for the pre-arrival message, watch three things:

• The guest's language. A German guest who receives a Dutch email will call anyway. Work with one template per language.
• Variables instead of fixed text. You don't type the guest's name, arrival date and room yourself; they come from the booking.
• Guests from booking sites. Guests from Booking.com, Airbnb or Expedia receive your email via a masked address from the platform, and often don't read it. So also post the message in the channel's chat, which they do read in their app.

In BedFlow PMS the pre-arrival message is switched on by default for every new property: the Pre-arrival info email goes out two days before arrival, for all bookings. You'll find it on the timeline under Management → Messages → Automated messages, where you also choose the number of days and decide per channel which bookings a message applies to. You edit the text per language in Message templates (Dutch, English, French, German, Portuguese and Italian), with variables for the booking details. When you email a guest from Booking.com, Airbnb or Expedia, BedFlow PMS also posts that same email in that channel's chat. If you use WhatsApp, a WhatsApp message with the check-in times and the link to the guest page also goes out two days before arrival, plus an optional welcome message on the day of arrival. The step-by-step explanation is in the manual on automated messages.

Common mistakes

• Too much at once. A pre-arrival email with twelve paragraphs doesn't get read. Five short blocks are enough.
• The door code too early. A code that sits in an inbox three days ahead is a risk if you don't change it per stay.
• Not asking anything. Without a concrete question ("what time will you arrive?") you still don't know whether you need to wait up tonight.
• The same message for every channel without checking. If "pay your balance here" appears in an email to a guest who already paid through Booking.com, you get more questions instead of fewer. Only send payment information to the bookings it belongs to.

Finally

The pre-arrival message costs you an hour once to write well, and then saves you dozens of short conversations every week. Start with the template above, adapt it to your house and let it go out automatically.

Want to see how that works in practice? Have a look at the plans or try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days, no card details needed.