This guide helps you decide how to show those charges, and how to word the booking confirmation and the message before arrival so nothing comes as a surprise when guests walk in. It also covers short, honest replies for when a guest complains anyway.
What guests write after paying for air con
The extra fee is the main complaint. Guests see a nightly charge for air con in summer heat as a hidden cost, and WiFi billed per device makes it worse. Distance comes next, since some studios are far from town or the resort strip and need a car. A few guests also mention noise from the owners' own rooms in the evening.
- «10 euro per day for air con, weather is 31 degrees. 12 euro for WiFi each device.» Trip.com review, Village Inn Studios
- «Never have I been abroad and had to pay €10 per night for air conditioning!!» Trip.com review, Village Inn Studios
- «The hotel is located a distance from the city center, so it's not recommended for those not driving» Trip.com review, Herodotos Studios
The simplest fix is to include air con and WiFi in the nightly rate. If you must charge, show the fee in the listing title or price breakdown and repeat it in the booking confirmation, never only on arrival. Give real walking and driving times to the beach and town, and send your house rules with exact quiet hours before guests arrive.
Why guest communication on Zakynthos takes so much time
Your guests change as the season goes on. In July and August you host families and groups from across Europe, many on charter flights that land late in the evening. Plenty of Greek guests come over on the ferry from Kyllini, often bringing their own car. In May, June and September you see more couples and visitors looking for walks, quiet villages and nature.
The questions stay remarkably consistent:
- Getting from Zakynthos airport or the port in Zakynthos Town, and what happens when a flight or ferry runs late.
- Car or quad rental, parking at the guesthouse and in town, and the narrow roads to the west coast and mountain villages.
- Boat trips to Navagio (Shipwreck) and the Blue Caves, which beach to pick, and Keri for sunset.
- Loggerhead turtles and the rules on beaches in the National Marine Park.
- Breakfast times, luggage storage, late checkout and good tavernas nearby.
In a small guesthouse, the person answering is usually you or someone in your family. Templates combined with AI give you back a lot of that typing time.
Example: a pre-arrival message for a Zakynthos guesthouse
A good pre-arrival message heads off half of those questions before they're asked. Fill in the brackets with your own details:
Hi [Name], we're looking forward to welcoming you to [Guesthouse] in [village] on [date]!
A few tips for an easy arrival:
Flying in: the airport is about [time] from us. [We can arrange a transfer / Taxis wait outside arrivals / We suggest picking up your rental car at the airport.]
Coming by ferry from Kyllini: you'll arrive at the port in Zakynthos Town, about [time] from us by car.
Check-in is from [time]. If you land late, just send us your flight number and we'll [leave the key at… / wait up for you].
Parking: [free parking in front / street parking close by]. Some roads to the west coast and mountain villages are narrow and winding, so allow a little extra time, especially after dark.
Breakfast is served [time] in [the garden / breakfast room].
Reply to this message with your arrival time or anything you need. Safe travels!
[Your name]
The Template Pack includes this message ready to go in English, Greek, German, French and Italian. You also get the booking confirmation, welcome and check-in, house rules, checkout reminder and review request.
Answer questions using only your own facts
The biggest risk with AI is that it guesses. It might give a wrong ferry time or promise a service you don't offer. The fix is to give it your facts and tell it to stay within them:
You are the host of [Guesthouse] in [village], Zakynthos. Answer the guest's question warmly and briefly, in their language, using ONLY the facts below. If the answer isn't there, say we'll check and get back to them. Facts: [distance to airport/port, parking, breakfast times, beaches you recommend, where to book Shipwreck trips, late checkout policy].
Keep that fact list in one document and update it whenever something changes. Save the answers you send most often as quick replies in WhatsApp Business, Booking.com and Airbnb, so each one is two taps away.
Reviews: polite, honest and short
Future guests read your replies, not only the reviews. Say a guest wrote that the road to your guesthouse was hard to find at night. A good reply could look like this:
Thank you so much for staying with us and for the feedback. You're right, our road isn't easy after dark, especially the first time. We now send every guest a map pin and a photo of our entrance before arrival. We're so glad you enjoyed breakfast in the garden, and we hope to welcome you back to Zakynthos!
The reply thanks the guest, acknowledges the issue without arguing, explains what changed and ends on something positive. The pack includes templates for positive, mixed and negative reviews, with Greek versions of the positive and negative ones, plus 5 rules for answering well.
A listing that speaks to the right guest
Every listing says lovely rooms near the sea. Yours should say what makes your guesthouse different: a quiet village away from the busy strips, a homemade breakfast with local produce, a short walk to a particular beach, family-run hospitality. The pack's 7-part framework and a matching AI prompt help you write listing copy that is honest and specific, without the clichés.
FAQ
Do I need to pay for ChatGPT or Claude?
No. The free versions are enough for everything described here, and the pack's one-page setup guide shows you how to start.
Won't the messages sound robotic?
Not if you personalise them. The templates are written in a natural, human tone, and one of the prompts adapts them to your own voice and your guesthouse's details.
What if I don't speak German or Italian well?
The 6 core guest messages already come in five languages, and a prompt helps you translate your own replies naturally. For anything sensitive, it's still wise to have a fluent speaker check it.
Can someone answer guests automatically for me?
Philoxenia, a WhatsApp guest assistant that answers from your own property details, is in the works. It isn’t available yet and has no price. To hear when it opens, get the free sample and tick “occasional emails”. Free sample →
— Gal Tuvyahu, Promethe