Manage the Guest Inbox

The Guest Inbox brings supported SMS, Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia messages into one workspace. A conversation can contain more than one channel, so staff can review the guest's history and choose the right route before replying.

Permissions and availability

Manage Guest Inbox is required to open the inbox, read conversations, and reply. The property management system and the unified inbox must be enabled. The Inbox appears when the property has SMS configured or a supported OTA messaging connection.

The property owner can grant access under Settings → User Groups. Staff without this capability do not see the Inbox or its unread count.

Understand the inbox

Open Guest Inbox from the sidebar. The badge shows how many conversations have guest messages you have not read.

Each row can show:

• The guest, phone number, or OTA inquiry
• A linked booking, room, or requested stay
• An unread, failed-delivery, snoozed, or closed state
• Available channels such as SMS, Airbnb, Booking.com, or Expedia
• The latest guest-visible message, recent activity time, and assignee

The default Inbox view contains actionable conversations. Snoozed and closed conversations are left out until they become actionable again or you select their filters.

Opening a conversation marks it read for you through the newest message currently shown. New guest messages that arrive afterward remain unread until you view them; another staff member reading a conversation does not mark it read for you.

Find and filter conversations

Use Search conversations to find guest names, companies, email addresses, phone numbers, booking confirmation IDs, subjects, or message text.

Use the quick filters for common queues:

• Inbox: All actionable conversations
• Assigned to me: Actionable conversations assigned to you
• Unassigned: Actionable conversations with no owner
• Snoozed: Conversations waiting until a later time
• Closed: Completed conversations

Select More filters to combine workflow, assignee, read state, channel, provider, context, and activity dates. Context can identify booking-linked conversations, inquiries or reservation requests, and unattributed messages. Clear the filters to return to the normal actionable inbox.

Review a conversation

The timeline keeps guest messages, staff replies, automated messages, internal notes, and system events in time order. Channel labels identify where each guest-visible message came from. Use Hide automated & system when you want to focus on the conversation between the guest and staff.

Long conversations initially show the newest messages. Select the older-message control at the top of the timeline to load more history.

The context panel can show:

• Guest name, email address, and phone number
• Booking confirmation, stay dates, and assigned rooms
• Inquiry listing, requested dates, and guest count
• Every available channel and its current reply state

Select the guest or booking link to open the full record.

Link a guest or booking

A new SMS or OTA inquiry may arrive without a recognized guest or booking. Its title may be a phone number or the OTA inquiry type.

1. Open the conversation.
2. Expand Link conversation.
3. Search for a guest or booking.
4. Select the correct record and link it.

Linking a booking also links its guest and adds the stay context. Use Unlink or link a different result if the wrong record was selected. Confirm the guest carefully before linking; conversations are property-specific, but similar names and shared phone numbers can still cause mistakes.

Reply to a guest

1. Open the conversation.
2. Select Reply to guest.
3. If the conversation has multiple routes, choose Reply via and confirm the channel and destination.
4. Enter the message and select Send message.

SMS sends through the property's configured number. OTA replies are queued through Channex, and the timeline updates when delivery is confirmed or fails. Do not send the same message again while a previous OTA reply is awaiting provider confirmation.

A route can be unavailable when:

• The conversation has no reply route; it remains available for reading only
• The route is email; email replies are not currently available from the Guest Inbox
• The guest opted out of SMS or the number is suppressed or invalid
• SMS or the sending number is not configured
• The OTA thread is closed, unavailable, or marked as not requiring a reply
• The Channex connection, Messages app, or synchronization requires attention
• A previous OTA reply is still pending confirmation

The composer explains why the selected route cannot be used. Choose another available route when appropriate.

Follow OTA messaging rules

Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia apply their own content rules. Depending on the provider and reservation stage, they may reject phone numbers, email addresses, website links, requests to communicate or pay outside the platform, and other restricted content.

Comfortly sends the text you enter without removing or rewriting those details. Before sending an OTA reply:

• Keep the conversation and payment on the OTA when its policy requires it.
• Avoid contact details and external links unless the provider allows them for that reservation.
• Never include card numbers, passwords, door codes before they should be shared, or other unnecessary sensitive information.

If the OTA rejects a reply, the timeline marks it failed and shows either a mapped failure reason or a general rejection message. The message may not identify which content caused the rejection. Review the text, rewrite it to comply with the provider's rules, and send it as a new reply. SMS is a separate direct channel and is not subject to OTA message-content filtering, but SMS consent must still be honored.

Send an OTA image

Supported Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia threads can send one image at a time.

1. Select an active OTA route under Reply via.
2. Select Attach image.
3. Choose a JPEG or PNG no larger than 1 MB.
4. Send the attachment without message text.

Text and an attachment cannot be sent together because Channex ignores text on attachment sends. Other file types and mismatched filename extensions are rejected. The timeline shows upload, delivery, or failure status.

Inbound images can appear in the timeline. Other downloaded files are available as links. A failed, rejected, expired, or still-processing attachment remains labeled so staff do not assume it was available.

Add a staff note

Use Staff note for information that should remain inside the property team.

1. Open the conversation and select Staff note.
2. Enter the note.
3. Add it to the timeline.

Staff notes are never sent to the guest or provider. The timeline labels them separately from guest-visible messages. Do not store payment-card data, passwords, identity documents, or unrelated sensitive information in a note.

Assign and snooze work

Use Assigned to to give a conversation to a staff member or return it to the unassigned queue. Assignment changes are saved automatically and recorded in the timeline.

Snooze a conversation when no action is needed until later:

• Select 1 hour, Tomorrow, or Next week.
• Use Custom… for another date and time.
• Open the Snoozed queue and select Unsnooze when work should resume early.

A snoozed conversation leaves the actionable inbox. It returns automatically at the selected time. A new inbound guest message also makes the conversation actionable again.

Close and reopen conversations

Select Close conversation when the issue is complete. Closing the Comfortly conversation removes it from the actionable inbox but does not close the OTA's provider thread.

Open the Closed queue and select Reopen conversation when more staff work is needed. A new inbound guest message can also reopen the local conversation.

For supported OTA routes, Thread actions can offer Close provider thread. Booking.com may also offer No reply needed. These provider actions are separate from closing the Comfortly conversation and should only be used when the OTA workflow calls for them.

Resolve delivery problems

A failed state on the conversation or message means the guest may not have received the reply.

1. Open the failed conversation and review the message status and error.
2. Confirm that the selected route is still active.
3. For SMS, verify consent, the phone number, and property SMS configuration.
4. For an OTA, check for restricted content, a closed thread, a pending confirmation, or a Channex connection warning.
5. Choose another valid route or send a corrected new reply only after the earlier outcome is known.

If an OTA result is uncertain, wait for synchronization rather than sending a duplicate. Contact support when the route reports a connection, webhook, application, or synchronization problem that staff cannot resolve in settings.