Summary
Host Tools AI replies to guest messages using listing-specific knowledge — the more context you give it, the better its answers will be. The AI Assistant tab is where you train the AI for each listing. It has two tabs: General, with your auto-response settings, Facts for the AI, Learned Questions & Answers, and your Quick Replies; and Instructions, where you tell the AI how to handle each kind of guest message. All of them feed into the AI's reply when a guest writes in.
⚠️ Important: The AI Assistant requires a Pro subscription. Listings on the Messaging plan can still use Host Tools' messaging features, but auto-replies and AI training are Pro features.
Opening the AI Assistant settings page
Click your profile picture in the upper right-hand corner and choose Settings.
Go to
Settings > Listingsand pick the listing you want to train.Click the AI Assistant tab.
The page opens on the General tab. Switch to the Instructions tab to edit your instructions. The Save button saves both tabs at once.
Choosing how AI handles incoming messages
At the top of the General tab is the Auto-Response Mode drop-down. Pick the behavior you want:
Disabled — AI doesn't draft anything for this listing.
AI Suggestions Only — AI drafts a reply you can review and edit before sending.
Auto-Send Messages — AI replies on its own when it can answer from your listing details and notes.
In every mode, the AI leaves a message to you when the guest asks for a decision or reports a problem that none of your instructions or facts covers, or when it can't back up its answer from what you've given it. Read more about when a message is held for you.
Adding facts the AI should know
The Facts for the AI section on the General tab is for things only you know about the property that aren't on the listing — like where the extra towels are, the door code, or when late checkout is okay. Guests never see the fact itself; the AI uses it to answer their questions. A fact also counts as your permission: when a fact allows something and its conditions are met, the AI can say yes.
Click Add Fact.
Under What should the AI know?, write the fact (up to 500 characters). You can use tags like
{{Check-In Time}}.Choose who to Share with: Anyone who asks (including guests who have only sent an inquiry or a booking request), or Booked guests only (guests with a confirmed booking, from booking until checkout).
For a booked-guests-only fact, use Share from to hold it back until a number of days before check-in — for example, 2 for a door code. Leave it empty to share it as soon as the guest books.
Choose where the fact Applies to: this listing, a listing group, or all listings.
Click Save.
Your facts are listed in a table showing who each one is shared with, where it applies, and whether it's enabled. Use the actions menu on any row to Edit, Disable/Enable, or Delete a fact. Disabled facts aren't used by the AI.
You can also add a fact straight from your inbox: after you answer a message the AI left to you, click Save as note and the AI turns your reply into a fact for this listing for you to edit and save.
⚠️ Use Booked guests only for door codes and other private details. These facts are kept out of replies to inquiries, pending requests, and cancelled bookings, and stop being shared after checkout. Private tags like the lock code, and your custom tags, are only filled in once the guest has booked.
Reviewing Learned Questions & Answers
The Learned Questions & Answers section lists answers the AI picked up from your past guest conversations. Each pair has a guest-style question and the answer given at the time. Because you didn't write these yourself, the AI only uses them as background, and only when a new guest question is a close match. Sensitive topics like door codes and refunds are never saved.
Find the Learned Questions & Answers section on the General tab.
Use the actions menu on any row to Edit the question or answer, or Disable a pair that's outdated or wrong. Disabled pairs aren't used by the AI.
Click View Reservation to see the conversation a pair came from.
Learned questions and answers are always listing-specific because guest questions are usually about that particular property. To teach the AI something on purpose, add a fact instead.
Quick Replies
Quick Replies are saved messages you can drop into a conversation yourself from the inbox — things like your Wi-Fi details or parking instructions. They're in the Advanced section at the bottom of the General tab; click Advanced to expand it. The AI also reads your quick replies to match your tone and stance, but to teach the AI something new, add a fact instead.
Click Advanced, then Add Quick Reply.
Enter a Name (the topic, e.g., "Laundry") and the Text.
Set the Scope: a single Listing, a Listing Group, or All Listings.
Click Save.
💡 Pro tip: If a guest asks something and the AI replies "I don't know," that's your cue to add a fact on that topic. The AI will use it the next time anyone asks.
Telling the AI how to handle each kind of message
The Instructions tab is where you tell the AI how you want guest messages handled — for example, "If a guest says they'll arrive before 3pm, ask whether they meant to book the night before." The AI reads every box you fill in, along with the kind of message it's for, and follows the ones that match the guest's message.
Click the Instructions tab.
Use Applies to to choose whether you're writing instructions for this listing, one of the listing groups it belongs to, or All listings.
Fill in only the boxes you need. Each box has a short description of which guest messages it covers. There's an All messages box, plus one box for each kind of guest message: Messages before booking, Discount requests, New booking confirmations, Questions from booked guests, Requests from booked guests, Booking changes (dates, early check-in, late checkout, guests, pets), Urgent problems and complaints, Checkout and goodbye messages, and Messages after a cancellation.
Click Save. To remove an instruction, clear its box and save.
Each box can hold up to 500 characters, and you can insert tags like {{Check-In Time}} — they're filled in for each guest.
💡 When boxes disagree, this listing's box wins over its listing group's, and a group's box wins over the one for all your listings. Under each box you can see the text it inherits from the listing's groups and from all your listings, so you know what you're overriding.
When an instruction or fact has conditions
Some of your instructions and facts only allow something under certain conditions — for example, "Late checkout until noon is fine on weekdays." Before the AI offers something like this, it checks each condition against the reservation: the check-in and checkout day and time in the listing's local time, the number of nights, guests and pets, and how many days are left until check-in.
In Auto-Send Messages mode, a reply like this is sent automatically only when every condition is met. If a condition isn't met, or the AI can't confirm it, the reply is held for you to review instead of being sent, and you get an email about it. This also applies when the reply turns the request down, so you can check it before it goes out.
In AI Suggestions Only mode, you see the draft as usual and decide whether to send it.
A message rule that uses AI sends the rule's own message text instead of the AI's version when a condition can't be confirmed.
💡 Write conditions the AI can check against the booking — days of the week, times, number of nights, guests, or pets. A condition it can't check from the reservation, like "if the cleaner has finished early," means the reply is held for you.
What else does the AI use as context?
In addition to your instructions, facts, learned questions and answers, and quick replies, the AI looks at the listing's details (title, description, amenities), your active automated message rules, and the previous messages in the conversation thread. When two of your instructions or facts disagree, the more specific one wins: a listing's beats a listing group's, which beats one for all listings.