Lockbox check-in message
Send this on arrival day, or the evening before if the box code stays the same and you have checked the key is inside.
{Guest name}, the key for {Property name} is in a lockbox at {Box location}. The box code is {Box code}.
Cover the dial with your hand while you enter it. Take the key, close the box, and spin the dial so the code is not left showing.
{Key rule} If the box is empty or the code does not catch, reply in this thread before you try a neighbor's door.
When to send
Send the lockbox note when the key is in the box and you have opened the box with {box_code}. {box_location} is a place a stranger can find in the dark: “black box on the gas meter to the left of the blue door,” not “hidden out front.” {guest_name} needs {property_name} in the first line so a guest with another trip does not open the wrong box on the wrong street.
{key_rule} is the instruction that prevents the next guest from arriving to an empty box. It usually says the key stays in the home and goes back in the box at checkout, or that this key is the only one and it never leaves the unit. Write the rule you actually need. If you use a smart lock and the box is only a backup, say that, and send the smart lock message as the primary path.
An evening-before send is reasonable when the code does not rotate and you have shaken the box so you can hear the key. A rotating box code should go the morning it is set, after the test, for the same reason a smart lock code should not go out at booking.
Timing tip
Arrival morning is the safest clock if you share the street with other boxes. A code sent three days early gets used by a guest who arrives a day soon and finds yesterday’s key still out with the cleaner. If your cleaner carries the key during the turnover, {box_location} is empty until they finish. Time the message for after the key is back, and tell the guest the clock time if that time is later than check-in.
Night arrivals need {box_location} to mention light. “Under the porch, the bulb is on a sensor” is part of the location, not a separate essay. If the bulb is out, fix it before you describe it.
Do not combine this with a long parking essay. Send directions on their own if the route is hard. The guest at the box is already on the property. They need the dial, the key, and the rule.
Common mistakes
A riddle location is the first one. Hosts write “where you’d expect a spare key” and then spend arrival night on the phone describing a railing. {box_location} should survive being read by someone who has never seen a lockbox. Mention height: knee, chest, or above the door frame. Mention color if more than one box is on the porch. Other guests and other buildings use boxes too.
The second is leaving the code on the dial. The template tells them to scramble it. Keep that line. A code left showing is a key for the rest of the block, and it is a detail neighbors notice.
The third is telling them to take the key home or to keep it in a car. {key_rule} should forbid that if a lost key means a locksmith. Say what “back in the box” looks like at checkout, even though the checkout reminder will repeat it. People remember the message they used to get in, not the one you send on the last night.
Before they arrive
Open the box, confirm the key matches {property_name}, lock the home with that key, and put it back. Spin the dial. If the shackle sticks in cold weather, say so in {box_location} or replace the box. A sticky box becomes “the code is wrong” in the thread, and you will reset a code that was fine.
If the box is visible from the sidewalk, accept that visibility and rely on the code, or move it. Describing a clever hiding place in a message also writes that hiding place down. Prefer a boring location and a code you can change between stays.