Redoing confirmation email - what's in yours?

[Morticia]

I'm redoing my confirmations. I want to highlight guests are responsible for wrong dates they booked along with other stuff like breakfast being a sit down affair with no buffet to pick and choose. (We seemed to have a lot of guests last year who thought there was a buffet here.)
What's important to you as a guest to know about your reservation?
What's important to you as the host that the guest needs to know in advance?

 

[Baygirl]

We use "thank you for your deposit" as the confirmation email. In that we ask them to verify the dates that are broken down at the bottom of the email.
What the check in times are. A run down of our cancellation policy again and then we also add attachments that we specify in the body of the email. Things to do, Restaurants and a map of the park with trails that is across the street from us.
Has been working well for us so far.

 

[JerseyBoy]

Aside from a complete breakdown of the dates and pricing, we also include a description of the room they booked (which in our case includes square footage and which floor it is on). We also include a complete set of our policies (same as what is on our website) as well as a set of driving directions. The driving directions are probably less important these days but some people still use them.

 

[gillumhouse]

I include day of week as well as the month, day, and year of the reservation, room, rate (if a package itemize what is in the package), tax rate. In-house coffee list if they are coffee drinkers, check-in time window, cancel policy, and directions.
Friday I got a rez from Australia for Sept for a 2-night from something I did many years ago and thought I stopped. I will honor it - 50% off - since I do not get many calls from Australia (it will be interesting to see how much THAT will cost) and in that confirmation I stated the cost for the first night is the full rate and the second night is $0.00. That way if they decide to stay only 1 night I got the money from the second night - if they stay both nights, they got a bargain.

 

[Jcam]

we put how to get into the car park as it is at the back so if you put in our address postcode
you pull up at the front facing the wrong way,
send someone in to ring the bell and ask how to get into the car park or try and get down the other end of the terrace which you can't its a block of flats -and a 12 foot drop down as the terrace is cut into a bank.
then have to do a massive U turn in a busy road to get round the back - so I say use this postcode which will bring up this street which is the way into the car park and will bring you straight in - works 90% of the time.
Also mean to put in if you don't give us a rough time of arrival we may not be here to check you in or help you park so please let us know - this is then followed up by one the day before.

 

[Generic]

First thing, check out the formats needed by Gmail to be able to automatically add it to their trips. One of the most important pieces of information for that is the date format... Specifically YYYY-MM-DD if possible. But in any case, make sure it's a standard format.
I know that what I have set up works and is automatically seen by Google for a trip.
My subject is the name of the B&B followed by...
Confirmation {{reservationnumber}} - {{arrivalday2digit}}/{{arrivalmonthname}}/{{arrivalyear4digit}} until {{departureday2digit}}/{{departuremonthname}}/{{departureyear4digit}}
then in the email I have something like...
{{guestfirstname}}, your reservation has been confirmed. We show you arriving on {{arrivedayofweek}}, {{arrivaldatelong}} at {{checkintime}} and departing on {{departuredayofweek}}, {{departuredatelong}} before 11AM.
Arrival times
Standard check-in from 3PM to 5:59PM, appointments appreciated
Early-check-in available as of 12:00PM for a fee of $25
After 6PM arrivals, please email us at {{companyemail}} to make arrangements.
Those are the variables needed by ResKey to make the actual document come out. If you want my real format, I can email it to you, you can then copy, paste and modify as you wish.

 

[Arks]

I put the name of my town in the email subject in an effort to get them to realize it's not spam.
I include the arrival and departure dates and ask them to double-check their trip dates to make sure they booked it right.
I give them my contact info, and give an online link to my policies page.

 

[2cat_lady]

Kind of like Generic. Plus....I give VERY SPECIFIC directions. GPS is useless where I am so I include a google maps link so they can input their starting point. I recommend they print out the step by step directions.
I restate my phone number and email address. I will even include the google maps link in my confirmation email as a reminder that it can be challenging to find me. It works because the guests that don't have a problem finding me take great pleasure in telling me how easy it was to follow my directions. The ones that have problems, well, I kindly remind them of all the assistance I tried to provide that they, ahem, ignored. Sometimes I'm lucky and another guest will overhear this conversation and will pipe up about how 'they' didn't have a problem because they paid attention to all the information I gave them, lol!

 

[Morticia]

I just printed out my confirmation. With the header from the email it works out to 2 pages. I'm going to look at all your suggestions and try to cut it down a bit.

 

[EmptyNest]

I just printed out my confirmation. With the header from the email it works out to 2 pages. I'm going to look at all your suggestions and try to cut it down a bit..

2 pages is too long for a confirmation. I would never read all of that and we all know no one reads anyway. JUST THE BASICS please ;-)

 

[NoHoBar]

along with other stuff like breakfast being a sit down affair with no buffet to pick and choose. (We seemed to have a lot of guests last year who thought there was a buffet here.)

They always think that. They are hotel people. It never ends. You can explain it you can show them no matter what they don't get it and expect a self service boofay

 

[Morticia]

I just printed out my confirmation. With the header from the email it works out to 2 pages. I'm going to look at all your suggestions and try to cut it down a bit..

2 pages is too long for a confirmation. I would never read all of that and we all know no one reads anyway. JUST THE BASICS please ;-)
.

2 pages is too long for a confirmation. I would never read all of that and we all know no one reads anyway. JUST THE BASICS please ;-)

A lot of it is spacing problems. I have to see if I can remove a lot of that to get it to one page. If I print it from the program it's one page, from email it's two.

 

[GoodScout]

Thought I would share our whole confirmation email (which includes a folio) for discussion/rants/editing/criticism. Yes, I know it's a long one, but I've had past instances where each item was needed. The folio info is actually formatted two column so the email is shorter than it appears here.
The non-pet room info is repeated intentionally. By listing it twice rather than once, we virtually eliminated the people trying to book non-pet rooms for their dogs.
Dear [FirstName]:
Thank you for choosing the Phineas Swann Bed& Breakfast Inn! Please review your reservation information below and call with any changes.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT PERMIT PETS IN OUR RED, BLUE OR GREEN ROOMS - ONLY OUR SUITES ARE PET-FRIENDLY.
Here are the dates and rooms you have booked:
Guest Name(s):
Address:
Telephone:
Email:
Reservation Number:
Arrival Date: Friday, 1/13/17
Departure Date: Monday, 1/16/17
Number of Nights: 3
Fri, 1/13/17
Mon, 1/16/17
Charge Details
Terrier Suite $787.00
Fri, Jan 13, 2017 — 2 Adults — $269.00
Sat, Jan 14, 2017 — 2 Adults — $259.00
Sun, Jan 15, 2017 — 2 Adults — $259.00
➥ Depart: Mon, Jan 16, 2017
Chocolate-Covered Strawberries $29.95

Subtotal: $816.95
Taxes & Gratuity: $191.58
Total Charges: $1,008.53
Total Payments: $0.00
Remaining Balance: $1,008.53

Please note we often don't charge a deposit in advance as we prefer to ring total charges at the time of our guests' departure. However, we hope you understand that if you are unable to keep your reservation we will need to charge a cancellation fee since we are a small country inn and are often unable to rebook a cancelled room. Our cancellation policy is detailed below.
We very much look forward to your upcoming stay with us at the Phineas Swann. If you have any special requests (i.e. food allergies or preferences, allergies to feathers, restaurant reservations, etc.) please don't hesitate to call us at (802) 326-4306 or email us. You can also "Like" our Facebook page or follow our website to keep tabs on what's happening here at the top of Vermont before your arrival.
We will certainly do everything we can to make sure your stay is a fun and exciting experience.
IMPORTANT WINTER ROAD INFO: During the winter, VT-58 is closed between Lowell & Montgomery Center. If you are arriving from the east, you should plan on using US-2/VT-15/VT-100 and then VT-118 through Hardwick & Morristown, or travel to Jay Peak first and then follow VT-242 down the hill to Montgomery Center. Do not drive VT-58 past Lowell, as the road is blocked five miles in.
Some Policy information:
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT PERMIT PETS IN OUR RED, BLUE OR GREEN ROOMS - ONLY OUR SUITES ARE PET-FRIENDLY.
Check-in: Check-in time is between 3 P.M. and 8 P.M. Late arrivals are certainly OK, but please make prior arrangements if you feel you may be arriving after 8 P.M., and we will be happy to leave your room open and a key in your door. If you feel you will be delayed en route, please take the time to give us a quick call, so we can try to stay up to greet you.
Check-Out: Check-out time is anytime before 11 a.m.
Pets: Dogs are welcome in any of our Suites (Honeymoon, Bulldog, Terrier, Green Mountain, Black Bear or Trout River) but are not allowed in the Main House and its rooms (Red Room, Green Room and Blue Room). There is no additional charge for your first dog. We charge a one-time $25 fee for each additional dog.
Children: Unlike many B&Bs, the Phineas Swann Bed and Breakfast welcomes well-mannered children to enjoy our inn. For safety reasons, we ask that children under the age of 12 not stay in our Blue, Green or Red Rooms. We do not charge extra for children under the age of 6.
Smoking: We are a non-smoking facility. If you wish to smoke, please do so outside on the decks or in the gazebo. There is an outdoor ashtray attached to the wall of the Carriage House, and ashtray stanchions on the decks of our River House.
Wine & Beer: Wine & beer are available for sale at extremely reasonable prices to all guests 21 and over. Unfortunately, Vermont law prohibits bringing your own alcohol onto the premises. Please respect our desire to adhere to state law.
Extra Guests, Families: All rates are based on double occupancy. For suites that accommodate 3, 4, 5 and even 6 people, we charge $20 per day for each additional guest over the age of 6.
Taxes & Gratuity: A 9% Vermont rooms and meals tax is applicable to all rates. A 15% gratuity will be added to all rooms and suites.
Cash Discount: We do offer a 3% discount off your bill if you pay in full in U.S. currency. Please ask for the discount at check-out.
Cancellations: Deposits are fully refundable less a 10% fee with a 30 day or more notice, and are otherwise not refundable. Cancellations less than 30 days out are charged the full amount of the stay and are issued a gift certificate for the full amount minus a 10% cancellation fee. Due to the small size of our Inn, it is often hard for us to re-book your rooms if a reservation is not cancelled in advance. We often have to turn many people away for peak periods, but most of our guests tend to reserve pretty far in advance, so we have very little "walk-in" traffic. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation regarding our policy.
Early Departure: If you need to check out in advance of your full reservation, a cancellation policy of one day’s rate will apply for the remaining days of your confirmed reservation.
We look forward to seeing you and hosting you here at the Phineas Swann!
Best regards,
Darren & Lynne Drevik
Innkeepers
Phineas Swann Bed & Breakfast Inn
195 Main Street
Montgomery Center, Vermont 05471
[email protected]
(802) 326-4306