Replying to guests in the inbox

Every guest message, no matter where it came from, lands in your Ostelflow inbox. You reply once, we deliver it through the right channel.

What's in the inbox

• Booking.com messages
• Airbnb messages
• Expedia messages
• WhatsApp messages (when connected)
• Direct messages from your direct-booking page

How to reply

1. Open Inbox in the sidebar
2. Click the conversation
3. Type your reply at the bottom and hit send

Your reply goes back through the same channel the guest used — Airbnb message stays on Airbnb, WhatsApp stays on WhatsApp. The guest never knows you're using Ostelflow.

Filters

At the top of the inbox you have:

• Channel pills — show only one channel's conversations
• Unread only — focus on what hasn't been answered yet
• Search — by guest name

If a message is older than 24 hours

We send you a Slack ping (or email, if you configured one) when a guest message has been waiting for more than 24 hours without a reply. Booking and Airbnb both factor response time into their ranking, so faster replies = better visibility on their search.

Notes about WhatsApp

WhatsApp Business has a strict 24-hour rule: once a guest messages you, you have 24 hours to reply with anything. After that you can only send "approved templates" (like a booking confirmation). This is Meta's rule, not ours — fast replies stay within the free window.