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How do I get my guest's phone number or email address?

  • Updated

What reaches Smoobu depends on the channel the booking came from. Some channels send the guest's real email address, some send a messaging alias instead, and Booking.com no longer sends phone numbers at all. When the detail you need is missing, we recommend asking for it through the online check-in form.

What each channel sends

  • Booking.com. Since 28 September 2026, Booking.com no longer sends guests' phone numbers to channel managers such as Smoobu. Everything else arrives as before, including the guest name, dates, price and status. Numbers Smoobu received before that date stay on their bookings.
  • Airbnb and other channels connected by API. Either a messaging alias or the guest's actual email address is imported with each booking, depending on the channel. There is nothing for you to add.
  • Channels connected by iCal. No guest email address is imported. You add it to the booking yourself, and messages then go to that address.
  • Direct and website bookings. The guest gives you their own details when they book.

Ask the guest with online check-in

An email address is one of the standard check-in fields. A phone number is not, so you add it as a custom field.

  1. Go to Experience > Online Check-in and switch the toggle at the top to Enabled.
  2. In the Main guest section, tick the email field so the form asks for it. Tick any other fields you want to collect, and decide for each one whether it is required or optional.
  3. Click Add custom field. Give it a Label your guest will understand, for example Phone number, add a Placeholder showing the format you want, and set it to Required or Optional. Smoobu does not check what the guest types into this field, so the placeholder is what gets you a number in a format you can use.
  4. Save, then put the [onlineCheckInLink] placeholder into one of your message templates in Experience > Communication so the link reaches the guest. Set up online check-in for your guests covers the whole form.

Where the answers land, and the one that does not

When the guest submits the form, their name, email address, language and address update on the booking itself.

A phone number collected in a custom field does not update the booking's phone field. Custom fields are stored with the check-in record, not merged into the booking, so the booking keeps showing no phone number. You find the answer in the Online check-in details section of the booking's Guest card, and in the TXT and PDF exports behind Edit. It does not reach the guest's contact entry in Contacts either: a number collected this way gets there only when you enter it on the booking yourself. If you want the number on the booking and in the contact, copy it across by hand as described below.

Message your guest when the form arrives

The Online check-in completion trigger in Experience > Communication fires the first time the main guest submits the form, so you can send a welcome message, door code or arrival instructions at that moment instead of guessing when the details will be there.

Add a number or address yourself

Open the booking, click Edit, and fill in the phone number or email field. What you enter yourself stays saved, even when the channel later updates that booking.

Look it up on the channel

For a Booking.com booking, the guest's phone number is still in the Booking.com Extranet and the Pulse app: open the booking there to see it. You can also reach the guest through Booking.com messaging, or through the masked email address Booking.com assigns them.

Common problems

A message will not send because the booking has no email address

Some sends need a real email address on the booking, including PDF attachments to Booking.com guests, and they are blocked until you add one. Add the address to the booking, or ask for it through online check-in. How guest messaging works in Smoobu explains which channels carry what.

A returning guest's number disappeared from a new booking

The contact keeps the phone number you already had, but the new booking arrives without one. Look at the contact record rather than the booking; see Manage your guest contacts.

Still stuck?

If these steps didn't fix it, contact the Smoobu team: open the Help menu to open a ticket or book a call slot, or use the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner. To get the fastest answer, please include:

  • Your Smoobu User ID (in the profile-icon menu, top right).
  • The property name or ID, if it's about one property.
  • The Booking ID, if it's about one booking (Bookings, then View more).
  • The channel name, if it's about channel sync (Booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo, and so on).
  • A short step-by-step: what you did, what you expected, and what happened.
  • Screenshots or a short screen recording of the problem.
  • Your browser and operating system, if something looks wrong on screen.

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