Guest Communication is a messaging feature dedicated for clients who would like to quickly and easily communicate with their potential and confirmed clients. You can use this to read and write messages and send and receive attachments.

Message - it is the text communication exchanged between the host and guest. It does not contain any specific parameters. The Message type of thread can carry attachments.

You can add attachment to your message and send it together at once, but you can also send the attachment with no message.

Request: Send the Message with attachment

POST threads/{id}/messages
{
    "Body": "message text",
    "AddAttachmentsPayload": [
        {
            "Name": "string",
            "Content": "string"
        },
        {
            "Name": "string",
            "Content": "string"
        }
    ]
}

Body - The text of the Message in the HTML format.
AddAttachmentsPayload - The collection of files that are attached to the message.
Name - The name of the attached file with extension.
Content - The content of the attached file as the Base64-encoded text.

There may be some format and size requirements when sending attachments due to limitations on the sales channels side. Note that it is entirely up to the channels and Rentals United cannot do anything about it. In such a case, you will receive a relevant notification via API. You can check possible errors by using the <a href="https://api.rentalsunited.com/swagger/ui/index#!/Errors/Errors_GetPossibleErrors">GET /api/errors/possible-errors method.</a>

Go to <a href="https://docs.rentalsunited.com/hc/en-gb/articles/33814556645917">Use & Manage via API</a> to read more about communication channels that support attachments as well as format and size limits.<br /><br />

Guest Reviews is the next feature that can be used through Rentals United REST API. With this solution, you can start writing and receiving the reviews directly via API. You will no longer need to log into the Airbnb dashboard to check for new reviews or respond to them.

Note: Guest Reviews come as separate threads and should not be mistaken with Guest Communication.

Guest Review thread becomes available in a few hours after the reservation has ended, depending on the Airbnb processing time.

Review - first message (from host and guest) in the Guest Review thread, consisting of the mandatory Review and CategoryRatings fields. Review can be sent within 14 days, then the review period expires. Reviews sent after that time frame will not be accepted by Airbnb. Note that reviews in Airbnb are double-blind. This means that the review's content will be available for you only after the review is published in Airbnb. The reviews are published in Airbnb if: a) two reviews were submitted,
b) one review was submitted and the review period has ended.

Request: Send the Review

POST threads/{id}/messages
{
    "Body": "{\"Review\":\"this is review from api\",\"PrivateFeedback\":\"this is private feedback from api\",\"CategoryRatings\":{\"cleanliness\":1,\"communication\":2,\"respect_house_rules\":3},\"IsReviewRecommended\":true}"
}

Body - Container object for Review.
Review - Text of the public review to be published on Airbnb.
PrivateFeedback - Private feedback available only for the guest and host.
CategoryRatings - Container object for standard Airbnb rating categories used to rate the stay.
cleanliness - Category rating type.
communication - Category rating type.
respect_house_rules - Category rating type.
IsReviewRecommended - Information if you recommend this guest.

For Airbnb Host Reply, the expected payload contains single "Reply" field:

Request: Send the Reply

POST threads/{id}/messages
{
    "Body": "{\"Reply\":\"response from api\"}"
}

Body - Container object for Reply.
Reply - Text of the public reply to be published on Airbnb as a response to Review.

All fields presented in the sample in both Airbnb Host Review and Reply are mandatory. Not providing any of those fields will result in an error.