Missing guest messages? Keep Airbnb and Booking.com chats in one inbox

2026-10-16 · Hostopus · 4 min read

A guest asks at 11 p.m. whether there is parking. The notification goes to Booking.com's Pulse app while you are busy answering someone else in the Airbnb app. By the time you see it the next morning, the guest may have moved on to another listing. On Airbnb this delay is measured: according to Airbnb's help page, your response rate is the share of new inquiries and reservation requests in the past 30 days that you answered within 24 hours. It affects your Superhost status and where you appear in search.

What do Airbnb and Booking.com measure?

Response rate (Airbnb): Accepting, pre-approving, declining, sending a message or a special offer all count as a response. Letting a reservation request expire counts as a non-response and lowers the rate.
Response time (Airbnb): The average time it took you to answer all new messages in the past 30 days. A reply after 24 hours counts as late. It lowers your response rate and raises your response time.
Superhost: One of Airbnb's criteria is responding to 90% of new messages within 24 hours. Airbnb checks this at the start of every quarter, looking back over the previous 12 months.
Booking.com: Booking.com's partner page recommends replying quickly, because fast answers help guests plan their trip and travel with peace of mind. You can reply from the Extranet, the Pulse app or your connected channel manager.

How to manage it by hand

If you rent one home on one platform, the platform's own app is usually enough. Once you are on more than one platform, these steps help:

Install each platform's app and turn notifications on. The Airbnb app and Booking.com's Pulse app notify you separately. An app on mute is how messages get missed.
Set a few fixed check times a day. Looking at both inboxes in the morning, at noon and in the evening protects you on days when a notification slips past.
Write saved replies for common questions. Check-in time, parking, Wi-Fi and directions come up with almost every guest. Booking.com lets you set up templates and automatic replies in the Extranet. You have to prepare this on each platform separately.
Answer Airbnb requests first. Accepting, pre-approving or declining counts as a response, so even a short message keeps you inside the 24 hours while you decide.
If someone helps you, agree on who answers what. When two people watch the same account, messages end up unanswered or answered twice.

Why it gets harder

As you add homes and platforms, this routine falls apart quickly. With three homes on two platforms you have two inboxes, and the number of conversations grows with every booking. You check the listing name to work out which home a message is about, keep your saved replies in two places and follow two sets of notifications. If a cleaner or relative helps you, they need access to the same apps too. The way to cut this load is to manage the platforms through one channel manager. We explained what a channel manager is in this article.

How it works in Hostopus

Hostopus connects your Airbnb and Booking.com accounts through a channel manager. Guest messages from both platforms come together in one list on the Messages screen.

All your homes in one list. Airbnb and Booking.com conversations are sorted by the latest message. You can filter by a single home and search by guest name, message text, home name or platform.
A notification on your phone when a guest writes. You get a push notification in the iOS and Android app, and in your browser on the web. It shows the home, the guest's name and the first lines of the message.
Your helpers are kept in the loop. If you have added a helper with full access or operations access to a home, guest message notifications go to them as well. Helpers you give message permission to can also reply in the chat.
Handle Airbnb requests inside the chat. You can pre-approve inquiries and accept or decline reservation requests. Airbnb counts these actions as responses.
Send the first message yourself. Airbnb and Booking.com bookings that have no conversation yet appear in the list, so you can send a welcome message from there.
Saved replies per home. The "+" next to the text box opens the saved replies for that home. The text you pick is added to the message box and you can edit it before sending. Home-specific details like the Wi-Fi password show up in the right home's chat.

There are two limits to know. Booking.com's free cancellation and change requests can only be answered in the Extranet; when one arrives, Hostopus shows a warning above the chat. On other channels such as Agoda, the channel manager offers no guest messaging, so those conversations do not reach Hostopus.

In short

On Airbnb, every reply within 24 hours feeds your response rate, and the rate feeds your Superhost status and search position. Following two apps for one home is manageable; as homes and platforms add up, seeing all messages in one list and getting the notification on your phone saves the most time. You can try Hostopus free for 60 days.