Group messaging lets you text with more than one person in a single conversation thread — a couple coordinating their stay, a wedding party, or a guest plus your manager's line. Everyone in the group sees the same messages, and replies from any participant land in the same thread.
Group messaging works on the web app, the iOS app, and the Android app.
Starting a Group
Start a new conversation as usual
Add more than one recipient — each participant needs a phone number
Send your first message — the thread becomes a group conversation
On mobile, you can create a group the same way, right from the app.
Naming a Group
Groups can be renamed so your team knows who's in them at a glance ("Smith Wedding Party," "Room 12 — Johnsons"). Open the group thread and edit the name from the conversation header. The name is internal — participants don't see it.
Who Can Be in a Group
Guests and contacts — anyone with a phone number
Your other Hello Hotel numbers — group threads can include your property's other lines, so the front desk and a manager's line can be in the same conversation with a guest
If you start a group with the same people as an existing group, Hello Hotel merges the conversation into the existing thread instead of creating a duplicate.
How Group Messages Are Billed
This is important to understand: a group message sends a separate text message to each participant.
When you send one message to a group of five people, five individual SMS messages go out — one to each person. Each of those messages is billed like any other SMS, per segment. So:
A short message (one segment) to a group of five = 5 billed segments
A longer message that splits into two segments, sent to a group of five = 10 billed segments
See Sending a Text Message for how segments work. You can track usage under Settings → Billing & Usage.
Photos and Attachments
You can send photos and files in a group thread the same way you do in a one-on-one conversation — see Sending Photos and Attachments. Keep the billing note above in mind: an attachment goes out to every participant, so the same per-person multiplication applies.
Tips
Name your groups. A named group is much easier for your team to pick out of the conversation list.
Keep group blasts short. Every segment is multiplied by the number of participants, so concise messages keep costs predictable.
Use bulk messaging for announcements. If you want to send the same message to many guests who don't need to see each other's replies, use bulk send from Contacts instead — each guest gets their own private thread.
Questions? Use the chat widget in the app, in this help center, or on hellohotel.co, or email us at [email protected].