Example scenario. The guest house, the guests, the times and the rules below are invented to show the order of things. They are not a real client and do not show a result.
Imagine a guest house with six rooms and no reception. The owner is on site until 20:00, then lives in the building next door. On Thursday morning a guest writes: “Our train arrives at 23:10. Will anyone be there to meet us?” The owner knows the answer is “yes, but with conditions”, and the conditions are written down nowhere except in their head.
What the guest is really asking
The question “will anyone be there to meet us” is a short one. Behind it are several more: how will I get in if no one is there; whom do I call; will I lose my reservation if I am late; where do I leave the car in the dark; will there be dinner, or at least water in the room. If you answer only the first question, you get a second and a third message, sometimes at 22:40 on your phone.
It is better to arrange the answer in advance, before the guest has asked. The most convenient moment is the reservation confirmation message or the day before arrival.
Four things to tell them
1. Until when someone is there
Name a time, not “the evening”: “We welcome guests until 20:00. After that, check-in is self-service, by arrangement.” If you have a limit, for example you cannot accept a guest after 23:00, say it now, not when the guest is already at the door.
2. How they get in
Describe the way in a few short steps: where the entrance is, where to park, where the key box is or how the electronic lock works. Do not describe everything. Three or four lines with landmarks that can be seen in the dark: “the door with the green number”, “the first lamp on the right”.
3. Whom to call
One phone that is really answered, and who it belongs to. Give a backup option if the owner does not answer, but only if there really is one. If there is no backup, say: “If we do not pick up, leave a message and we will call you back within 15 minutes.” Promise only what you will do.
4. What to do if something goes wrong
A delayed train, a closed road, a cancelled flight. A sentence such as “If you are delayed beyond 23:30, call us so that we know you are coming” is enough. That way the guest does not feel like an offender, and you do not stay awake until midnight.
Codes: where NOT to write them
The code for the entrance or the key box is like a key. Do not put it on the website, in the FAQ or in a general message to all guests. Send it personally, to the specific guest, once the reservation is confirmed, and ideally on the day of arrival, and where possible change the code between guests. Check what the lock allows for your property.
The same applies to the exact address of a private home, if the owner lives there, and to personal phone numbers other than the ones you are ready to give to a guest.
The limits of the information
There are things that no text can promise for you. Whether there will be a hot dinner after ten o'clock, whether early check-in is possible the next day, whether you will pick up the phone at 01:00. If you have not decided, do not write it as a fact. It is better said like this: “For dinner after 21:00 we do not promise a hot meal, so we suggest you pick up something on the way. In the room you will find water and tea.” The guest plans by what they have read.
Where an assistant can help
If the property's website has ISKA Assistant, it answers only from the information the property has approved. If you have given it the late-arrival note, it will be able to say until what time guests are welcomed and which phone to call. If there is no data on something, it directs the guest to the property's phone. It does not replace reception and has no live chat with a person, which is why the phone number in the note matters. Do not give it codes: they are not information for a publicly visible answer.
A ten-minute note
Sit down with a cup of coffee and write the five lines: the cut-off time, the way to the entrance, the phone, what happens if they are late, what is not guaranteed. Read them as a guest who is coming from the station at 23:10 with a tired child. If an answer is missing for something they would ask, add it. After that, the same note is kept in one place and used every time, instead of being invented anew.