Two documents, two jobs
Hosts use the two words loosely, but on Airbnb they're separate features with different audiences, and that changes what you put in each.
- The house manual lives in your listing's arrival guide. Only guests with a confirmed reservation can open it. This is where the home's details go, including the Wi-Fi password.
- A host guidebook is your local recommendations: restaurants, shops, parks, neighborhoods and city advice. Airbnb guidebooks are public, so anyone can read them, and you can share one outside Airbnb or print it. Nothing private belongs here.
If you use a separate digital guidebook or a printed binder, the same split works: the home in one part, the area in another, and nothing private anywhere a stranger could see it.
What goes in the house manual
Order it by when the guest needs each thing, starting with the first hour.
- Welcome and contact: your name, how to reach you or your co-host, and what counts as urgent.
- Wi-Fi: network name and password, and where the router is if it needs a restart.
- Heating and cooling: how to use the thermostat or units, and the settings you'd like them left on at checkout.
- Hot water: anything unusual, such as a switch, a timer or how long it takes to heat up.
- Kitchen: oven, stovetop, coffee machine, dishwasher, and where the basics are kept.
- TV and entertainment: which remote does what, and how to sign in to streaming apps.
- Laundry: washer and dryer instructions, and where the spare towels and blankets are.
- Trash and recycling: where the bins are and which day they go out.
- Parking and getting around: where to park, transit nearby, taxi or ride apps that work in the area.
- House rules: quiet hours, smoking, pets, parties, visitors, word for word as in your listing.
- Safety: where the fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, breaker panel and water shut-off are; the local emergency number; the nearest hospital or urgent care.
- Checkout: time and the short list of what to do before leaving.
Keep the rules identical to your listing's house rules; see what your house rules should include.
What goes in the guidebook
Write it as if a friend were staying. A short list you'd stand behind beats a long one copied from a review site.
- Everyday needs: the nearest grocery store, pharmacy, coffee shop and late-night food.
- A few restaurants, each with one line on why: the view, the dish to order, good for kids.
- Things to do nearby, with the best time to go and whether to book ahead.
- Getting around: transit, walking routes, parking in town, where taxis wait.
- Seasonal notes: markets, festivals, beaches or trails that close in winter.
Put a date on it and check opening hours a couple of times a year. A closed restaurant in your guidebook tells guests the rest may be out of date too.
Write it so guests read it
- Start each entry with the task: “To turn on the heating: press the mode button until the flame shows.”
- One topic per heading, so a guest can jump straight to Wi-Fi or trash day on a phone.
- Add a photo of anything with buttons or a trick to it: the thermostat, the oven, the gate latch.
- Repeat the essentials in the home: a card by the router, a note on the thermostat, a label on the bins.
- Leave a short printed copy by the entrance with a QR code or link to the full version, for guests who avoid mobile data.
Heating: the thermostat is in the hallway. Press the up arrow to raise the temperature; it takes about twenty minutes to warm the living room. When you leave, please set it back to 62°F (example setting).
Where to put it on Airbnb
In your listing editor, open the arrival guide. The house manual and guidebooks each have their own section there, next to your check-in method and instructions and your checkout instructions. Your listing has to be complete before you can create either. Guidebooks belong to your hosting account rather than to one listing, so you can link one guidebook to several homes. Point to both in your check-in message; see what your check-in instructions message should say.
Mistakes to avoid
- Putting a door code or Wi-Fi password in a public guidebook or the listing description.
- Writing a manual so long that the Wi-Fi password is on page six.
- House rules in the manual that differ from the rules in the listing.
- Leaving out the safety section. It's the part guests need least often and most urgently.
- Forgetting to update the manual after you replace an appliance, router or lock.
Do this once per home, then review it twice a year and after any change to the home.
- 1Walk through the home and note every appliance, switch and control a guest will touch. Photograph the ones that aren't obvious.
- 2Write the house manual in first-hour order. Contact, Wi-Fi, climate, hot water, kitchen, TV, laundry, trash, parking, rules, safety, checkout.
- 3Copy the house rules word for word from your listing.
- 4Add the house manual in the arrival guide in your listing editor.
- 5Write a short guidebook of places you'd recommend to a friend. No codes, passwords or anything private.
- 6Add the guidebook in the arrival guide and link it to your listings.
- 7Put cards and labels in the home for Wi-Fi, heating and trash.
- 8Leave a short printed copy by the entrance with a link to the full version.
- 9Review both twice a year, and the same day anything in the home changes.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center: Create a house manual (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Host guidebooks (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Help Center: Add check-in and checkout instructions (opens in a new tab)
- Airbnb Resource Center: Respond quickly to guests (opens in a new tab)
- Host Tools: How to create an Airbnb guidebook (opens in a new tab)