There's a number on Airbnb called response rate and another called response time. Both affect where you show up in search. A host who replies within an hour ranks above one who replies in six, same property, same price.
Everyone who manages properties knows that. What everyone also knows is that replying within an hour, every day, all year, means living with your phone in your hand.
There's a way to have both.
The eight questions
I've been saving the messages I get for two years. Around 90% are variations of these eight:
- What time is check-in? — "Check-in is from 3pm. If you arrive earlier you can leave bags at [place] and I'll message you as soon as it's ready."
- Is there parking? — "Yes, there's a private space right at the entrance. I'll send the exact spot the day before you arrive."
- What's the WiFi password? — "Network: [name]. Password: [password]. It's also on the fridge just in case."
- Can I check in early? — "Depends on the previous checkout. I'll confirm the day before — if the apartment's ready, no problem."
- Can I check out late? — "If there's no arrival that day, yes. I'll confirm the night before."
- Do you accept pets? — "Yes, small dogs. We just ask they stay off the sofas and beds."
- How do I get there from the airport? — "By car it's 25 minutes. I'll send the Google Maps route. A taxi is around €30."
- Is it noisy? — "It's a quiet residential area. There's a bar two streets over that closes at midnight on weekends."
If you have the answers written in advance, replying to any of these is copy and paste. That's level one.
Level 1: saved replies
Airbnb and Booking both let you save quick replies. Write the eight once, with each property's details, and they're one tap away.
It's free, cuts time per message from three minutes to thirty seconds, and already puts you ahead of most hosts.
The limit: you still have to see the message, open the app, pick the reply, adjust the name. You're still on your phone, just for less time.
Level 2: scheduled messages
The platforms let you schedule messages that send themselves at specific points in the booking:
- On confirmation: thanks for booking, here's the basics, I'll write before arrival.
- Three days before: check-in at 3pm, address, parking, how to get in.
- Arrival day: apartment's ready, door code, WiFi.
- Mid-stay: all good? anything you need, I'm here.
- Day before checkout: checkout at 11am, leave keys at [place], thank you.
This eliminates half the questions before they're asked. Nobody asks for the WiFi if they already have it in an arrival-day message.
The limit: scheduled messages don't answer questions. If a guest writes "can I arrive at 1pm?", the scheduled message doesn't help. There's still 40-50% of messages that need a human reply.
Level 3: AI drafts, you approve
This is where it changes.
A system that reads the guest's message, checks your property details — times, WiFi, parking, rules, the specific booking — and drafts the reply. The reply arrives already written. You read it, tap "approve", it sends. If you're not happy with it, you edit.
The guest asks "can I arrive at 1pm on Saturday?". The system sees there's no checkout that day, sees your policy allows early check-in when there's no prior departure, and drafts: "Hi Marco, there's no checkout before you on Saturday, so yes, 1pm is fine. I'll confirm Friday just in case."
You read it at a traffic light. Tap approve. Ten seconds.
This is what we built in Oomsi because it was the one thing missing to stop looking at the phone. With all three levels combined — saved replies for the basics, scheduled for the predictable, AI for the rest — average response time drops to minutes and the time you personally spend drops to almost nothing.
About tone
A warning. The more you automate, the easier it is to sound like a robot. And guests notice.
Bad: "Dear guest, we confirm that check-in time is 15:00 hours. We remain at your disposal."
Good: "Hi Marco, yes, from 3pm. If you're early just let me know and we'll see."
Read your scheduled messages out loud. If you wouldn't say it that way to someone in person, rewrite it. And if you're using AI, give it examples of how you talk, not how a hotel talks.
Summary
Eight questions cover almost everything. Write them once. Schedule the predictable. And for the rest, let something draft and you approve. Replying fast doesn't have to mean being available always.