Email Templates & Customization

Haven provides professional default email templates for every email type. You can customize any template to match your brand voice — or leave them as-is and they'll work great out of the box.

Template Hierarchy

Haven uses a three-level template system:

Haven default — the built-in template that works for everyone
Your default override — your customized version that applies to all guests
Per-guest override — a one-off customization for a specific scheduled email

When an email is sent, Haven checks for overrides in reverse order: per-guest first, then your default, then the Haven default. The first one found is used.

Editing Templates

Prebuilt booking emails use the same composer as a broadcast, and every part of them is yours to change. A few blocks — the reservation table, arrival details, your other places — are stay blocks: Haven fills their content in for each guest from the reservation, and the editor draws them exactly as a guest will see them, using a sample stay for the listing you are previewing as. Hover one to see Filled in for each guest. You can move a stay block, give it your own heading, choose which rows the reservation table shows, delete it, or put it back from Blocks → Stay details (or type / and pick it). Buttons such as Leave feedback and Open your guidebook are ordinary buttons whose link is a per-guest shortcode ({feedback_url}, {guidebook_url}); edit the words or pick a different per-guest link in the button's dialog. Listing details (the photo, house rules, wifi) come from the property you are previewing as; if a listing has nothing there, that block shows a note, the same way a real send would leave it out. Booking emails have a discount slot that fills only when you attach a code while pre-approving an inquiry. On a retargeting email, the discount is a regular block: add a discount code, change it, or delete it. The same code goes to every guest who receives that email. See Marketing Email Editor for headers, blocks, and branding.

Opening the Editor

Booking messages: go to Communication → Message automations, click a message's name or its Email chip, then Edit email. Back returns you to Message automations.
Marketing automations: go to Marketing → Campaigns → Automations, open the automation, click the email, then Edit email.

The left rail's Emails tab lists the other messages in that flow. Blocks is the insert catalog. See Marketing Email Editor.

What You Can Edit

Subject line — what appears in the guest's inbox
The whole body — headings, paragraphs, photos, in-sentence links, buttons, a Stay in touch form button, and any other block
Letterhead — the same header styles a broadcast has
Brand — the closed row at the top of the left rail. It shows the logo, colors, and fonts. Open it to pick a listing or collection. Changes stay on this email. On a stay email, Each listing follows that reservation’s listing; Same look uses the one you pick. See Marketing Email Editor.
Stay blocks — the listing name, the reservation table, arrival details, checkout list, add-ons, other places. Move them, retitle them, pick the rows the reservation table shows, delete them, or add them from Blocks → Stay details. Their content fills in per guest.
Stay dates — every booking email a guest gets names the dates of their stay. The Listing name block puts them on the line under the listing and its location (for example Fri, Oct 16 – Sun, Oct 18, 2026). When the email also has the reservation table showing check-in and check-out, the dates appear there instead, so they are never shown twice. Win-back emails never carry stay dates.
Saved components — from Blocks, press Create custom component, select the blocks, then Create component. They show at the top of the left sidebar. See Marketing Email Editor.

If you delete the reservation table, the email simply goes out without it — Haven does not put it back. Reset to default restores Haven's layout at any time.

Timing

For emails that send relative to check-in, checkout, or booking date:

Booking messages: on Communication → Message automations, click the message's timing line and set the days (and, on the steps that take one, the hour).
Marketing automations: on Marketing → Campaigns → Automations, open the automation, select the step, and use the day stepper in the right panel. To put a pause between two steps, press + on the connector and add a Wait. It takes days plus hours, so a step can follow another by 6 hours or by 3 days.

Changing timing reschedules future sends for that email type; already-sent emails are never changed.

Merge Variables (Dynamic Content)

Merge variables are placeholders that get replaced with real data when the email is sent. In the template editor, they appear as colored pills that you cannot accidentally break.

Available Variables

Variable	Description	Example
Recipient name	The recipient's first name	Sample
Guest full name	The guest's full name	Sample Guest
Host first name	Your first name	Kate
Property name	The property name	The Dock House
Check-in date	The reservation check-in date	March 15, 2026
Check-in time	Arrival clock, window (`4:00 PM - 8:00 PM`), or `any time`	4:00 PM
Check-out date	The reservation check-out date	March 20, 2026
Check-out time	The property's check-out time	11:00 AM
Number of nights	Length of stay	5
Number of guests	Adults and children on the booking; infants are not counted	4
Number of pets	Pets on the booking; prints 0 when there are none	0
Paid upgrades	Upgrades paid for on this booking (no prices); blank when none	Pool heating, Extra cleaning
Discount code	The code from a discount block on this email	WELCOME10
Booking link	Link to book the property	https://bookwithhaven.com/…
Leave feedback link	`{feedback_url}`, the stay's feedback link	https://bookwithhaven.com/…
Property location	The property's location	Gloucester, MA
House rules	Your property's house rules	No smoking. Check-out by 11am.
Check-in details	How guests arrive and access the home	Smart Lock. Check-in after 4pm.
Checkout instructions	Filled from Checkout notes under Checkout details.	Strip beds, load dishwasher.
Safety & disclosures	Safety considerations and property disclosures	• Must climb stairs
WiFi info	Network name and password	Network: GuestWiFi
Contact info	Primary, emergency, and maintenance contacts from In-stay contacts	Emergency: John (555-1234)
During stay info	Guidance for guests during their stay	Trash pickup is Tuesday.

Note: Property content variables (house rules, check-in details, WiFi info, etc.) pull from your property settings. If you haven't filled them in, the variable will be empty. The Checkout instructions pill is the paragraph from Checkout notes, edited only at Edit Listing → Arrival → Checkout & tasks → Checkout details. The pill name stays Checkout instructions. Rewriting the email does not change that paragraph. The Contact info variable specifically pulls from your In-stay contacts section on the Arrival Guide tab — your public contact rows live in a separate Public contact info section. See Contact Information — Public vs. In-stay for the full breakdown. On a retargeting email, add a discount block to attach a code — {discount_code} then fills from that block.

{google_review_link} needs no setup once you connect your business under Reviews & Testimonials → Google reviews: Haven fills in your Google review page, and the post-stay email's Leave a Google review button (an ordinary button linking to {google_review_link}) starts going out. Until then that button is left out of the send and the editor says so when you hover it. You can also insert a shortcode you defined yourself, such as {google_review_link}. The value saved under Settings → Shortcodes is the default for every listing; click that shortcode's row and choose Different per listing to give one listing its own. The same token in the post-stay email then fills in the link for the listing the guest stayed at. See Shortcodes.

How Variables Work in the Editor

When you open a template, variables appear as styled pills (e.g., a small colored chip reading "Recipient name"). These pills:

Cannot be partially edited — you can delete the entire pill with backspace, but you can't accidentally change "Recipient name" into "Recipient"
Automatically fill in with real data when the email is sent
Look the same in the editor and in the variable palette at the bottom

Inserting Variables

To add a variable or a shortcode to an email:

Click in the email where you want it to appear — the body, or the subject line
Click Shortcodes above the email, on the right. It is the braces pill, the same one that sits above a text message
Search or scroll the list and pick one. It lands at your cursor as a pill

The list holds everything this email can fill in: the variables above, your custom shortcodes, and the ones from a connected PMS. You do not have to leave the email to look a code up.

You can also type / in the body or the subject and pick from Personalize.

Hovering for Examples

Hover over any variable pill in the palette to see an example of what it will look like in a real email (e.g., hovering "Recipient name" shows "e.g., Sample").

Previewing Emails

You edit inside a drawing of the email, so the wording, branding, and layout on screen are already what a guest receives. Stay blocks draw the reservation or listing you are previewing as — pick a property from the header, and for win-back emails pick a guest in the left rail.

Send Test to Me

Click Send test to me to receive the email in your own inbox. This sends a real email to your email address with a [TEST] prefix in the subject line, so you can see exactly what your guests will receive.

Resetting to Default

If you've customized a template and want to go back to the Haven default:

Open the template editor for that email type
Click Reset to default
Your customizations are removed and the Haven default is restored

Tips

Start simple — the Haven defaults work well for most hosts. Only customize if you want to add a personal touch.
Use merge variables — they guarantee the right guest name, property, and dates appear every time.
Send a test — always send a test email to yourself after making changes to see how it looks in a real inbox.
Preview as a listing — pick a property from the header so the stay blocks and merge variables fill in from a real stay.
Changes apply to future emails only — editing a template does not affect emails that have already been sent.