HI All- I’m a new host and wonder how others deal with guests who don’t respond to the welcomer/self check in information message sent two days prior to check-in? I sent the message and also texted the guest and have received no response. I’m wondering if the guest will try to cancel last minute or what might be going on… Thanks!
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Could be anything from inattention to gross stupidity. You cannot begin to guess what a guest is up to and there’s no sense worrying or trying to second guess anything. When they show up and can’t get in, you’ll know what happened.
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Here’s a recent post on a similar topic:
Though I doubt they are traveling internationally right now I often run into this when I’m traveling internationally.
Now I’ll communicate a week before telling them when I will be unable to access the app. This prompts them to either send checkin info earlier or not expect anything until the day of the booking.
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I do not worry about it.
I would not care, I would be paid anyway with my strict policy.
RR
Don’t worry about it. If you’ve specifically asked the guest to respond then you’ve just got some inconsiderate people coming. Or they could be travelling in an area where they have no signal/internet.
You’ll also get people who contact you far too much and drive you crazy! Most will be fine. 
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I think guests are particularly busy leading up to a trip, I know I am when I travel. Of course there are some guests who will respond, “thanks…” right away when you send the information but I find that the majority respond the day of travel (when they are already “off”). If you include something in your message requesting an ETA, then it is even more likely that they’ll wait to respond once they are into their travels.
And some guests just don’t communicate until they need something or when they leave.
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I had that happen alot. It amazes me too. How ignorant or rude can they be??
Yesterday’s non-communicators (no answers at all over the three months between booking and check-in except to ask a month ago if they could smoke*) did not show up for their one-night stay.
I threw in an “Are you okay” and “I’ll continue to watch for you” message after dark last night just to show a future CS agent my care and concern for the sort of people who ghost you except to ask to break your rules. This was in case of an after-the-fact refund request.
I got paid today and didn’t have to clean up after anyone. It’s a happy ending. For now.
*Their message was, “Can we smoke? Have a fantastic day.”
My answer was no, and I asked them to take a look at the other rules as well and to let me know what they decided about cancelling or keeping the reservation.
I had an okay, but not fantastic, day. 
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Many guests will not reply and some will only reach out to you if they need something, like an early check in or late check out. I wouldn’t worry.
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Absolutely my experience too.
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Many of my guests don’t respond to my final instructions. I really don’t care since they include the door code to the apartment If can get in then they received them. I have never had a time when a guest who hadn’t acknowledged my welcome message then askin me later for instructions on how to get in.
If the leave the place tidy then I don’t really care if they don’t message me.
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I had an issue with some guests that weren’t replying. Instead of replying via the Airbnb app they were replying to the alert via text message. After multiple messages to them they finally contact me and ask how to they get in ask “why am I sending them messages from a Russian number”. This rings alarm bells so I contact Airbnb and cancel the booking.
It turns out that the first time Airbnb users had somehow registered there location as Russia and had been getting the Airbnb alerts from a Russian number.
Sorry I forgot to mention, it’s good to add “please make sure you reply using the Airbnb app” when communicating with them.
I don’t ask guests to reply using the app because I feel that it’s unrealistic. In the same way that I want guests to be comfortable when they are staying in one of the rentals, I want them to be comfortable using the method of communication they feel happiest with.
Most of the time this is via text. And if I feel that any of the messages between us could be needed in a later dispute of any sort, then I screenshot the conversation although this is rare.
Text messages, email, phone conversations can all be summarised in the app by the hosts if he/she feels it necessary.
Guests who are uncommunicative, especially on check-in day, are probably my No. 1 guest peeve. This is especially true in cold weather because I light a woodstove fire for guests and need to know their ETA so I know when to light it. I recently added a plea to both my booking welcome message and house rules: “Please check for messages from me on check-in day,” and I swear the situation has been even worse since then. Much firewood wasted on guests who don’t tell me their arrival time.
I realize I don’t have to light a fire, but I really consider it a major part of a welcoming arrival. I also want to model using the woodstove to supplement heat in the house. (In fact, I’m always trying to come up with a similar way to make an impression in the warmer months).
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I’d be too chicken to leave a fire in an unattended wood stove.
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@KKC, I get that, but my house is on the same property, and I check the fire frequently, partly to add more logs to it.
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Whew! I feel better now. 
When I lived in Canada, my woodstove held a fire for 14 hours. So it went all night when everyone was asleep (of course I had smoke alarms) and I would often go out all day or even overnight with the fire on. In cold places you don’t ever let the stove go out in the winter.
Of course you have to get your chimney and pipes cleaned every year, and I had a metal sheet attached to the wall behind it with an airspace of at least 4 inches, so the wall couldn’t get hot, a tile floor under and around the stove, and never left anything flammable near it.
But back in the day there were these little thin-walled woodstoves, I can’t remember the brand name, that were dangerous to leave going unattended. They used to be referred to as hippie-killers.
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