By the end of this guide, you'll receive an email every time a guest books — and you'll know what's in the email, what isn't, and where to look when one doesn't arrive.
What you'll need
- A property under Places or a service under Services
- Your account email confirmed in Settings → Account (this is where notifications go)
- ~3 minutes
- New-booking emails switched on (or off) per property
- A clear understanding of what triggers an email today (and what doesn't)
- Confidence that your inbox will keep up with your widget
Step 1: Open the property
Sidebar → Places → your property (or Services → your service) → scroll to the Notifications section. The Notify me toggle controls whether you get an email when a new booking arrives.
If you don't want emails on every booking — say, you check the dashboard hourly already — turn it off and skip the rest.
Step 2: Toggle and save
Click the switch, then click Save at the top of the page. The change takes effect immediately.
What triggers an email today
| Event | Email sent? |
|---|---|
| Guest submits a new booking through the widget | Yes (if Notify me is on) |
| You confirm a pending request | No |
| You change a booking's status manually | No |
| You edit a booking's dates or guest info | No |
| iCal sync imports new bookings | No |
| You manually create a booking in admin | No |
The new-booking email is the only host email today. Everything else, you'll see in the Bookings dashboard.
What's in the email
The host email is HTML format with:
- Subject in your account language: "New booking" or "Nová rezervace".
- Booking details — guest name, email, phone, dates (or date + time for services), total, guest notes.
- Reply-to set to the guest's email address. Hit reply and you're emailing the guest directly. No copying addresses.
- Two links — "View booking" (opens the booking detail in admin) and "Manage notifications" (lands you back on this settings page).
Where the email goes
To your account email — set in Settings → Account → Email. There's no separate "notification email" field today, no CC, no BCC. If you want notifications to go elsewhere, change your account email or set up a forward in your inbox.
What guests get
Today, no automated email is sent to the guest when they book. Their confirmation is the on-screen message in the widget after they submit ("Booking confirmed" or "Your request has been sent"). Plan your own follow-up — WhatsApp, manual email, your PMS — if you want them to have a written trail.
Reliability
Email goes out through Postmark. If Postmark is down or your email bounces, the booking still goes through — Cabintale doesn't block bookings on email failures. You just won't see it in your inbox until the next one. The booking is always in the dashboard regardless.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| New bookings exist but no email arrived | The toggle is off, the email landed in spam, or your account email is wrong | Check Notify me on the property; check your spam folder; verify your account email in Settings → Account |
| Got an email for one booking but not for the next | Postmark may have hit a transient bounce; or the recipient inbox is full | The booking is still in the dashboard — that's the source of truth. If it's recurring, contact support |
| I want emails to go to a team inbox, not my personal email | No multi-recipient support today | Change your account email to the team inbox, or set up forwarding from your inbox |
| I want my guests to get a confirmation email automatically | Guest confirmation emails aren't implemented today | Use your PMS, mailing tool, or a manual reply for now. Tell us — we hear it a lot |
| Emails are landing in spam | Sender domain reputation, or your inbox is filtering | Add support@cabintale.com to your safe senders list |
Related guides
- Property basics — Property basics
- Booking dashboard — Booking dashboard
- Account settings — coming soon