SiteMinder’s Guest Engagement lets you send automated pre-arrival emails, which is exactly what you need to deliver your registration link. Best Guest connects in two ways:

  • Automated messages — SiteMinder Guest Engagement / booking-engine guest emails deliver your registration link before arrival.
  • iCal sync — Best Guest imports your SiteMinder reservations.

Estimated setup time: 5–10 minutes.

Before you start

  • A SiteMinder account with Guest Engagement (or booking-engine guest emails) available
  • A Best Guest account
  • Your Best Guest registration link, e.g.
https://bestguest.app/l/your-listing?channel=siteminder

(Use your real link. ?channel=siteminder records the reservation origin.)

Using the right link: every listing — each apartment, room, tent, RV, or whatever counts as your smallest bookable unit — has its own unique registration link. If you manage more than one listing, double-check you’re copying the correct one. Find all your links in Best Guest under Properties → [property] → Listings → Copy listing link, or grab them during the Listings step of onboarding.

Path 1 — Automated pre-arrival email

  1. Go to Guest Engagement → Communication → Scheduled messages and create a new Pre-stay message named “Best Guest Registration”.
  2. Add your registration message under Email design, and insert SiteMinder’s guest-name placeholder from the editor.
  3. Under Sending rules, use the slider to set how many days before arrival it sends (0–30 days), e.g. 2–3 days.
  4. Check Which guests are you targeting (available for some message types). SiteMinder’s documentation uses this to target guest types, e.g. stays longer than two nights, not a specific OTA channel — so the message will reach guests across channels who have an email address.
Dear (guest name),

Before you arrive, please complete your quick online check-in:
https://bestguest.app/l/your-listing

It takes under 2 minutes. We look forward to welcoming you.

SiteMinder groups messages into Pre-stay, During-stay and Post-stay phases, and timing is set in the sending rules for each message type.

Best Guest automatically reminds the main guest if they started registration but haven’t finished it. If a guest never opens the form at all, though, that reminder can’t reach them — so it’s worth scheduling a second pre-arrival email, timed 1 day after arrival instead of before it, using only the link:

Hello (guest name),

Everything alright? Did you fill out all your forms and is the data correct?
Please follow this link if you still need to add/change some information:
https://bestguest.app/l/your-listing

Path 2 — iCal sync

SiteMinder doesn’t publicly document a dedicated iCal or calendar-export feature, so treat this path as unconfirmed. To import SiteMinder reservations into Best Guest’s Reservation Verification, check your account’s Guest Engagement or channel/distribution settings for a calendar-export or iCal option — exact wording may vary — or sync instead from the OTA or PMS that SiteMinder distributes your reservations to, and paste whichever link you find into Best Guest.

  • Reservation confirmed → confirmation only
  • 2–3 days before arrival → registration link
  • Arrival day → access instructions
  • 1 day after arrival → reminder for guests who haven’t completed registration
  • Departure → thank-you

Troubleshooting

Email didn’t send — confirm the pre-arrival email is enabled, the timing, and that a guest email address is present on the reservation.

Reservation missing in Best Guest — verify the URL and ?channel=siteminder.

Next steps

Informational only

This page is provided for general information and is not legal or tax advice. Rates, deadlines and exemptions are set by law and municipal ordinances and can change — always verify current requirements with your municipality or a qualified advisor.