A guest messages at 10:30 PM: “Is the room with the valley view free this Friday, for 2 adults?” If nobody replies, they message the next property on the list.
Hotels, homestays and small resorts already live on WhatsApp. The ones that reply first, send clear check-in details and follow up after the stay fill more nights. Here’s a practical setup, with messages you can copy.
What properties use WhatsApp for
| Moment | Message |
|---|---|
| New enquiry | Dates, guests, room type and today’s rate |
| Booking confirmed | Amount received, balance due and what’s included |
| Day before arrival | Check-in time, Google Maps pin and parking |
| During the stay | Breakfast time, extra bed, late checkout |
| After checkout | A thank-you and a one-tap Google review link |
| Quiet weeks | A season offer to guests who opted in |
The booking you lose after 9 PM
Front-desk staff can’t sit on one phone all night, and a personal WhatsApp number means the booking lives in one person’s chat. A shared official number fixes both:
- Auto-reply after hours with your room types, a question about dates and group size, and when a person will confirm. Copy more replies.
- One inbox for the owner and the front desk, so a night enquiry is still there in the morning and nobody replies twice.
- Templates for the messages you send every week: booking confirmation, check-in directions, review request.
- Offers only to guests who agreed to hear from you. Paste a list of scraped numbers and the account gets restricted.
Travel agencies have the same after-hours problem. See the travel setup.
Reply to tonight’s enquiry before the guest books elsewhere.
Messages you can copy
Reply to a booking enquiry
Hi {{1}}, thanks for messaging {{2}}! 🌿
For {{3}} guests on {{4}}, we have {{5}} at ₹{{6}} a night, including {{7}}.
Shall I hold it?
Check-in details (utility template)
Hi {{1}}, your stay at {{2}} starts tomorrow. Check-in is from {{3}}.
Location: {{4}}
Call us on this chat if you need anything on the way.
After checkout
Hi {{1}}, thank you for staying with us. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other guests find us: {{2}}
Check-in details and booking confirmations are utility messages at ₹0.115 each in India. Season offers and festival greetings are marketing at ₹0.8631. Your first 1,000 replies each month are free. Estimate the month.
How to set it up with WaBot
- Create your free WaBot account and connect the property’s WhatsApp number.
- Turn on an auto response with room types and a question about dates and guests.
- Create templates for confirmation, check-in and the review request, and submit them to Meta.
- Add the owner and front desk to the same inbox.
- Tag past guests who opted in, and send season offers only to that list.
The shared inbox and campaigns start at ₹840/month + GST (Starter). Automatic review requests after checkout use workflows, which are on the Base Plan (₹9,240/year + GST). AI replies are pay-as-you-go. See plans.
Frequently asked questions
Can a homestay use WhatsApp for bookings?
Yes. Reply with dates, price and inclusions, confirm the booking, and send the location pin the day before arrival. On the WhatsApp Business API several people can share one number.
Will WhatsApp ban a hotel for messaging guests?
Message people who opted in, use approved templates, and keep marketing separate from booking updates. Buying number lists is what gets accounts restricted. Read the rules.
Can I ask for a Google review on WhatsApp?
Yes, after checkout, with a short thank-you and your review link. In WaBot, sending that automatically when the stay ends needs the Base Plan, which includes workflows.
What does WhatsApp cost a small hotel?
In India from 1 October 2026, utility messages such as confirmations are ₹0.115 and marketing messages are ₹0.8631, plus 18% GST. The first 1,000 replies a month are free.
Final thoughts
The property that answers at 10:30 PM gets the Friday night. WhatsApp already has the guest’s attention. An official number, a shared inbox and a few templates turn that into confirmed bookings.
