Practical guides for hosts
Airbnb welcome book: what to include, with a practical example.
A welcome book brings the details of a stay into one easy-to-find place: arriving, using the property, exploring nearby and checking out. Start with the questions your guests actually ask, then give each answer a clear home.
What should an Airbnb welcome book include?
- Arrival and parking
- Wi-Fi and essentials
- House rules and facilities
- Local recommendations
- Checkout instructions
- Contact and help
The same structure works for a vacation rental welcome book for direct bookings, a cottage or a villa. Keep the essentials near the beginning, with descriptive headings guests can scan on a phone.
1. Arrival and parking
Give the check-in time, useful directions and the exact place to park. Explain how confirmed guests receive entry instructions privately. A helpful parking entry says which space to use and what to keep clear, rather than simply saying “parking available”.
2. Wi-Fi and property essentials
Tell guests where to find Wi-Fi details, what is provided and how to use heating, cooling and the appliances they will need. Write short steps for the actual equipment at your property. Link to an approved manual or video where a picture would explain more than a paragraph.
3. House rules and facilities
Include quiet hours, visitor and pet rules, and the hours and instructions for shared spaces. Match your listing and booking information. The welcome book should make existing rules easier to find, without introducing surprise conditions after arrival.
4. Local recommendations
Start with a grocery shop, a breakfast option and a few places you would personally recommend. Explain why each is useful and how far away it is. Link to the business for current hours instead of maintaining a long directory that quickly goes out of date.
5. Checkout instructions
State the departure time first, followed by a short checklist. Explain bins, keys and locking up clearly. If late checkout needs approval, name the person guests should ask; an instruction in the guide cannot confirm availability.
6. Contact and help
Make your guest-facing contact details easy to find, including when your team is available. Add verified local assistance information for your property. Keep essential contacts available in the property as well, so guests can find them without opening an online guide.
A practical example: Oceanview Villa.
Here is how a few entries fit together in our fictional holiday-rental demo. These are sample details, not instructions for a real stay.
Welcome to Oceanview Villa
Your arrival and departure essentials, ready to scan.
- Arriving
- Check-in is from 3:00 PM. The host sends arrival and entry details directly to confirmed guests before their stay.
- Parking
- One vehicle can use the marked guest space. Keep the shared driveway and neighbouring entrances clear.
- Quiet hours
- 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM.
- Checking out
- Checkout is at 11:00 AM. Put used towels in the bathroom, turn off lights and air conditioning, close windows and return the key as the host instructs. Late checkout needs the host’s confirmation.
Notice that each entry answers one specific question. You can use the same structure with your own checked details, even if you start with a simple document.
A free welcome-book outline to copy.
Copy this blank Airbnb welcome book template into your preferred document editor. Replace the prompts with your property details and remove anything that does not apply. Check every instruction before sharing it.
Free to copy and adapt. No email address required.
Printed book, PDF or digital welcome book?
Choose the format you can keep accurate and your guests can easily access. A short printed essentials sheet can also complement a longer online guide.
A printed book
Useful inside the property and available without internet. Replace the affected pages whenever details change, and send arrival information separately before guests travel.
A PDF
Easy to send and available offline once guests download it. Keep headings and text readable on a phone. When you revise it, replace your shared version and remember that guests may still have an older copy.
A digital guide
Guests follow a link or scan a QR code to browse the current information. Unblind’s guide also lets them ask an AI assistant questions using the information prepared for your guide. It opens in a browser without an app, and requires internet access.
For personal preparation, see our digital welcome books for holiday rentals. The guide supports your existing booking process; it does not manage reservations or automatically reply inside your platform inbox.
Turn repeat questions into clear answers.
Use recent guest messages to find gaps in your welcome book. These three questions show how the Oceanview Villa demo’s information can help:
“Where can we park?”
The parking entry specifies one marked guest space and asks guests to keep the shared driveway clear. That gives a more useful answer than a general list of amenities.
“What time is checkout?”
The departure entry starts with 11:00 AM, then lists the tasks to complete. Guests can browse it or ask the guide’s assistant to find the information.
“Can we check out at 2 PM?”
The guide says late checkout needs host confirmation. It can explain the next step, while the host makes the decision. A requested time is not an approved change.
When an answer is missing, confirm it with the person responsible before adding it. Review the topics that still need personal help rather than guessing what the guest needs to hear.
Prepare it yourself, or send us what you have.
For a DIY start, use the outline above and gather your listing details, welcome messages and existing house manual. Ask someone unfamiliar with the property to find the parking information and checkout time. If they struggle, simplify the heading or move the answer higher.
If preparing it keeps slipping down your list, Unblind can help. Send us your existing information. We agree on one first guide, organize the topics, prepare the assistant’s answers and ask you to approve the details before activation. During the pilot, we help with agreed content updates.
A few common questions.
Is this the same as Airbnb’s own guidebook?
Airbnb’s built-in guidebook is for local recommendations such as restaurants, shops and attractions, and is public. A property welcome book can also cover arrival, appliances, house rules and checkout. Airbnb offers a separate house manual for property information. See Airbnb’s guidebook documentation for its current feature details.
Do guests need to install an app?
For an Unblind guide, no. Guests open the link or QR code in their browser. They need an internet connection, so keep essential arrival and contact information available through your usual guest materials too.
How long should the welcome book be?
Long enough to answer the useful questions for your property. Begin with a short essentials section, then give less urgent topics their own headings. Clear, current instructions matter more than a page count.
Can I use the outline for a property outside Airbnb?
Yes. Adapt it for a villa, cottage, apartment or other holiday rental, including direct bookings. Replace the placeholders with the information and contact process for that property.
Want us to prepare your guest guide?
Tell us about your property and the questions you keep answering. We review each request personally and agree on a useful first guide.
Request a free 30-day pilotThe 30 days start when your guide is approved and activated. No credit card or automatic billing. Any paid continuation is discussed before you choose it.