Summary
React to a guest message with an emoji — like a thumbs-up or a heart — without sending a full reply. This is the same emoji-reaction feature you'd find in Slack or iMessage, and it sends the reaction back through Airbnb, so your guest sees it on their side of the conversation. It's a quick way to acknowledge a "thanks!" or "see you soon!" message without typing.
Host Tools AI can also send emoji reactions automatically. When the AI detects a brief, positive acknowledgment from an Airbnb guest, it can respond with an appropriate reaction (👍, ❤️, or 🙏) instead of composing a full text reply — keeping the conversation tidy without requiring any manual action.
⚠️ Important: Emoji reactions are only available on Airbnb conversations and only on messages sent by the guest. The available emoji set is provided by Airbnb and is limited to the reactions Airbnb supports.
Reacting to a message on the website
Click Inbox in the header menu.
Open an Airbnb conversation and scroll to the message you want to react to.
Click the smile-face icon next to the guest's message. A small popover will appear showing the emojis Airbnb supports.
Click the emoji you want to send.
Your reaction appears as a small pill underneath the message. Airbnb shows it to your guest the same way it would show a reaction sent from the Airbnb app.
Reacting to a message on the mobile app
Open the Host Tools app and tap Inbox.
Open an Airbnb conversation.
Tap the smile-face icon next to the guest's message and select an emoji from the popover.
AI-assisted emoji reactions
When AI auto-response is enabled for a listing, Host Tools AI can automatically send an emoji reaction to short, positive Airbnb guest messages — such as "thanks!", "great!", or "see you soon!". The AI chooses from the reactions Airbnb supports (👍, ❤️, 🙏) based on the tone of the message.
If auto-send is turned on, the reaction is sent immediately without any input from you. If auto-send is turned off (suggest-only mode), the suggested reaction appears in the inbox suggestion bar for you to review and send manually.
To enable or adjust AI auto-response settings, go to Settings > Listings > select a listing > AI Assistant.
Does reacting to a message stop the AI from replying to it?
Yes. A reaction counts as your answer. Once the guest's most recent message carries a reaction, Host Tools AI treats that message as handled — it won't draft a suggestion for it and it won't auto-send a reply, exactly as if you had typed one. This is true whether you added the reaction yourself or the AI sent it for you.
If the guest writes again afterwards, the new message starts the conversation moving again and the AI picks up from there as usual.
Can I remove a reaction I sent?
Yes. Tap or click the reaction pill underneath the message — a small dialog will list everyone who reacted with that emoji and offer a remove option for your own reaction. Removing a reaction also removes it on the guest's side of the conversation.
Why aren't reactions available on Booking.com or Vrbo?
Reactions rely on the underlying channel's messaging API. Today, only Airbnb's API supports message reactions. If Booking.com, Vrbo, or another channel adds support for reactions in the future, Host Tools will surface them in the same place.
Can I react to messages I sent?
No — only messages sent by the guest show the smile-face icon. Reactions are designed to acknowledge incoming messages quickly, so host-sent messages don't include the trigger.