A well-designed Airbnb welcome book lets you welcome guests at your property even if you’re not there. It allows you to create a great first impression on your guests, provide them with useful information about your rental space, and ensure they have a great vacation.
Here are tips on what details to include in your welcome book to make your guests feel at home and make their stay as comfortable and stress-free as possible.
Why Do You Need an Airbnb Welcome Book?
An Airbnb welcome book is a necessity for every listing. It’s the first thing your guests are likely to read when they arrive at your place, and it gives you a chance to demonstrate that you are a helpful host who cares about them.
Think of your Airbnb welcome book as giving your guests advice on making the most of their stay at your place and encouraging them to care for your home. Your guests will appreciate that you provide them with helpful information they need to navigate your property and give local recommendations about the best places to see and things to do.
Remember: Airbnb guests have high expectations. They want to feel at home while staying at your rental property and seek great communication. A detailed welcome book is just one of the ways to ensure that. You should also always respond to their messages and answer their questions quickly.
It’s very challenging to be available for your guests 24/7, so automating your communication using tools like Hospitable makes sense.
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What to Include in an Airbnb Welcome Book?
The more details you include in your welcome book, the more grateful your guests will be. Let’s take a closer look at the key components you must include in your guestbook to impress your guests.
Welcome information
Start your book with a welcome letter to greet your guests and emphasize how delighted you are that they stay in your home. The initial section of your welcome book should also contain the most important information that travelers need to know upon arrival, such as
- Your contact info and the address of your rental property
- Contact info and phone numbers of emergency services
- Access code needed for the front gate
- Parking information
- Wi-Fi password
- Check-out instructions
Your guests might not read the entire welcome book, but including vital information at the beginning will help reduce calls from guests asking for help.
Pro tip: Include your photo and add some information to introduce yourself—tell about your family, hobbies, pets, and why you decided to start hosting. That will help you build trust and rapport and develop relationships with guests to encourage repeat bookings.
House rules
Although you have information about your house rules on the Airbnb listing and remind your guests about them in a message before their arrival, you should include them in your welcome book, too.
Then, your guests can access them at any time during their stay. This can help you prevent common issues, avoid complaints from neighbors, and protect your property from damage.
How-to instructions for appliances
Make this “troubleshooting” section of your vacation rental welcome book as detailed as possible to address any potential problems your guests may have. Using the electronics and appliances in your home might be obvious for you, but it won’t be for your guests.
Write out clear how-to instructions for all of your appliances and electronics, such as smart locks, thermostat, washer and dryer, TV remote, air conditioner, kitchen appliances, and Wi-Fi. That will save you a lot of time answering your guests’ routine questions and ensuring they feel comfortable during their stay.
Information about local transportation
Tell your guests about transportation options they can use while staying at your rental. This information is especially helpful if your vacation rental home is outside the city. Consider including any information about local transportation in your area, for example, bus and train schedules and routes, phone numbers of taxi services, maps of the local area, and car rentals.
Things to do in the local area
Travelers love to receive recommendations from the locals. Your guests may have plans about what to see and do in your area, but they may change them once they see your suggestions for places to visit.
Show your hospitality and help your guests explore your neighborhood. Consider local attractions that make your place unique to help your guests have an authentic local experience. Here is what you can include in this section:
- Tourist attractions (museums, parks, beaches, historical places)
- Shopping centers and grocery stores
- Your favorite restaurants and coffee shops
- Fairs and festivals (farmers’ markets, Sunday street fair, annual events)
- Nightlife (clubs, bars, casinos, breweries, live music)
What else can you include in your welcome book to make it more informative and inviting? The options are endless, and deciding what to add is up to you.
Information about the weather, some phrases in your local language that can be useful for international travelers, and a discount code for their next stay if they book it through your direct booking website.
If you don’t have a website for your vacation rental business, you can easily create one using Hospitable, even without coding skills. Moreover, Hospitable has a comprehensive set of features and will help you automate 90% of your routine vacation rental management tasks.
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What Are Alternative Solutions?
If you’re starting as an Airbnb host, creating your welcome book on your computer, printing it off, and stapling it together will be enough. You can also find online templates and use them to make your book more aesthetically pleasing.
But if you think having a printed version of your welcome book is too simple for the 21st century, you can create a video describing everything you consider important for your guests.
Then, you can upload this video on YouTube and store it as unlisted. You can send a link to this video to all travelers who book your rental space as an automatic message using Hospitable.
Why Create a Digital Guidebook
Digital guidebooks are online versions of traditional welcome books and house manuals. They have become increasingly popular in the hospitality industry in recent years. Tech-savvy guests love them because they can access them online at any time, which gives them confidence that they’re well cared for.
Unlike printed welcome books, digital guidebooks can be updated with new information in real time. You can add images, logos, URLs, maps, videos, virtual tours, and anything else you can think of. With a well-formatted digital guestbook, guests can quickly find answers to their questions and easily navigate their stay.
Digital guidebooks are now becoming a must-have for vacation rental hosts since they help enhance the guest experience, making every aspect of guests’ stay as smooth and enjoyable as possible. They also allow hosts to save time on guest communication, reduce the number of questions asked, and offer opportunities for upsells.
Wondering how to make your digital guidebook? There are a lot of software tools available online, and Hospitable has integrations with some of them, including guest experience platforms such as DACK, SuiteOp, and Charge Automation, as well as an innovative guidebook platform, Touch Stay. So, Hospitable users can take advantage of any of these integrations and easily create web-based guidebooks that look professional and organized.
Final Thought
Airbnb welcome book should provide your guests with clear answers to all their potential questions and minimize their need to contact you. It’s essential to make it engaging and exciting to read. Then, it can help you give your guests a memorable experience when they stay at your property and get 5-star reviews.
You’ll increase your chance of making a great first impression on your guests and make them feel special if you create a welcome pack. Check out our article for tips on what to include in your Airbnb welcome basket and wow your guests.