Nightly ProfitWhat to Put in Your Airbnb Welcome Book (With a Page-by-Page Outline)
Most guest messages during a stay are the same handful of questions: what's the Wi-Fi password, where do we park, how does the thermostat work, what do we do with the towels at check-out. A good welcome book answers them before guests have to ask. It also makes your rules feel friendly instead of fussy, and it gives guests one obvious place to look when something goes wrong at 10 PM. Here's what to put in it, page by page, and how to keep it short enough that people actually read it.
Welcome book, house manual or digital guidebook?
They're the same idea in different formats. A printed welcome book sits on the kitchen counter or coffee table. A house manual is the platform's term for the instructions you add to your listing, which guests see in the app after they book. A digital guidebook is a PDF or web page you send before arrival.
You don't have to pick one. Write the content once, print it for the house, and export the same file as a PDF to send to confirmed guests. Paste the key sections (check-in, Wi-Fi, house rules) into your platform's house manual fields too. Guests look in different places, so the same answers should be in all of them.
The page-by-page outline
A welcome book that works is usually 8–12 short pages. Guests skim, so every page should answer one question.
1. Cover and welcome letter
The property name, a one-line description, and a short note from you: who you are, that you're glad they're here, and how quickly you usually reply. Keep it to five or six sentences. Sign it with your first name or your hosting name.
Under the letter, add an "at a glance" table. For many guests it's the only part they'll ever read:
- Check-in time and method
- Check-out time
- Wi-Fi network and password
- Parking
- Maximum guests
- Quiet hours
- How to reach you (in-app messages first, plus an urgent number if you offer one)
- The full address to give emergency services
2. Wi-Fi and entertainment
Network name, password, where the router is, and the one-line fix ("unplug it for 30 seconds"). Then the TV: which remote, which input, and how the streaming apps work. Ask guests to sign in with their own accounts and sign out before they leave, and repeat that on the check-out list.
3. Arrival and check-in
Directions from the main road, written for the last kilometre or mile where GPS gets confused. Where to park, including any winter or street-parking rules. Which door to use, how the lock works, and when the code arrives. What to do about early arrivals, late arrivals and luggage drops.
End the page with one small ask: "Message us when you're settled, and send a photo if anything looks wrong before you unpack." That one line catches problems while they're still the previous stay's problems.
4. House rules
Number them, keep them short, and give a reason where it helps ("Sound carries over the water after dark"). The rules in the book must match the rules in your listing. If they don't, you've written a rule you can't enforce. Typical topics are guest count, parties, quiet hours, smoking, pets, shoes, and reporting damage. If your area requires a short-term rental licence number on display, put it here.
5. How things work
This is the page that saves the most messages. A simple table with one row per appliance works well:
| Appliance | How to use it | If it isn't working |
|---|---|---|
| Thermostat | Where it is, the comfortable range, how to switch modes | Check the breaker, then message you |
| Coffee maker | Pods or grounds, where filters live | Descale note, backup option |
| Dishwasher | Which pods, which button | Leave it and tell you |
| Washer / dryer | Detergent location, settings | Lint trap reminder |
| Fireplace, BBQ, hot tub | Step-by-step, plus safety notes | Who to call |
Delete the rows you don't need. A short table guests can scan beats a long paragraph.
6. Kitchen and supplies
What's provided (oil, salt, coffee, paper towels), what isn't, and where the extras are (spare toilet paper, blankets, a first-aid kit). This page heads off "Do you have…?" messages and sets expectations about consumables.
7. Local guide
Your recommendations are one of the things that make a stay feel personal. Pick three or four per category, not twenty: coffee, casual food, a nicer dinner, groceries and a pharmacy, two or three things to do, and a rainy-day option. Add a short line about why you like each one. Check opening hours each season, because nothing dates a welcome book faster than a closed restaurant.
8. Safety and emergencies
The emergency number and the full civic address (guests under stress don't know where they are). Where the fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, water shut-off and breaker panel are. The nearest hospital or urgent care. Any pool, hot-tub, dock or fireplace rules.
What you're required to provide, such as smoke and CO alarms or posted exit plans, depends on your local rules and your insurer, so check those rather than copying someone else's list.
9. Check-out
Time, plus a short checklist with no more than five or six items. Guests resent a page of chores, and long check-out lists show up in reviews. Typical items: dishes in the dishwasher, towels in the tub or hamper, trash out, thermostat to a set temperature, doors locked. Close with a thank-you.
10. Printable cards
Three small cards to frame or stick on the fridge: Wi-Fi, check-out and house rules. Many guests never open the book but will see a card by the coffee maker.
Writing tips that make it work
- Short beats complete. If a section runs past one page, cut it.
- Write like you'd text a friend. "Please" and "thanks" go a long way. Avoid all caps and "DO NOT".
- Keep codes out of anything public. Door codes, lockbox codes and Wi-Fi passwords belong in the printed book and messages to confirmed guests, not in your public listing photos or description. Change door codes between stays where you can.
- Update it every season. Put a "last updated" date on the back page and check the local guide and appliance notes whenever you deep-clean.
- Make it easy to clean. Use clear sleeves or a wipeable binder. A sticky, dog-eared book looks worse than none.
Print and digital
Print on regular US Letter (or A4) paper and slip the pages into a binder with clear sleeves, or have it printed and bound at a local print shop. Then export the same file as a PDF and send it the day before arrival with your check-in message. The guests who read ahead will ask fewer questions, and the ones who don't will find it on the counter.
Start with a template
You can build this in any word processor using the outline above. If you'd like a head start on the cleaning side as well, our free Turnover Checklist + Pricing Sanity Check PDF (sign up on our homepage) pairs with it nicely.
Prefer it done for you? The Guest Welcome Book Template is a designed, 12-page book for Word, Google Docs or Pages. It comes in two versions: one fully written for a fictional cottage, with every example shaded so you can see what to replace, and one with blank placeholders. Printable Wi-Fi, check-out and house-rules cards are included. US$17, one-time.
General information, not tax, legal or financial advice. Any figures in examples are made up to illustrate the math. Nightly Profit is not affiliated with Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com.