Clear communication is vital between hoteliers and their guests. You can’t arrange a single stay without it, let alone build loyalty. Hoteliers must send timely, accurate property information, including offers and special promotions, that prioritizes the guest and reinforces their confidence to book. If you’re looking for ways to build repeat business, focus on improving your hotel guest communication strategy. WebRezPro makes it easy!
At a Glance
Invest in hotel software that enables you to streamline guest communication and nurture relationships.
- Automation Strategy: Automate routine emails to save time and ensure no guest falls through the cracks.
- Mobile Optimization: Utilize both mobile-friendly emails and SMS messaging to deliver essential information and upsell opportunities.
- Data Integrity: Use a cloud PMS like WebRezPro to centralize guest data, ensuring every message is accurate and personalized.
- Readability: Keep communication concise and skimmable so guests can easily find critical information.
What Emails Should Hoteliers Send to Guests?
Stay information such as reservation number, check-in procedure, parking, etc. is most critical to the guest. First, reassure them that their visit is in order, then offer add-ons to improve it.
These are the routine emails every hotel should send:
- Booking Confirmation: A booking confirmation should be sent immediately after the guest reserves and include stay details such as guest names, number of guests, confirmation number, dates, room and rate type, etc. Relevant upsells may be offered here to take advantage of the high open rate, but emphasis should remain on the logistics of the stay. And don’t forget to thank the guest for choosing you!
- Pre-Arrival: A pre-arrival email delivered a week or two before a leisure stay—or closer for corporate travelers—allows you to reiterate the logistics while expanding on upsell availability. Use this touchpoint to highlight property amenities, dining reservations, and packages.
- Check-in: Reach out the day before or morning of arrival to streamline check-in. Use this email to gather necessary information such as credit card authorization, vehicle details, and photo identification. If your property offers self check-in, provide instructions for collecting mobile keys and digital access codes.
- Thank you: Show your gratitude with a post check-out thank you email. This is a good opportunity to check that the stay went smoothly and resolve any concerns privately before sending a review request.
- Feedback/Review Request: Make it a habit to send a formal request for feedback three to seven days after the stay. A steady stream of recent, positive reviews is essential for your reputation. Because AI platforms pull from multiple online sources to surface your property, reviews directly impact visibility in generative search.
- Winback: A monthly or seasonal message keeps your hotel top of mind for the guest’s next trip. However, not all of these reminders should be promotional. If you’re too salesy, you’ll end up in their spam folder, so work in additional value-adds like local recommendations and top-ten lists. Follow the 80/20 rule (80% helpful content, 20% promotional).
Hotel Guest Communication Schedule
| Email Type | Ideal Timing | Primary Goal |
| Booking confirmation | Immediate | Confirm logistics |
| Pre-Arrival | 7–14 days before | Upsell amenities & review property info |
| Check-in | 24 hours before | Streamline arrival & ID verification |
| Thank you | Upon check-out | Gratitude & initial sentiment check |
| Review request | 3–7 days post-stay | Reputation management |
| Winback | Monthly/seasonal | Repeat bookings |
Automate Hotel Emails for Maximum Impact
A robust property management system like WebRezPro makes hotel email automation easy with email templates that send based on pre-set triggers, e.g., reservation date, check-in date, etc.
But sending regular communications is only half the battle. How do you make sure guests actually open and read your emails? By providing personalized content that’s easy to digest.
Best Practices
- Personalize Automatically: WebRezPro’s templates are automatically personalized for every guest based on reservation details like guest and company name.
- Segment for Relevance: You may also segment emails by room and rate type so that travelers receive only the most relevant communications and offers, such as kid-friendly activities for family suite bookings.
- Customize to Your Brand: Match template colors and content to your branding to build trust. If your email doesn’t align with your website and other marketing, guests may assume it’s a scam.
- Make It Skimmable: Most guests skim. WebRezPro’s default templates feature important information first and use bulleted lists to make necessary details easy to spot.
Beyond Email, Implement SMS Messaging for High-Touch Service
While email is an important staple of digital customer service, it is not the only channel that drives results. Use SMS messaging for responsive, high-touch communication during the stay (email is generally best before and after).
A messaging system integrated with your PMS not only facilitates timely upsell offers, it allows guests to reach out with questions and requests from anywhere on the property so that staff can resolve those requests faster and improve satisfaction.
Automate Your Guest Journey with WebRezPro
A great guest experience starts with great communication, automated through your property management system and guest engagement platforms.
Key Takeaways
- Communicate consistently to build lasting relationships and maximize lifetime value.
- Utilize your PMS to automate and tailor every touchpoint.
- Ensure all communications remain relevant, timely, and easy to digest.
Contact us to explore WebRezPro’s automated email features and SMS messaging integrations that empower you to send the right message to the right guest at the right moment.
