Message Assist supports you in the guest inbox: it drafts replies for you, flags messages that look urgent, and — if you switch it on — can answer routine questions automatically.
AI Draft Replies
Instead of writing every answer from scratch, you can have a draft generated from the conversation.
Open the Conversation
Go to the message thread for a booking.
Generate a Draft
Start the draft generation. Stayoa looks at the most recent messages in the thread and writes a short, friendly reply in your voice.
Review and Insert
The draft appears clearly labelled as a draft. Read it, and click Insert to move it into your reply box — or Dismiss it if it doesn't fit.
Edit and Send
Adjust the wording as you like, then send it yourself.
A draft only ever lands in your reply box after you click Insert. It is never sent automatically and never pre-filled into the send flow.
Good to know:
- Short by design: Drafts are kept to a few sentences so they stay easy to skim and edit
- Context-aware: The draft is based on the latest messages in that specific conversation
- Fully editable: Nothing in the draft is fixed — rewrite as much as you want
Urgency Flagging
Every incoming guest message is automatically checked for urgency.
What counts as urgent:
- Signs of frustration or a complaint
- An urgent problem, e.g. no access to the property
- An emergency or clear time pressure
What happens:
- The message is marked in your inbox so you spot it at a glance
- Nothing else changes — the message is delivered normally
- Auto-reply is skipped for that message (see below)
The urgency flag is purely a visual heads-up for you. It never blocks a message, never escalates anything on its own, and never notifies the guest.
Auto-Reply
Auto-reply lets Stayoa answer clear routine questions on your behalf. It is opt-in and switched off by default, and it is configured per property.
Turning It On
- Open the Auto-reply button in the header of a message thread
- Switch Auto-reply on
- The setting applies to the property that thread belongs to
Guardrails
Once it is on, you control how cautious it is:
- Paused: Temporarily stops all automatic replies for that property without losing your settings
- Minimum confidence: Only messages the system is confident enough about get an automatic reply. Everything below your threshold stays for you to answer. Move the slider up to be more conservative, down to let more through
- Max. auto-replies per day: A daily cap per property. Once it is reached, no further automatic replies go out that day
In addition, two rules always apply and cannot be switched off:
- Never on urgent messages: Anything flagged as urgent is always left for you personally
- Only routine questions: Anything the system isn't clearly confident about stays unanswered rather than being guessed at
Full Transparency
- Every automatically sent reply appears in the thread like any other message
- It carries a clear "Auto-replied by AI" badge
- Nothing is hidden from you — you can always follow up in the same conversation
If you're trying auto-reply for the first time, start with a high minimum confidence and a low daily cap, then watch the replies in your threads for a few days before loosening it.
Availability
Message Assist — draft replies, urgency flagging and auto-reply — is available in the Pro and Scale plans.
| Plan | Message Assist |
|---|---|
| Starter | Not available |
| Pro | Available |
| Scale | Available |
On the Starter plan, the guest inbox works normally — only the AI assistance is unavailable.