How do I send check-in and check-out instructions on WhatsApp at the right time?
Spun lets a hotel, host or transfer team write a guest message now and schedule it from that guest's chat for the right moment, such as the evening before arrival or the morning of check-out. It runs on a flat monthly plan with team members free and a free trial, on your normal WhatsApp number with no Business API. Keep the wording as a quick reply so every receptionist sends the same instructions, and let an auto-reply rule answer "what time is check-in?" when nobody is at the desk.
Who this is for: a receptionist, host or transfer coordinator who sends the same arrival, check-out or pick-up details to each guest.
Messages that work well scheduled
- Pre-arrival, the evening before: address, parking, check-in time, how to reach reception.
- Check-out morning: check-out time, luggage storage, how to book a taxi.
- Day after check-out: a short thank-you with your review link, for guests you have actually hosted.
- Transfer confirmation, the evening before: pick-up time and driver details.
Step 1: Keep the wording as a quick reply
- Open Quick Replies from the sidebar and click Add Quick Reply.
- Give it a title such as "Pre-arrival - Main building" and write the message. Both a title and a message are required.
- In any chat, type "/" in the empty message box to find it by name.
The full steps are in Save templates and canned responses.
Step 2: Schedule the message from the guest's chat
- Open the guest's chat.
- Write the message, or insert your saved wording with "/" and adjust it for this guest (room type, arrival time, name).
- Click the + button beside the message box and choose Schedule (the clock icon).
- In the Schedule Message window, choose the date and time, for example 18:00 on the day before arrival.
- Click Schedule.
Step 3: Check what is waiting to go out
- A banner above the chat shows a scheduled message for that guest.
- Scheduled in the sidebar lists every scheduled message, and it updates by itself as messages go out, fail or are cancelled.
- The Scheduled section of the chat side panel shows the same for one guest.
Step 4: Answer common check-in questions automatically
- Open Auto Replies from the sidebar and click Add Rule.
- Choose a trigger: a keyword such as "check-in" or "parking", or an AI intent you describe in words, such as "the guest asks what time check-in is".
- Choose the action: a written reply or one of your quick replies.
- Open Advanced Options to set a cooldown and a daily cap per contact.
- Save and enable the rule. Set your opening times on the Business Hours tab if the rule should run only outside them.
What to expect
- A scheduled WhatsApp message may leave a few minutes after its time, never before. This is the "Send scheduled messages a little late, never early" behaviour, on by default so automated messages look typed. A manager can switch it off for a line in Settings → WhatsApp → Sending safety, in the Pace and hours section with Expert mode on.
- A message scheduled from a chat can carry a meeting link if you choose one.
- Auto-reply rules have a cooldown and a daily cap per contact, and an AI reply rule steps aside when your team answers in that chat.
Limits
- One message per schedule, set from the chat. Scheduled messages are not a bulk drip, so you schedule each guest's message from that guest's chat.
- No booking dates. Spun does not read check-in or check-out dates from a booking system, so you pick the date and time yourself.
- Guests who wrote to you. Schedule messages to guests already in conversation with you. Spun does not message every guest on check-in day on its own.
What Spun does not do
- It does not connect to your PMS or channel manager, so it cannot trigger a message from a reservation.
- It does not use WhatsApp Business API templates. Your instructions are your own saved texts, sent from your normal number, with nothing to submit for approval.
- It does not take payments. Send your own payment link in the message if a balance is due.