Text alerts are short messages we send to your mobile when something happens with one of your listings. A booking request is the one that matters most, because guests wait and an unanswered request eventually expires.
They are separate from the app alerts in Booking alerts and notifications, and the two behave differently. App alerts need the Bookably Hosts app or an open browser, and reminders are held overnight. A text reaches an ordinary phone with no app at all, and there are no quiet hours, so a text can arrive at any time of day or night. You can use either, or both.
When we text you
- A new booking request arrives. The text says how long you have to approve or decline before the request expires.
- A booking is confirmed and paid. The guest has paid and the stay is locked in.
- A confirmed booking is cancelled, unless you cancelled it yourself. You already know about your own cancellations, so we do not text you about them.
- A guest starts a conversation. So a question does not sit unanswered while you are away from your desk.
We never send marketing by text, and a text is only ever about one of your own listings. Your booking emails carry on exactly as before, whether text alerts are on or off.
What a text looks like
Every text names the listing, and the dates when there is a booking involved. A real one reads like this:
Bookably: new request for Harbour View Apartment, 30/10/2026 – 02/11/2026. Approve or decline within 2 days: bookably.nz/host-assistant/
The deadline shown is whatever the booking expiry is set to, so read the text rather than relying on a number you remember. The link opens the Host Assistant, where you can approve or decline in a couple of taps.
Answer on Bookably, not by text
Replying to one of our texts does not reach the guest. We send from a shared number, it is not a line to your guest, and our texts never need a reply. If you do reply, your mobile provider may charge you for that text.
Open the link and answer there instead. The guest sees it, and the conversation stays on the booking where you can both find it later.
What we never put in a text
A text shows the listing name, and the dates when there is a booking. It never shows the guest’s name, the address, the price, or anything a guest wrote to you. Phones show previews on the lock screen, so the details stay behind a sign-in.
That is also why a message alert tells you a guest has been in touch but not what they said. Bookably will also never ask you to reply to a text with a code, a password or payment details.
Turning text alerts on
Ask the Host Assistant and it will open text alerts in the chat for you, or log in and open Text alerts in your Bookably account. Enter your New Zealand or Australian mobile number, and for an Australian number start with +61.
Tick the box to agree to booking texts and press Send code. We text you a 6-digit code: enter it within 10 minutes and press Verify. Text alerts start straight away, and we send you a short text to confirm.
Changing your number
Open Text alerts in your account, press Change number, and verify the new mobile with the code we text to it. Until then, texts keep going to your current number.
Changing the phone number on your public profile does not move your text alerts, because the two are set separately. Once a change is done we email you, and we send your old number one text to say your alerts have moved, so you would know if someone else made the change. That text deliberately carries no link. If it arrives unexpectedly, email [email protected] or call 0800 448 938.
Turning text alerts off, or replying STOP
Open Text alerts in your account and press Turn off. Texts stop straight away and we email you to confirm. Your number stays verified, so turning texts back on later takes one tap.
You can also reply STOP to a recent Bookably text. This turns text alerts off, but it can take a little while to be processed, and to turn texts back on you verify your number again with a new code. A STOP turns text alerts off for everyone using that mobile, and we email each of them.
Turning texts off changes nothing about how bookings work. Requests still arrive, they still expire on the same schedule, and your emails keep coming.
What it costs
Text alerts are free. Bookably pays for every text and does not charge hosts or guests for them. Our texts never need a reply. If you do reply, your mobile provider may charge you for that text.
If a text does not arrive
Check that your number is verified under Text alerts in your account. Texts only go to New Zealand and Australian mobile numbers, so an overseas mobile will not work even though the rest of your account does.
If you changed your profile phone number recently, check the number under Text alerts as well, because the two are held separately and changing one does not change the other.
Still nothing
Ask the Host Assistant, or email [email protected] and tell us the mobile number you expected the text on, which listing it was about, and roughly when. That is usually enough for us to see where it went.