The Messages inbox
Messages in the left-hand menu opens every guest conversation in one place, so you can answer the question "what is waiting on me?" without opening bookings one at a time.
The screen has two halves. On the left is the list of conversations, one per booking. On the right is whichever conversation you have open, with the same message thread and reply box you already use on a booking.
What the list shows
Each row is one booking's conversation:
- The guest's name, and the time of the most recent message.
- The property, booking reference and stay dates.
- The first line or so of the latest message. If you sent it, the line starts with You:.
- A red count on the right if the guest has sent messages you haven't read yet.
The order is the point
Conversations are sorted so the ones needing you come first:
- Anything unread, newest first.
- Everything else, newest first.
So a guest who messaged last week and is still waiting sits above a conversation you replied to this morning. Once you open an unread conversation the count clears, but the row stays where it is — it won't jump out from under you while you're reading.
Opening and replying
Click a conversation to open it. Opening it marks the guest's messages as read, which also brings down the red count next to Bookings and Messages in the menu.
Replying works exactly as it does on the booking:
- For a direct or website booking, your reply goes out by email, and you can set a subject.
- For a booking that came from an OTA, the reply is delivered through the channel it came from (Booking.com, Airbnb and so on). The screen tells you which one before you send.
Open booking at the top right of a conversation shows the full booking — charges, payments and everything else — in a panel over the inbox. The inbox stays put behind it, so closing the panel returns you to the same conversation exactly where you left it.
Finding a conversation
The search box above the list matches the guest's name, the booking reference or the property name. It searches every conversation, not just the ones currently on screen.
If you have more conversations than fit on one screen, Load more conversations at the bottom of the list fetches the next batch.
On a phone
At phone width you see one half at a time: the list of conversations, and then the conversation itself once you tap a row. The back arrow at the top left returns you to the list — as does your phone's own back gesture, since each conversation has its own address.
Where the conversations come from
A booking appears in this list as soon as it has at least one message, whether that message came from the guest, from you, or from an automated message you have set up. Bookings with no messages at all aren't listed. Owner notifications are not guest conversations, so they don't appear here either — see Owner notifications.
Messages guests send from the Contact Form on your website have no booking, so they have their own list: click Website enquiries at the top of the conversation list. See The Contact Form block.
Nothing about the booking's own Messages tab has changed; it is the same conversation, shown in two places.