Your Flatmates tools
Setting up automated messages
Flatmates lets you schedule messages to send automatically at key points in a guest's journey, and setting this up properly, in the app itself, saves considerable time across every future booking without sacrificing the warmth of a genuinely personal welcome.
Find the automated messages section in your host settings
Automated messaging is configured from your host dashboard's messaging settings, where you can create, edit, and schedule messages tied to specific triggers rather than needing to type each one manually every single time.
Choose from the available trigger points for each message
Common triggers include booking confirmation, a set number of days before check-in, at check-in itself, and after checkout - select the trigger that matches when each specific message actually needs to reach a guest.
Use the built-in variables to personalise automatically
The platform supports variables like guest name and check-in date that populate automatically, so a single template still reads as personally addressed to each individual guest rather than obviously generic.
Write your first message, then duplicate and adjust for others
Rather than writing every automated message entirely from scratch, draft your strongest one first, then duplicate and adjust it for other trigger points, keeping a consistent tone across your entire automated sequence.
Preview exactly how a message will appear before activating it
Use the preview function to see precisely how your message renders with sample data filled in, catching any awkward phrasing or formatting issue before it's actually sent to a real, live guest.
Test with a real or sample booking before relying on it fully
Where possible, trigger a test send or review the first few real automated messages closely once activated, confirming everything fires correctly and at the intended time before trusting the system to run entirely unattended.
Adjust timing settings to match your own preferences
Most triggers let you fine-tune exact timing, a specific number of hours or days relative to the trigger event - take the time to set this precisely rather than accepting a generic default that might not suit your specific hosting rhythm.
Pause or edit automated messages when something changes
If a detail referenced in an automated message changes, a WiFi password, an amenity, update the message promptly through the same settings panel, since an outdated automated message causes more confusion than manually sending nothing at all.
Combine automation with manual messages for anything unusual
Automated messages handle the routine, predictable communication well, but keep manually messaging guests directly for anything specific to their individual booking that a generic template genuinely can't address.
Review your automated message performance periodically
Check occasionally whether guests are still asking questions your automated messages are meant to already answer, which signals a specific message may need revising to actually cover the gap more effectively.
This feature saves the most time once your booking volume grows
The time saved by proper automated messaging becomes increasingly valuable as your booking volume increases, particularly if you're managing more than one listing, where manually messaging every guest individually becomes considerably harder to sustain.
Check how automated messages appear from the guest's actual perspective
Where possible, view a sent automated message from a guest's side of the conversation, or ask a trusted friend to check for you, since how a message appears and reads on the receiving end can differ subtly from how it looks in your own composition and preview screens.
Set a calendar reminder to review your automated messages seasonally
Rather than setting these up once and forgetting about them entirely, put a recurring reminder in your own calendar to review the full set every few months, checking that every detail referenced is still accurate and every trigger is still firing at genuinely the right moment.
Understand any character or formatting limits before finalising a message
Some messaging systems impose length or formatting restrictions, so check how your drafted message actually renders once saved, since a message that looked fine while drafting can occasionally get awkwardly cut off or reformatted once actually triggered and sent to a real guest.
Keep a backup copy of your message library outside the platform too
Save a copy of your finalised automated messages in a separate document as well, so you have a ready reference to quickly restore or adapt them if you ever need to reconfigure your account or simply want to review your full library outside the app interface itself.
Start with just the two or three highest-value triggers first
Rather than trying to configure every possible automated message on your very first attempt, start with the two or three that clearly matter most, a welcome message and a checkout thank-you, for instance, then expand your automation gradually as you get comfortable with the feature.
Consider a slightly different tone for pre-arrival versus post-stay messages
A pre-arrival message benefits from a practical, informative tone since the guest needs actionable detail, while a post-stay message can lean warmer and more purely appreciative, since its main job is closing the relationship well rather than conveying logistics.
Automated messages should feel like a natural extension of your voice
Read your full sequence of automated messages together, from booking confirmation through to post-checkout, and check that they read as a coherent, consistent conversation in your own voice rather than a set of disconnected, differently-toned messages stitched together.
Ask a recent guest for honest feedback on how the automated messages landed
A brief, casual question to a guest who's just completed a stay, whether the pre-arrival and check-in messages felt clear and genuinely helpful, gives you real feedback on how your automation is actually performing from the one perspective that matters most.
Set a specific goal for what automation should achieve before configuring it
Before building out your sequence, decide clearly whether your main goal is reducing your own workload, improving guest experience, or both, since this clarity shapes which messages are actually worth automating first and how much personalisation each one genuinely needs.
Automation is a feature worth mastering early, not something to defer indefinitely
Even with only a handful of bookings so far, setting up basic automated messaging early builds the habit and infrastructure well before your volume grows to a point where manually messaging every single guest individually becomes genuinely unsustainable.
A short trial run against your first few real bookings builds real confidence
Watch closely how your automated sequence performs across your first handful of real bookings after activating it, since seeing it work correctly and land well with actual guests builds the genuine confidence to trust the system fully going forward.
Keep refining this system as a normal, ongoing part of hosting
Treat your automated message setup as something that continues evolving alongside your hosting itself, rather than a task completed once and never revisited, since your own style and your listing's specific details both naturally shift over time.
A well-tuned automated sequence is one of the quieter marks of a professional host
Guests rarely comment directly on receiving a well-timed, well-written automated message, but the smooth, professional impression it consistently creates contributes meaningfully to the overall sense of a genuinely well-run, dependable listing.
Give the whole system a final read-through before considering it truly done
Once every message is configured, read through the full sequence one more time from the perspective of a first-time guest, checking that it genuinely flows well and covers everything a guest would actually need at each specific stage of their stay.
