How do hotels message OTA guests who have no phone number?
Ask for it at the first touch. OTA bookings often arrive with a relay email address and sometimes no mobile number. Where the number is real, use it. Where it is missing, the first message goes to the contact the booking does carry and asks for a number, and it never costs the guest anything to reply.
Biteluxe · updated September 2026The booking does not carry what you need.
OTAs pass on relay email addresses and, sometimes, no mobile number at all. The guest is still coming to you. The booking just does not carry what you need to reach them.
Use what is real, ask for what is missing.
Where the phone number on the booking is real, we use it. Where it is missing, we ask for it at the first touch. A guest who holds two bookings back to back is treated as one stay, so they get one welcome.
Whichever the guest will answer.
Guests reach you on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, live chat, voice AI, email and OTA messaging. Email stays right for confirmations and anything the guest may need to find again.
Follow-up questions
Does it cost the guest to reply?
No. Replying never costs the guest anything.
What if the guest prefers email?
Then email it is. Each channel does the job it is best at, and one journey can use several.
Other questions hotels ask.
Should hotels send pre-arrival messages by WhatsApp or email?
Both, for different jobs. Email keeps the record, and a conversation gets the answer.
Read the answerWhat is the WhatsApp 24-hour window, and what does it mean for hotels?
Free replies for 24 hours after the guest's last message. Outside it, approved templates only.
Read the answerWhen should hotels send pre-arrival offers?
Between 24 and 72 hours before arrival. Positive response peaked at 51.2% the day before.
Read the answerWhat are your guests trying to do that is harder than it should be?
Bring us the action, the brand, the awkward systems and the operational reality. We will shape the message for each channel and build the easiest route through them.
Show us where guests get stuck. Nothing to prepare. Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need us.