Start with this short pre-arrival message
Fill in the confirmed details for this guest. Check the map, entrance, and contact hours before sending.
Hi [name], we're looking forward to welcoming you to [property] on [arrival date]. Your [room type] is booked until [departure date], under reference [booking reference].
Check-in starts at [time and timezone], and reception is open [hours]. What time do you expect to arrive? If you will arrive outside those hours, please contact us so we can confirm how to welcome you.
Use [verified map link] and look for [entrance detail]. [Parking instruction, if needed.]
For help on arrival, contact [staffed contact and hours]. See you soon, [team].
Add only the lines this stay needs:
- Stay link: “Your room, dates, and arrival information are at [personal booking link]. Please keep the link private.”
- Payment: “We have received [confirmed amount]. Your remaining [amount] is due [time and agreed method].” Use this only after checking the actual payment and booked terms.
- Requests: “Would you like to ask about [transport, early check-in, or another offered service]? Reply here or use [request link]. We will confirm what we can arrange.”
If reception is not staffed overnight, the message must not imply a 24-hour welcome. If no late-arrival option exists, explain that early enough to discuss the guest's plans. A request also remains unconfirmed until the hotel accepts it.
What the message needs to accomplish
A booking confirmation records the purchase. A pre-arrival message prepares the guest for the next part of the journey. Repeating the whole confirmation can bury the few details the guest needs now.
The useful questions are immediate: where do I go, when can I arrive, what is already arranged, and how do I reach someone if plans change?
Answer those questions before promoting an upgrade or a restaurant offer. A guest who cannot identify the entrance is unlikely to appreciate another sales paragraph. Clear arrival information is already a way to make the property's service feel considered.
For the team, the message should also expose anything that still needs a decision. A late arrival, transport request, or payment question belongs with a named person. Sending the message is the start of that work, not proof that the work is finished.
The hotel guest journey guide explains why small information gaps can weaken confidence before the guest reaches reception. This template focuses on one of those gaps: moving from a confirmed stay to an understood arrival.
Keep the facts specific to the stay
The room type and dates help the guest recognise the reservation. They also help staff locate the right stay when a reply arrives from an unfamiliar email address or telephone number.
Use the current booking record, not a previous guest's message. An old checkout date, balance, or room description can make a personalised message less useful than a short accurate one.
Kiyo's booking records keep the guest, stay, and recorded payment status together. Payment information reflects what was recorded or confirmed to Kiyo; money taken elsewhere must be recorded before it appears. That gives reception a more useful starting point than searching several conversations for the latest version.
The reason to connect the message to Kiyo is therefore specific. Staff can prepare arrival communication from the stay they are actually operating. They still need to check the details before sending and resolve any unclear payment state separately.
Avoid sending payment-card details, identity documents, or unrelated guest information in an ordinary arrival message. The guest needs enough information to recognise the stay and act, not a copy of the hotel's whole record.
Give the guest one place to return to
A map pin can identify the right property and still leave the guest at the wrong gate. Check the entrance detail, not just the street address, especially for a villa down a narrow Bali lane. Avoid promising a journey time that traffic can change.
The usual workaround is to resend the same directions in every conversation. That leaves guests searching for an old message and staff wondering which version they copied. Kiyo My Page gives supported bookings a personal stay page with the arrival information the property has configured.
The guest can reopen the link for the room, dates, check-in information, and contact options. The message becomes a short welcome and pointer to the stay, rather than a long document the guest has to remember. When property information changes, keep the current portal information maintained and contact affected guests directly if the change needs their attention.
For reception, the gain is time for the question that is genuinely different: the guest's late arrival, transport request, or access needs. Staff should not have to resend ordinary check-in details before they can help with that question.
Ask for an arrival time without promising an early room
An approximate arrival time helps the hotel plan a welcome. It does not automatically change the check-in time or confirm early access to a room.
Keep those ideas separate. Ask when the guest expects to arrive, then state the normal check-in time. If they request early check-in, explain that the hotel will confirm whether it can be arranged.
This prevents a common misunderstanding: the guest shares a flight arrival time and assumes the room will be ready then. Reception may have intended only to record travel information.
Kiyo My Page supports the request types a property enables, including arrival-related requests. The recorded request state helps distinguish something pending from something confirmed or declined. That distinction protects the guest promise while giving the team a clearer next action.
The same principle applies to airport transport, a baby cot, or late checkout. Ask for the information needed to make a decision. Confirm the actual arrangement separately, including any agreed charge, rather than treating the guest's request as an accepted booking for the service.
Make the reply useful to the next shift
Consider two versions of the same illustrative late-arrival exchange.
In the first, the guest replies that they will arrive after reception closes. One receptionist reads it but leaves before agreeing an arrangement. The next shift sees the original welcome message and assumes arrival is handled.
In the second, the reply is connected to the booking, a named person checks the available arrangement, and the guest receives a clear confirmation. The next shift can see what was agreed and what remains open.
The difference is ownership. A message template cannot supply that on its own.
Use your front desk handover process to carry unresolved replies between shifts. The handover needs the booking, the question, the next action, and the person responsible. It does not need a transcript of every message.
When a supported conversation is connected in Kiyo's Guest Inbox, reception can read the guest's question with the available booking information. Channel access and actions depend on the connection. Use the template in your actual sending routine; the text itself does not schedule a message.
If your team uses WhatsApp, the hotel WhatsApp messaging guide addresses that channel's operating questions. This article supplies the content and handover logic, not a new channel-delivery claim.
Send it when there is time to act
Choose timing based on what the guest needs to arrange and how quickly your team can answer. A guest booking well in advance does not need repeated arrival instructions for weeks. A same-day booking cannot wait for a fixed pre-arrival schedule.
A useful property routine is to review upcoming arrivals while there is still time to resolve access, transport, and outstanding questions. If the guest books inside that window, send the relevant information after confirming the booking. This is an operating recommendation, not an industry-wide timing rule.
Keep urgent changes out of an unattended queue. If the entrance changes or reception hours affect tomorrow's arrivals, someone needs to identify affected stays, choose an appropriate contact route, and check whether further follow-up is required.
Avoid measuring success by messages sent alone. Review the questions guests still ask, missed late-arrival arrangements, and replies that reached the next shift without an owner. Those observations can show which line or handover needs improvement without pretending that a send count proves better service.
Make the welcome feel personal, not repetitive
A guest who can find the entrance, check their stay details, and see whether a request was confirmed arrives with fewer unanswered questions. Reception starts from the booking and what was agreed, with more attention left for the person arriving.
Kiyo My Page connects that information to the stay when the property enables access. It also supports the wider direct-booking experience: the hotel stays easy to reach after the guest has paid.
Open the demo with one arrival question your team hears repeatedly. Look for the answer the guest should be able to find, and the request that still deserves a personal reply.
