Pre-arrival email template for luxury hotels, with examples

A pre-arrival email is the message a hotel sends in the days before a stay. It confirms the booking and asks what the guest needs, so each team can prepare. This guide covers the email itself. For choosing your questions and getting each answer to the right team, see how to capture guest preferences before arrival.

Pre-arrival email template

Adapt the bracketed parts, and sign it from a named person the guest can reply to. Write it in the guest's language if your team can do so well.

Subject: Your stay with us from [12 November]

Dear [Ms Laurent],

We're looking forward to welcoming you from [Thursday 12 November] to [Sunday 15 November] in [a Deluxe Garden Room], booking reference [ABC123]. I'm [Claire], [guest relations manager], and I'll be looking after your arrival.

Your room will be ready from [3pm]. We're at [address], and [valet parking is available at the entrance]. Could you let me know roughly what time you expect to arrive, and whether you'd like a car from [the airport]?

If you're celebrating anything during your stay, I'd be glad to know, along with anything you'd rather we avoided, such as a surprise at dinner.

Please tell me about any dietary needs or allergies, so the kitchen can prepare your meals. Would you like us to keep them on your profile for future stays as well?

If you need anything to make the room easier to use, such as a walk-in shower, do tell me.

Simply reply to this email, or call me on [+33 1 00 00 00 00].

Warm regards,

[Claire Martin]

[Guest relations manager, Hotel name]

Pre-arrival email subject lines

Plain subject lines that name the stay are easy to recognise in a full inbox:

• Your stay with us from [12 November]
• [Ms Laurent], your arrival on [Thursday]
• Before you arrive on [12 November]
• Welcome to [Hotel], [12 to 15 November]

The two-day follow-up

For guests who haven't replied, a short note is enough:

Subject: See you on [Thursday]

Dear [Ms Laurent],

Just a short note before your arrival on [Thursday]. If you let me know roughly what time you'll arrive, we'll have your room ready. For anything else you'd like us to know, simply reply.

Warm regards,

[Claire]

When to send it

• About seven days before arrival: the main email.
• Two days before: the follow-up, if there's no reply.
• Bookings made inside a week: skip the full email. Add one question to the booking confirmation instead, such as "Is there anything we should know before you arrive?"

A week gives the kitchen time to order and the concierge time to book a table.

Examples for different guests

A couple marking an occasion. Keep the occasion paragraph, and add one line: "Our concierge would be glad to book a table for the evening, if you'd like."

A business traveller. Keep it to two lines: "We look forward to seeing you on [Tuesday]. What time do you expect to arrive, and would an early room help after your flight?"

A returning guest. Open with what you already know: "Welcome back. Last time you asked for a room away from the lift and still water at turndown. Shall we do the same?" That way the guest only has to confirm. For guests on your VIP list, see types of VIP in hotels.

A note on allergies and dietary needs

An allergy is likely to count as health data under the GDPR (Article 4(15)), which is special category data. A halal or kosher meal can also reveal religious belief, another special category. Article 9 allows you to record this kind of data with the guest's explicit consent for a specified purpose (Article 9). The template states the purpose, and asks separately before keeping anything for future stays.

Keep it a service message

In the UK, the ICO treats messages sent for administrative or customer service purposes differently from marketing. Its examples include confirming or reminding someone about an appointment. A service message that encourages the guest to take up an offer or an upgrade is likely to be direct marketing (ICO).

Before adding an offer, check you are allowed to send that guest marketing. In the UK that means their consent, or the soft opt-in. The soft opt-in has conditions: you collected the guest's details yourself, during a booking, and the offer is for similar services. The guest must also have been able to opt out when you collected the details, and in every message since (ICO). Otherwise, keep the offer for check-in. Other countries have their own rules, so check yours.

Where the replies go

Replies often land in a shared inbox, such as reservations. Name one person to read them each day. They copy each answer onto the guest profile so the kitchen and housekeeping hear it at the morning briefing.

Where Nown fits

What a guest tells you before arrival only helps if it reaches the person serving them. With Nown Control, each team sees what matters to them in a short brief ahead of the stay. The kitchen sees the allergy and the concierge sees the occasion, and staff add what they notice during the stay. Our piece on guest recognition in luxury hotels shows what changes for each team, or see how Nown Control works.

Frequently asked questions

What is a pre-arrival email?

A pre-arrival email is the message a hotel sends in the days before a stay. It confirms the booking, introduces a named contact and asks what the guest needs.

What is the difference between a booking confirmation and a pre-arrival email?

A booking confirmation goes out when the guest books and confirms the reservation. A pre-arrival email goes out about a week before the stay and asks what the guest needs, so each team can prepare.

When should a hotel send a pre-arrival email?

A hotel should send it about a week before arrival, with a short follow-up two days before if the guest hasn't replied. For bookings made inside a week, one question in the booking confirmation works better.

What should a pre-arrival email include?

It should include the dates, room, check-in time and address, and a welcome from a named person. It should then ask about four things at most: arrival, any occasion, dietary needs and the room.

Can a pre-arrival email include upsells?

It can. In the UK, though, an offer or upgrade inside a service email is likely to count as direct marketing. That needs the guest's consent or the soft opt-in, so it is simpler to keep the first email about the stay.

How long should a pre-arrival email be?

A pre-arrival email should be short enough to answer on a phone. A greeting, the booking details and a few questions are enough, signed with a direct line.

Sources

• Information Commissioner's Office, Identify direct marketing
• Information Commissioner's Office, What are the rules on direct marketing using electronic mail?
• GDPR, Article 4 and Article 9