The Wi-Fi code, the door code, the check-in time: why you answer the same questions ten times a day

If you manage short-term rentals, try a small exercise. Open your Airbnb, Booking, WhatsApp or SMS inbox. Scroll back two weeks. Count how many times you've replied "the Wi-Fi code is…".

Most of the hosts I ask this question are surprised by the number. Three times per property per week on average. Sometimes more. And it isn't only Wi-Fi. There's the door code, the check-in time, the exact address, where to leave the keys, the rules about pets, restaurant recommendations.

I've been running short-term rentals in Toulouse for ten years. I now oversee more than a hundred properties at Nomad's Co, and I've tried more or less everything that exists to stop answering these questions. Here's what I've seen.

Why the same questions always come back

First thing to understand: it isn't your guests' fault. They aren't trying to bother you.

The reality is they're arriving for two or three days, they're not in the mood to read your fifteen-page welcome book, they're tired, and they've got a practical question they want to resolve in thirty seconds. Sending a message is faster than digging through their inbox for information you sent them three weeks ago.

Second point: platforms like Airbnb actively encourage messages. The app puts the "contact host" button front and centre throughout the stay. They even show it on the booking confirmation screen. That's the behaviour the platform wants — for you to be reachable.

The most frequent questions, in order

At Nomad's Co we've analysed thousands of exchanges. Here's the top, in the order they come in:

Number 1: the Wi-Fi code. The top question everywhere. Usually asked within the first two minutes of arrival. Sometimes even before, while the guest is still in the Uber.

Number 2: the exact address and how to get in. Even when it's spelled out in every communication. Even with photos. Guests still often arrive with the wrong house number or unsure which floor.

Number 3: the check-in and check-out times. Especially when they want to arrive early or leave late. This is where you lose your evenings to negotiation.

Number 4: the house rules. Pets, smoking, visitors, noise. They know they ticked the boxes at booking, but they want to check it's really fine.

Number 5: local recommendations. Where to eat, where to drink, how to take the tram, where to do the shopping. The nicest question to get, but it takes time to answer properly.

After that you've got a long tail of technical questions (the washing machine flashing, the TV not working, the thermostat that nobody understands) and genuine emergencies (water leak, power cut) which account for less than five percent of the volume.

What it really costs you

Going by the average across our clients, a typical property gets between five and ten messages per stay. A typical stay runs three nights. You rent out roughly a hundred times a year per property — that's between five hundred and a thousand messages annually.

Replying to a simple message takes two to three minutes. Between the interruption, looking up the information, writing the reply, adding a friendly line, hitting send. Sometimes more if you have to double-check something in your reference document.

Do the maths. Five hundred messages at two minutes each is a thousand minutes per property per year. Sixteen and a half hours. If you have three properties, that's fifty hours. If you have ten, it's the equivalent of a half-time job.

And this calculation doesn't even account for the fact that messages come in at all hours. At the office, in the evening, at weekends, on holiday. The real cost isn't the time. It's the mental load. Knowing you can be pinged at any moment.

What we tested to get out of it

Let me be straight about what worked and what didn't.

The paper welcome book. We put ring binders in every property. It cut down questions a little. But plenty of guests don't open them. They'd rather ask.

Airbnb pre-programmed messages. Helpful for the first communications (welcome, check-out reminder). But they don't answer the questions that come in mid-stay.

FAQs in the listing. Platforms limit the text, guests don't scroll. No measurable impact.

Basic chatbots bolted onto an external site. We tried. They don't understand natural language, they bounce off-target answers, guests get annoyed and end up calling.

Delegating to a person. It works, but you need someone competent, available 24/7, trained on all your properties. Expensive, and it doesn't scale as you grow.

What actually worked, for us

The real shift came from having a system that understands natural language. A conversational agent that treats "hi, wifi code pls", "wifi code?" and "what's the wifi password?" the same way and answers the same way every time.

It isn't magic. You have to enter the information properly. You have to define the rules clearly. You have to let the system take on what it can take on, and flag you when it can't.

But once it's in place, you get your evenings back. Your guests are served faster. Your review scores go up because the response time becomes a selling point. And you focus on the things that actually deserve your attention, like commercial strategy or onboarding new properties.

What I'd advise

First point: enter your information properly. Even if you go with no automated solution at all, having everything clean in a central document will save you hours. At Nomad's Co it's one of the first things we do when we take over managing a property.

Second point: accept that you'll never completely eliminate messages. Even with the best system, there'll always be five to ten percent of exchanges that need a real human (emergencies, unusual requests, disputes). The goal isn't to kill that ten percent — it's to free yourself from the ninety percent that require no thought at all.

Third point: test things. Every serious solution offers a free trial. Take two weeks, watch what happens, decide afterwards.

The point isn't to stop talking to your guests. It's to stop answering "what's the Wi-Fi code?" at two in the morning on a bank holiday.