Every Haven listing has a Submit an Inquiry button next to the main booking button. It is always there, whether the listing uses Instant Book or Request to book. Guests who aren't ready to book can send you a question first, with their dates if they have them and without if they don't. No payment is taken and no dates are held.
So guests always have two paths on your listing:
- The booking button, which follows your booking setting: Book now (Instant Book) or Request booking (Request to book)
- Submit an Inquiry, which sends you a message about their dates
You choose Instant Book or Request to book for each listing. The inquiry button is not a third setting. It sits beside whichever mode you pick.
- They have a question before booking (parking, pets, early check-in, a group or event)
- They want to check whether you'll consider dates that don't fit your stay rules
- They want a quote or a discount before paying
- Your listing is on Instant Book, but they would rather talk to you first
Dates are encouraged, not required.
With dates:
- On your listing, the guest picks check-in and check-out dates and the number of guests.
- They click Submit an Inquiry (on the booking card the button reads Inquire).
- They write their message and send it.
- Haven confirms the message reached you. There is no checkout and no charge.
Because an inquiry holds nothing, the guest can book those dates whenever they're still open. Their guidebook, their Trips page, the inquiry emails, and the guidebook assistant all show a Book these dates button. It opens your listing with their dates and party already filled in. The guidebook marks the stay as an Inquiry, not "Awaiting host", because they aren't waiting on you to book.
Without dates:
- The guest clicks Submit an Inquiry (or Inquire) before picking any dates.
- An Ask about this stay sheet opens. At the top it says hosts answer fastest with dates and offers Add dates, which takes them back to the calendar. They can also carry on without dates.
- They enter their name and email (filled in already if they're signed in), their message, and optionally a rough timing ("a week in June, flexible") and how many guests.
- They send. Haven shows "Your inquiry is on its way" and emails them that it reached you.
- You're notified. The inquiry arrives by email at your notification addresses and shows up as a thread under Communication with the guest's dates and party size. An inquiry sent without dates says No dates yet beside the listing name in the thread, carries the guest's rough timing and party size under their message, and its email reads "Dates: Not chosen yet". Its button opens that thread.
- It's in your Calendar inbox too. Calendar → Inbox lists a Guest inquiry card for each one. A dated inquiry opens the reservation; one without dates reads No dates yet and its Reply button opens the thread. The card clears once you open it.
- Nothing is booked. The dates stay open. Inquiries never hold dates, even if you turned on holding dates for pending requests.
- It never expires. Auto-expire only cancels booking requests, never inquiries.
- Sales pitches are filtered out. Inquiries trying to sell you something (SEO, websites, marketing, software, paid TV or magazine features, influencers asking for free stays) skip your inbox and wait in Messages → Filtered, with one email to tell you. They never become a request and never hold dates. See Filtered messages and Contact Information for what's filtered and what always comes through.
Open the thread in Communication, or the inquiry from Calendar → Inbox, and choose one:
- Message the guest. The inquiry's conversation sits in the reservation panel and in Communication → Inbox, the same thread you get on a booking request. Write there as often as you like, before and after you reply or pre-approve. Each message is emailed to the guest, and their replies land in the same thread.
- Reply. Answer the question. The inquiry stays open, and the guest's reply email has a Book these dates button that takes them to your normal booking flow.
- Send and pre-approve. In the same reply box, send your answer and pre-approve the guest in one step. Use this when your answer is yes, even "yes, at the listed price". It works the same way as Pre-approve below, with your reply as the message.
- Pre-approve. Haven holds those nights for the guest and emails them a link to pay for that stay directly, with your optional message and discount code already applied at checkout. On a Request to book listing they don't have to send a second request.
- Send payment link. Hold the nights and send the guest a link to pay, with the dates and price you choose. From the reservation or from the thread header in Communication, the dialog opens on the dates the guest asked about, with your suggested rate already filled in, and converts the inquiry into the held stay. You can change the dates before sending. If the dates you pick are already covered by another booking or hold, the dialog says so. The dialog's Special offer row takes money off under a name the guest sees. See Send a Payment Link.
- Adjust price or fees. Offer a percentage off, an amount off, or new nightly rates for the dates they asked about. Applying it pre-approves the guest at the new total, so the link they get charges the price you set. See Offer a Discount or Change the Price.
Whichever you choose, the reservation stays one click away. The button with the stay's dates in the thread header opens it, so you can check what you quoted or change the price until the guest has paid. If a guest sends a question from your contact form and later requests or books that listing, the same button appears on the original conversation too.
An inquiry sent without dates has no reservation yet, so there is nothing to pre-approve or re-price. Open the thread in Communication and choose one:
- Reply. Answer by email from the thread. Ask for dates, or suggest some.
- Send dates & quote. The button in the thread header opens the Send dates & a quote dialog with the guest and listing filled in and an empty calendar. Pick the dates and the price, add a Special offer if you like, and send. The nights are held, the guest gets a link to pay, and the thread becomes that reservation's thread. See Send a Payment Link.
The guest's confirmation email is the Inquiry submitted (no dates) message under Communication → Message automations → Inquiry. You can edit its wording or switch it off.
There's no penalty for not accepting an inquiry. See Your property, your rules.
| Guest action | Payment | Dates held | Your step |
|---|
| Book now (Instant) | Charged at checkout | Yes, once paid | None |
| Request booking | After you approve | Only if you hold dates for requests | Approve or decline |
| Submit an Inquiry | None | No (yes once you pre-approve) | Reply, pre-approve, or send a payment link |
| Inquiry, no dates | None | No (yes once you send a quote) | Reply, or send dates & a quote |
A listing set to Instant Book still takes inquiries. A listing set to Request to book still takes inquiries. If you want guests to be able to book on the spot and ask questions first, use Instant Book: the inquiry button covers the guests who want to talk to you first.