Before you send text messages to guests, you need proper consent. This isn't just a best practice — it's a carrier requirement enforced through the 10DLC framework. The good news: for hotels, the consent model is straightforward, and Hello Hotel walks you through it during campaign registration.
Hotel SMS falls under transactional/service messaging — you're texting guests about their reservation, check-in details, and property operations. This is different from marketing texts (promotions, deals, newsletters), which have stricter consent requirements.
For transactional hotel messaging, consent is established when a guest provides their phone number as part of the booking process and agrees to your Terms of Service. This is called implied consent — by booking a room and sharing their number, the guest reasonably expects to receive service-related communication from your property.
That said, carriers still require that your consent process is documented. That's where your Terms of Service and Privacy Policy come in.
During campaign registration, Hello Hotel provides you with SMS consent language to add to your hotel's Terms of Service. The wizard generates this for you — just copy it and add it to your existing Terms page.
The consent language covers:
That guests agree to receive text messages related to their reservation and stay by providing their phone number and checking in
That message frequency may vary
That standard message and data rates may apply
That consent is not a condition of purchase
How to opt out (reply STOP) and get help (reply HELP)
A reference to your privacy policy
If your hotel doesn't have phones in the rooms, the wizard provides an additional paragraph explaining that the guest's mobile device is the primary way to reach the front desk — reinforcing why SMS is part of the guest experience at your property.
The wizard also provides text messaging policy language for your Privacy Policy. This covers:
That providing a phone number constitutes consent to receive transactional text messages
That messages are transactional, not promotional
That mobile information will not be sold, rented, or shared with third parties for marketing
How to opt out
Contact information for questions
Add this to your existing Privacy Policy page. During registration, you'll paste the URL to your updated Privacy Policy so carriers can verify it.
US carriers require that all business SMS supports three standard keywords. Hello Hotel handles these automatically — you don't need to configure anything.
When a guest texts STOP to your Hello Hotel number, the carrier immediately blocks all future outbound messages from your number to that guest. This happens at the carrier level — Hello Hotel can't override it, and neither can you.
The guest automatically receives a confirmation: "You have been unsubscribed from our messages. Reply HELP for assistance."
This is permanent until the guest opts back in. You'll still see the guest's conversation in Hello Hotel, but any texts you try to send will not be delivered.
If a guest who previously opted out texts START to your number, the carrier block is removed and you can message them again.
The guest receives: "Thanks for subscribing! You'll receive updates about your reservation."
When a guest texts HELP, they receive your property's contact information: "For assistance, text or call us at [your Hello Hotel number]."
For hotel transactional messaging under the Customer Care / Reservation Updates campaign type, these are all valid forms of consent:
Booking with phone number provided — The guest made a reservation and included their phone number, and your Terms of Service include SMS consent language.
Guest texts you first — If a guest initiates a text conversation with your Hello Hotel number, they've given explicit consent by reaching out.
Verbal consent — A guest gives you their number at the front desk and asks you to text them. While verbal consent is valid, it's harder to document — make sure your Terms of Service cover SMS consent as a baseline.
Online check-in — If your PMS online check-in process collects phone numbers and references your Terms of Service, that's consent.
Having a phone number on file — Just because you have a guest's number from a past stay or a third-party booking site doesn't mean you can text them freely. The number needs to have been provided in a context where your SMS terms were available.
OTA contact information — Phone numbers from Booking.com, Expedia, or other OTAs may be relay numbers, not the guest's real number. Even if it's their real number, the OTA booking context didn't include your SMS consent terms.
Purchased or scraped lists — Never send texts to numbers you didn't collect directly through your own booking or check-in process.
Hello Hotel handles the technical compliance (keyword responses, carrier registration, opt-out processing), but the hotel is responsible for:
Adding the SMS consent language to your Terms of Service — the wizard provides the exact copy.
Adding the text messaging policy to your Privacy Policy — also provided by the wizard.
Making both documents accessible on your website — carriers verify these URLs during registration.
Only texting guests who have consented — practically speaking, this means guests who booked through channels where your Terms are visible, or guests who texted you first.
Respecting opt-outs — carriers enforce this automatically, but don't try to work around it by texting opted-out guests from a different number.
Keeping messages transactional — your campaign type covers reservation updates, check-in info, and guest service. Marketing and promotional messages require a separate campaign. See Messaging Restrictions for details.
Update your Terms and Privacy Policy before submitting campaign registration. The wizard asks for URLs to both documents — carriers check them during review. If the pages don't include the SMS language yet, your campaign may be rejected.
You don't need a separate SMS opt-in checkbox. For transactional hotel messaging, consent through your Terms of Service is sufficient. You don't need guests to check an additional box specifically for SMS.
When in doubt, start by texting guests who text you first. If you're unsure about consent for a particular guest, wait for them to text your number. That's the cleanest form of consent.
Don't panic about opt-outs. Most guests who text STOP are responding reflexively to an unfamiliar number, not unhappy with your service. A quick "this is [hotel name]" in your initial message helps prevent unnecessary opt-outs.
