Airbnb now lets you message your host right from your Apple Watch

Famed poet T.S. Eliot once said: The journey not the arrival matters. Airbnb has built itself up by keeping the entire travel experience at the forefront of its mission. To better accompany guests after they’ve booked a place to stay, the company is launching its Apple Watch app today.

Airbnb’s new app facilitates fast, easy communication. Guests with the Watch can message their hosts and ask them questions (via dictation) about the property or for advice on things to do, where to eat, etc. Traveling to a new city can be intimidating and some may appreciate access to a helpful local guide.

Hosts can also benefit from this app in that it’ll allow them to not only instantly respond to lodging requests (which come complete with the guest’s name, photo, requested dates, and personal message), but will allow them to reply to frequently asked questions through the use of pre-recorded messages. If a guest asks about the Wi-Fi password or has other routine inquiries, the host can tap a button on their Apple Watch and a pre-populated answer will be delivered.

“Airbnb is about more than just a place to lay your head, it is about providing a great experience during your whole trip, and the Apple Watch is the perfect way for Airbnb to stay with you wherever you are,” said Alex Schleifer, the company’s head designer. “Our hosts want to deliver personal hospitality to every guest and messaging through Airbnb’s Apple Watch app is one of the first and fastest ways they can create a long-lasting connection.”

This isn’t Airbnb’s first pairing with the Apple Watch. When the device launched, Airbnb was one of the first to integrate with Apple’s Passbook, but over time, the company has found what works and what doesn’t.

Developing an application for the Apple Watch took Airbnb into uncharted territory. Keenan Cummings, head of the company’s experience architecture team, told VentureBeat that his research team had to become experts in wearable technology as there wasn’t yet enough data available on the Watch. Cummings added that as people are still relatively unfamiliar with the platform, Airbnb has an opportunity to not only teach users about what its company can do, but also help them better understand the Watch.

The team looked at different task types initially, but realized that messaging was the best use of the technology. Although some might expect the app to include options for browsing and booking rental properties, that was never in the cards. “We knew early on that booking exclusively from the watch didn’t make sense,” said Cummings.

There could have been richer features added to this Watch app, but in the end, it came down to being disciplined. Cummings explained that his team believed getting the details of a task in a single glance was most powerful and  was something that Airbnb’s hosts wanted and could use.

Isaac Lim, an iOS developer at Airbnb, echoed Cumming’s statement: “The Apple Watch is very much a secondary device; a second screen, if you will, of the iPhone. Naturally, it follows that our Watch app should be just that: a lightweight extension of the Airbnb iOS app. We needed to capitalize on a targeted and important part of the Airbnb experience that embodied the on-the-go nature of the Apple Watch, and messaging fit that description perfectly.”

For those hoping for an Android Wear version, the company says that it’s on their radar.