"Do you have a room, and what does it cost?" is the e-mail hotels get most often. In our own small seaside hotel in Sweden it was the most common type of guest e-mail over two years, almost one in four. It looks simple, but it is also where small slips, like answering only one of two nights or forgetting the price, quietly send guests to another hotel or an online travel agency.
What the guest actually wants to know
Behind a short availability question there are usually five questions. Answer all five and the guest can book straight away:
- Is there a room for me on each of my nights? Not just "some" of them.
- What does it cost in total?
- What is included? Breakfast, parking, taxes, extra beds.
- What if my plans change? The cancellation terms.
- How do I book? A link, or "just reply yes".
If you cannot offer what they asked for, add a sixth: what can you offer instead?
Template 1: Available for all nights
Template: room available
Thank you for your inquiry — we'd love to have you.
Yes, we have a [room type] available from [arrival day and date] to [departure day and date], [number] nights for [number of guests].
The total price is [total price], with [breakfast included / breakfast available for a fee]. [One line about the room, e.g. double bed and sea view.]
Cancellation is free until [cancellation deadline].
To book, use this link: [booking link], or simply reply "yes" and we'll confirm the room for you. We can hold it until [time and day].
Warm regards,
[Your name]
[Hotel name]
Template 2: Some nights available
Template: partly available
Thank you for your inquiry.
[Night 1]: we have a [room type] available.
[Night 2]: unfortunately we are fully booked in that room type.
Here is what we can offer instead:
• [Option A, e.g. a different room type for both nights]: [total price]
• [Option B, e.g. only the night that is available]: [total price]
• [Option C, e.g. the same stay on other dates]: [total price]
[Breakfast is included / What is included.] Cancellation is free until [cancellation deadline].
Just reply with the option you prefer and we'll confirm it straight away, or book directly here: [booking link].
Warm regards,
[Your name]
[Hotel name]
Template 3: Fully booked, with alternatives
Template: fully booked with alternatives
Thank you for thinking of us[, and how nice that you want to come back].
Unfortunately we are fully booked on [requested dates]. The nearest dates we have available are:
• [Alternative dates 1]: [room type], [total price]
• [Alternative dates 2]: [room type], [total price]
If your dates are fixed, we'd be happy to put you on our waiting list and e-mail you straight away if a room becomes free.
You can always see live availability at [booking link].
Warm regards,
[Your name]
[Hotel name]
Template 4: We need a little more information
Template: need more information
Thank you for your inquiry — we'd love to help.
To give you the right room and an exact price, could you tell me:
• your arrival and departure dates
• how many adults and children (and the children's ages)
• [any other detail you need, e.g. bed preference]
To give you an idea already now: [short answer, e.g. we have double rooms free most nights that week, from [price] per night including breakfast].
Warm regards,
[Your name]
[Hotel name]
Even when you need more details, answer what you can in the same e-mail. A reply with only questions in it costs the guest another round and another day.
Example: how BookingWatch answers
An illustrative example of a two-night inquiry where one night is tight, and the reply BookingWatch drafts from the hotel's live availability, rates and policies:
Guest e-mail · Double room 12–14 June?
Do you have a double room for two adults from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 June? What would it cost, and is breakfast included?
Thanks,
Thomas
Reply drafted by BookingWatch
Thank you for your message — we'd be glad to have you.
Friday 12 June: our standard double rooms are available.
Saturday 13 June: the standard doubles are fully booked, but a double room with sea view is free both nights.
So you don't have to change rooms, I suggest the sea-view room for both nights: €149 on Friday and €169 on Saturday, €318 in total, breakfast for two included. Cancellation is free until 3 days before arrival.
You can book it here: [booking link], or just reply "yes" and I'll reserve it for you. If you'd rather have a standard double, we have one free both nights the following weekend, 19–21 June, for €278 in total.
Warm regards,
Anna
Hotel Seaview
Real examples from our hotel
Three real availability inquiries from our own small seaside hotel in Sweden, with the replies we actually sent. Names are changed and dates removed. They show the same kind of question getting very different answers.
Guest e-mail
We're wondering if you have any double rooms free for two nights in early September. We can't get anything to come up for those dates on your website?
Kind regards
Maria & Johan
PS: we've stayed with you before
Our reply
Unfortunately we are fully booked on those dates.
Kind regards,
Anna (reception)
Hotel Seaview
What we learned
Fast and clear, but a returning guest got nothing to go on: no other dates, no waiting list and no thank you for wanting to come back. Two extra lines could have kept them, either on other dates or on the waiting list.
Guest e-mail
I would like to make a reservation request:
I am looking for accommodations for three people, either 1 double room and 1 single room, or is there a larger apartment where three people can stay (with a separate 'single room' inside)? You also have the twin room with an interconnected door.
A sea view is not necessary.
The dates are the night of a Friday through Saturday in July.
Alternatively, we could arrive a day earlier if you are fully booked.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
David
Our reply
We have a double and a single room available for this night. The total cost is 4038 kr and breakfast is included.
You can cancel for free up until 3 days before arrival. Would you like to book these rooms?
Warm regards,
Anna (reception)
Hotel Seaview
What we learned
A complete answer in four sentences: which rooms, total price, what is included, cancellation terms and a clear question to book. The weak point was timing. The inquiry came in on a Sunday evening and the answer the next morning, which is a long wait for a guest who may have asked other hotels too.
Guest e-mail
Best regards, Anna
Our reply
Unfortunately we are fully booked on the night to Monday.
Kind regards,
Anna (reception)
Hotel Seaview
What we learned
The guest asked about two nights and the price. The reply covered one night. It did not say whether Saturday was free, gave no price and offered no alternative, such as Saturday only or another weekend. This is very likely a lost booking.
What a complete reply contains
Use this as a checklist before you press send:
| Part of the reply | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| An answer for each night asked about | "Fully booked on Sunday" leaves the guest guessing about Saturday | "Friday: available. Saturday: only the sea-view room." |
| Room type that fits the party | Shows you read the e-mail (adults, children, beds) | "A double and a single room for the three of you" |
| Total price | The number the guest compares with other hotels | "€318 in total for two nights" |
| What is included | Avoids a follow-up question and surprises at checkout | "Breakfast for two and parking included" |
| Cancellation terms | Makes it easier to say yes now | "Free cancellation until 3 days before arrival" |
| A clear way to book | Turns interest into a booking | "Book here: [link], or just reply yes" |
| How long you hold the room | Avoids disappointment if it is gone | "We'll hold it until 6 pm tomorrow" |
| Alternatives if full | Keeps the conversation going | Other dates, another room type, waiting list |
| Answers to everything else in the e-mail | Saves another round of e-mails and another day | Dog, extra bed, parking, arrival time |
What our own hotel's inbox shows
We went through two years of guest e-mail to our own small seaside hotel in Sweden (10 rooms). It is one small hotel, so the numbers illustrate rather than prove, but the patterns are worth knowing:
- The most common guest e-mail. 212 of 900 guest e-mails (23.6%) were mainly availability and price inquiries, almost twice as many as the next most common topic, pets (110). Counting every e-mail that touches on dates and prices, it was about 295.
- Strongly seasonal. Guest e-mail peaks in May–August. January 2026 stood out with 23 availability inquiries, more than any other month in the period, compared with 4 in January 2025. Guests were planning the summer early.
- Many arrive when nobody is at the desk. 45.7% of all guest e-mails came in outside weekday office hours (08–17), including evenings, nights and weekends.
- Not everyone writes in Swedish. About a third of guest e-mails were in English, Danish, Norwegian or another language. Reply in the guest's language if you can.
- Our own reply times varied a lot. For new availability inquiries, the median time to our first reply was 1 h 22 min, and 24.8% were answered within an hour. For 36.6% we found no e-mail reply at all. That figure overstates how many went unanswered, since some were answered by phone, through booking sites' messaging or from another address, but some certainly fell through.
We also tried to see whether faster replies led to more bookings. The data could not show it reliably: many guests book on the website, through a booking site or by phone, often with a different e-mail address, so the booking does not appear in the e-mail thread. Many replies were also "sorry, we are full". So we do not claim a number here. What the examples above do show is that a complete reply leaves the guest with something to say yes to, and an incomplete one does not. More on timing in how fast hotels should reply to booking inquiries.
Source: BookingWatch analysis of 900 anonymised guest e-mails to the founders' hotel, October 2024 – October 2026. Categories are assigned automatically, so counts are approximate.
Common mistakes
- Answering only one of the nights the guest asked about.
- Leaving out the price, or giving a price per night without the total.
- "Fully booked" with nothing else: no other dates, no other room type, no waiting list.
- Not mentioning what is included or the cancellation terms, which leads to another e-mail.
- Ending without a next step, so the guest has to ask how to book.
- Answering the next morning an inquiry that came in the evening, when the guest has already asked other hotels.
- Not noticing a returning guest. A short "lovely that you want to come back" costs nothing.