Why This Matters
Guest verification protects your property, the building community, and your business from potential risks while ensuring a safe experience for all guests. By automating this process with Autohost and Hostaway, you:
Ensure only verified guests receive check-in instructions.
Save time by reducing manual follow-up.
Meet safety and compliance standards outlined in your listing descriptions.
What You Will Need
Access to your Hostaway account.
The guest verification link format:
https://verifyhub.org/{{hostaway_reservation_id}}The message templates (provided below).
Knowledge of where to find and edit your Initial Reservation Message, Automated Reminders, and Check-In Instructions in Hostaway.
You can append the necessary information to your existing Reservation and Check-In Instructions emails, but please create all of the follow-up messages with the necessary triggers.
These triggers ensure that the messages will only be sent IF the guest has not completed their background check, including the triggers on your check-in instructions.
If they have completed the background check with Autohost, then they will not receive any reminders, and their check-in instructions will go out on time automatically.
*NOTE*
You will not have to send us the background checks using this process, we will log in to Autohost and send the information directly to the building ourselves.
Steps
Step 1: Update Your Initial Reservation Message
Log in to Hostaway.
Go to Automation → Messages → Initial Reservation Message.
Append this text to the end of your current message:
To ensure the safety of our guests, staff, properties, and community, we require all guests to complete our secure guest verification portal as noted in our listing description. Please complete the guest verification portal linked below ahead of your check-in date to ensure your check-in instructions are sent ahead of your arrival.
4. Save your changes.
Step 2: Autohost Reminders
Most guests fall into two different personality types when it comes to booking stays; they either like to get everything done and checked off in advance or they wait until the last minute to review any information regarding their upcoming stay. To ensure we meet the needs of both personality types, we recommend the following reminder message sequence:
AH Reminder 1 (highly recommend): | 1-3 hours after reservation booking |
AH Reminder 2 (highly recommend): | 24 hours after reservation booking |
AH Reminder 3 (encouraged): | 48 hours after reservation booking |
AH Reminder 4 (encouraged): | in sequence with any payment reminders* |
AH Reminder 5 (highly recommend): | 7 days before guest arrival |
AH Reminder 6 (highly recommend): | 5 days before guest arrival |
AH Reminder 7 (highly recommend): | 3 days before guest arrival |
AH Reminder 8 (highly recommend): | 2 days before guest arrival |
Final Urgent AH Reminder: | 24 hours before guest arrival (or aligned with designated time check-in instructions are sent) |
*If applicable, a reminder for payment in sequence with a reminder for verification would be a great communication flow.
Note: Reminder messages are utilizing conditional logic that will only apply to those guests who have not completed the guest portal, as you'll identify in the 'Additional Conditions'. Once guests have completed the guest portal, they will not receive any further reminder messages. Additionally, if the property manager approves or declines a guest, it will also discontinue any additional reminder messages.
AH Reminder 1 to AH Reminder 3
Repeat the following message template utilizing the recommended message sequence above, after reservation booking.
Automation name:
Automation name can simply be "Autohost Reminder 1/2/or 3" or you can add the time rules within the automation name so you know which time frame it is without having to click into the message template.
Autohost Reminder 1 | (___ hour(s) after booking confirmation)
Subject:
Friendly reminder to verify your reservation {{hostaway_reservation_id}}Default message:
Hi {{guest_first_name}},
This is a friendly reminder that your reservation is not yet verified.
Please take a moment to verify your reservation by completing our secure Guest Verification portal below:
https://verifyhub.org/{{hostaway_reservation_id}}
We thank you for your participation in keeping our homes and communities safe.
Thank you,
{{host_name}}
Event Trigger:
____ (your choice) Hours After Reservation
Additional conditions:
Reservation custom field:
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> review
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> approve
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> decline
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> verified
Channels:
Select desired channels, or all.
Listings:
Select desired listings, or all.
Now, scroll to the top, and review for spelling and errors.
Once reviewed, click Save at the top of the page (see image below). Your new automation has now been set up.
For now, we will keep this template deactivated by keeping the toggle OFF.
AH Reminder 4 to AH Reminder 8
Repeat the following message template utilizing the recommended message sequence above, before guest arrival.
Automation name:
Automation name can simply be "Autohost Reminder 4/5/6/7/8" or you can add the time rules within the automation name so you know which time frame it is without having to click into the message template.
Autohost Reminder _ | (_ days before guest arrival)
Subject:
Reminder to verify your reservation {{hostaway_reservation_id}}Default message:
Hi {{guest_first_name}},
Your stay is quickly approaching! This is a friendly reminder that your reservation is not yet verified.
Please take a moment to verify your reservation by completing our secure Guest Verification portal below:
https://verifyhub.org/{{hostaway_reservation_id}}
As a reminder, check-in instructions will not be sent until guest verification is complete.
We thank you for your participation in keeping our homes and communities safe!
Thank you,
{{host_name}}
Event Trigger:
_ Days Before Guest Arrival (check-in)
Additional conditions:
Reservation custom field:
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> review
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> approve
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> decline
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> verified
Channels:
Select desired channels, or all.
Listings:
Select desired listings, or all.
Now, scroll to the top, and review for spelling and errors.
Once reviewed, click Save at the top of the page. Your new automation has now been set up.
For now, we will keep this template deactivated by keeping the toggle OFF.
Autohost Final Urgent Reminder
This message template is meant to be the final reminder to the guest, reflecting urgency in the communication.
Automation name:
This name can simply be 'Autohost Urgent Reminder' or add the timing rules so you do not have to click into the template to identify it.
Autohost Urgent Reminder - (_ days or hours before guest arrival)
Subject:
Urgent reminder to verify reservation {{hostaway_reservation_id}}Default Message:
Hi {{guest_first_name}},
Your check-in instructions can not be sent as we have identified that you have not yet completed our guest verification. Your stay is at risk of cancellation if guest verification is not completed soon. Please complete our secure guest verification portal below:
https://verifyhub.org/{{hostaway_reservation_id}}
We thank you for your participation in keeping our homes and communities safe!
Thank you,
{{host_name}}
Event Trigger:
_ Days / Hours Before Guest Arrival (check-in)
Additional conditions:
Reservation custom field:
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> review
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> approve
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> decline
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> verified
Channels:
Select desired channels, or all.
Listings:
Select desired listings, or all.
Now, scroll to the top, and review for spelling and errors.
Once reviewed, click Save at the top of the page. Your new automation has now been set up.
For now, we will keep this template deactivated by keeping the toggle OFF.
Step 3. Autohost Check-In Instructions
If the guest has completed their Background check, then the below needs to be included in your automation for your check-in Instructions, for this to trigger automatically.
Please tailor your check-in instructions to your own needs and the way you like to operate your business, with timing, etc.
As long as the additional Background check conditions are included in this section, then the check-in instructions will go, regardless of what is included in the message or the timing of this message.
Automation name:
Autohost Check-in Instructions
Subject:
Your upcoming check-in details {{hostaway_reservation_id}}Default message:
Enter your personalized check-in instructions here.
Tip: The use of (standard and) listing custom fields allows you to have fewer individually created messages. The listing custom fields are specifically helpful in the check-in instructions message, as you can create listing-specific details such as door codes, parking instructions, WiFi details, etc, that will automatically pull this information based on that individual listing. To learn more about this feature, contact your Hostaway representative for assistance.
Event Trigger:
1 or 2 days (recommended)Before Guest Arrival (check-in)
Additional Conditions:
Reservation custom field:
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not empty>
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> pending
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> review
AHP_AUTOHOST_VERIFIED_STATUS <is not> decline
Note: The conditional logic for the check-in instructions allows both 'verified' and 'approved' guests to be sent the check-in instructions only.
Channels:
Select desired channels, or all.
Listings:
Select desired listings, or all.
Now, scroll to the top, and review for spelling and errors.
Once reviewed, click Save at the top of the page. Your new automation has now been set up.
For now, we will keep this template deactivated by keeping the toggle OFF. But when you are ready to start using this process, you can set this to ON.
Congratulations, you've successfully configured your Autohost & Hostaway guest communication workflow!