Guest Portal

The Guest Portal is a beautiful, mobile-first webpage that every guest receives after they book with you. Think of it as your own branded guest app — except there's nothing to download. Guests just tap a link and everything they need for their stay is right there.

Automatic for Every Booking

The portal is created automatically for every reservation, no matter where the booking came from — Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, your direct website, or a manual reservation. Vanio AI shares the link with guests through your welcome messages, or you can send it manually any time.

Preview What Guests See

Before guests arrive, you can preview exactly how your portal will appear to them after they've completed verification. Click "Preview Guest Portal" from any reservation to see the complete check-in experience — access codes, instructions, and knowledge base articles — all displayed exactly as your verified guests will see them.

Note: The preview always shows the full verified guest experience, including door codes and sensitive information, so you can confirm everything looks perfect. This preview represents what guests see after completing verification, not what unverified guests see initially.

Verification Made Simple

You decide what guests need to complete before check-in. Turn any of these steps on or off per property:

• Name, email, phone, and address
• Government ID upload — passport or driver's license, with details pulled in automatically
• Selfie matching — a quick live photo compared against the ID
• Additional guest details — names and ages of everyone staying
• Estimated arrival time — so your team and cleaners can plan
• House rules and rental agreement — signed digitally
• Damage protection — waiver or refundable deposit

Guests can pause and come back later without losing their progress.

Verification Required for Access Codes

Important: For security, guests must complete identity verification before Vanio AI shares any door codes, building entry codes, or WiFi passwords. This prevents guests from receiving outdated or incorrect access information that could cause lockouts.

When unverified guests ask for access codes through messaging:

• Vanio AI will not provide any codes until verification is complete
• Guests are automatically directed to complete verification in their portal
• Once verified, all access codes become immediately available
• The system always provides the most current, accurate codes from your live property settings

This security gate applies whether guests ask through the portal chat, text messages, or any other communication channel.

Returning Guests Skip Ahead

If a guest has stayed with you before and already verified, the portal remembers them. Their ID, selfie, and personal info carry over automatically. They only handle the stay-specific steps — arrival time, extra guests, house rules — turning a five-minute process into about thirty seconds. It's a small touch that makes repeat guests feel recognized.

Upsells Guests Can Buy Themselves

The portal quietly sells extras without anyone having to ask:

• Early check-in — only offered when the property is actually ready
• Late checkout — only offered when no one is arriving right after
• Mid-stay cleaning — suggested automatically on longer stays
• Custom add-ons — airport pickup, grocery stocking, baby gear, champagne on arrival, anything you want to offer

You set the price per property and can show different options on different booking channels. Every purchase creates a task for your team and flows into your revenue reports.

When You Decline an Early Check-In or Late Checkout Request

When you decline a guest's early check-in or late checkout request, Vanio AI handles everything automatically:

• The request disappears from the guest's portal — they won't see a rejected request lingering; it's simply gone.
• The guest is refunded automatically — if the guest's card was charged, the payment is refunded. If the charge was only a temporary hold (never fully captured), the hold is released immediately. Either way, the guest owes nothing.
• No action is needed on your part — once you click Decline, the payment processing and portal cleanup happen in the background.

[Screenshot: Operator decline confirmation with the request removed from the guest portal view]

Note: If you previously declined a request and noticed the charge seemed to remain or the request stayed visible, this has been fixed. Declined requests now always resolve correctly for the guest.

Damage Protection

Pick the model that fits your property:

• Damage waiver — a small non-refundable fee that covers accidental damage up to a limit
• Refundable deposit — held on the guest's card and released after checkout if everything's fine

Guests accept the terms inside the portal before check-in.

Door Codes and Location Details at Check-in

For security, door codes and smart lock access don't appear the moment a guest books. The portal reveals them when your check-in window opens — so codes aren't floating around for weeks before arrival. Once the reveal window is active, guests can clearly see:

• Door access codes — keypad combinations, lockbox codes, or smart lock instructions
• Exact property location — street address and map coordinates for easy navigation
• Check-in instructions — step-by-step directions for getting inside

Guests always know exactly when these details will become available, and they're displayed prominently once the time comes.

Access Codes in Check-in Instructions

Many hosts store door codes, lockbox numbers, or building entry codes as custom variables and reference them inside their check-in instructions (for example, a line like "Your lockbox code is {{custom.fixedCode}}"). These codes now follow the same reveal-time rules as your smart lock and lockbox codes — they won't appear in the guest's portal until your configured reveal window opens before check-in.

Before the reveal window opens, guests will see 🔒 Available closer to check-in in place of the code. Once the reveal time is reached, the actual code appears automatically — no action needed on your part.

What counts as a code-bearing variable? Vanio AI applies this protection to custom variables that:

• Belong to the codes category (the most common case — lockbox numbers, door codes, building entry codes)
• Have been marked as sensitive in your custom variable settings
• Contain text that reads as an entry code, even if filed under a different category

Non-code variables — like your WiFi password or house guide details — are not affected and remain visible to guests at all times after verification.

If a guest reports seeing 🔒 Available closer to check-in: This is expected behavior before your reveal window opens. Let them know their code will appear automatically once the window is active. If the reveal time has already passed and they still see the placeholder, contact support.

[Screenshot: Check-in instructions showing the 🔒 Available closer to check-in placeholder before the reveal window, and the actual code after]

Everything About the Stay in One Place

Once inside the portal, guests have:

• WiFi network and password (after verification)
• A full property guide — how the coffee machine works, where the trash goes, quirks of the heating
• Local recommendations — your favorite restaurants, cafes, beaches, hikes
• Check-in and checkout instructions
• A direct line to message you

No more guests texting at midnight asking for the WiFi.

Smart Guest Communication

When guests message you through the portal, Vanio AI works behind the scenes to help with responses:

• Automatic AI responses — your AI assistant analyzes guest messages and can respond immediately for common questions
• Verification-gated information — AI automatically ensures only verified guests receive sensitive access codes and WiFi passwords
• Magic login links — every portal link sent to guests includes secure login tokens so they never get stuck on login screens
• Team notifications — when you or your team reply directly through the portal, everyone stays in the loop with proper notifications
• Seamless handoffs — AI handles routine questions while flagging complex issues for your personal attention
• Full message history — every conversation is saved and accessible to your whole team

Guests get faster responses, and you get fewer interruptions for simple questions that AI can handle perfectly.

Works Like an App

Guests can add the portal to their phone's home screen with one tap. After that it opens like any other app — full screen, no browser bar. You can also send push notifications straight to their phone for things like "Your door code is ready" or "Check-in opens in one hour."

Branded to You

The portal is your brand, not Vanio's. Upload your logo, pick your colors, and point it at your own custom domain so the link guests see matches your business name. Everything feels like a polished product from your company.

Easy Login for Everyone

Guests sign in with their phone number or, if they don't have a phone handy, a magic link sent to their email. No passwords to remember. Every portal link you send automatically logs guests in with secure verification tokens.

Setting It Up

Everything is configured with a few clicks in your Vanio settings:

1. Open Settings → Guest Portal
2. Upload your logo and pick your brand colors
3. Toggle the verification steps you want
4. Turn on the upsells you'd like to offer and set prices
5. Choose your damage protection model
6. Set when door codes and location details should be revealed
7. Point your custom domain at the portal (optional)

From that point on, every new booking gets its own portal automatically — and your guests get a first-class experience from the moment they book until the day they leave.

Tips & Best Practices

• Always require ID verification for properties with high-value access codes or smart locks
• Set clear expectations in your welcome message about when access codes will be available
• Test the verification flow yourself to ensure it's smooth for guests
• Use the portal preview to verify that check-in instructions and knowledge base articles display correctly
• File code variables in the correct category — when creating custom variables that hold door codes, lockbox numbers, or building entry codes, set their category to Codes. This ensures they're protected by your reveal-time settings and never shown to guests too early.
• Use custom domain to build trust and reinforce your brand
• Decline upsell requests promptly — when you decline an early check-in or late checkout, the guest's payment is released immediately and the request disappears from their view right away, so there's no reason to leave requests pending.

Common Questions

Q: What happens if a guest tries to check in without completing verification? A: They won't be able to access door codes, WiFi passwords, or other sensitive information until verification is complete. Vanio AI will guide them to finish the process.

Q: Can guests complete verification on the day of arrival? A: Yes, but it's better to encourage earlier completion. Verification typically takes 2-3 minutes, but you don't want guests standing outside your property trying to upload an ID.

Q: Do returning guests need to verify again? A: No, if they've already verified their identity with you before, that verification carries over to future stays. They'll only need to complete stay-specific steps.

Q: Why does the portal preview show access codes even when the guest hasn't verified yet? A: The preview is designed to show you exactly what verified guests will see — including all check-in content, access codes, and knowledge base articles. This helps you confirm everything is set up correctly before guests arrive.

Q: What happens to a guest's payment when I decline their early check-in or late checkout request? A: The guest is refunded automatically as soon as you decline. If their card was fully charged, they receive a refund. If the charge was only a temporary hold, the hold is released immediately. The request also disappears from the guest's portal view — they won't see it listed as declined.

Q: A guest says they see "🔒 Available closer to check-in" instead of their door code. Is something wrong? A: No — this is intentional. Your portal is set to reveal access codes only within a certain window before check-in, and that window hasn't opened yet. The code will appear automatically once the reveal time is reached. If the scheduled reveal time has already passed and the placeholder is still showing, please contact support and we'll look into it.

Q: My check-in instructions reference a custom variable with a door code. Will that be protected too? A: Yes. Any custom variable that holds an access code — whether it's categorized as Codes, marked as sensitive, or detected as containing an entry code — is now protected by the same reveal-time rules as your smart lock and lockbox codes. Guests won't see the value until your reveal window opens.