How to create a digital welcome book for your Airbnb

What a digital welcome book is

A digital welcome book (sometimes called a digital guidebook or house manual) is the information you'd normally leave in a folder on the kitchen table, published as a page guests open on their phone. Instead of a printed binder, guests get a link before they arrive and can scan a QR code once they're inside.

The content is the same as a good paper welcome book: how to get in, how things work, what the rules are, where to eat and what to do before leaving. The difference is that guests can read it on the drive up, search it when the heating won't come on, and you can correct a detail in minutes rather than reprinting a folder.

Step 1: Gather what guests actually ask

The most useful welcome books answer real questions, not imagined ones. Before writing anything, scroll back through your booking messages and note every question guests have asked more than once. For most holiday lets, the same handful come up again and again:

• Where exactly is the property, and where do I park?
• How do I get the keys or open the key safe?
• What's the Wi-Fi network and password?
• How do the heating, hot water, oven or wood burner work?
• Which bin goes out on which day?
• Where's good for dinner, a coffee or a walk nearby?
• What do I need to do before I leave?

Those questions become the backbone of your guide. For a fuller list, see what to include in an Airbnb welcome book.

Step 2: Organise it in the order guests need it

Guests read a welcome book in the order their stay happens, so structure yours the same way. A layout that works for most properties:

1. Welcome — a short, friendly note from you and the essentials at a glance (check-in and checkout times).
2. Getting there and checking in — directions, parking, how to get the key and what to do first.
3. Wi-Fi — the network name and password, ideally with a copy button.
4. House rules — smoking, pets, noise and rubbish, explained kindly and clearly.
5. How things work — heating, hot water, appliances and anything with a knack to it.
6. Local recommendations — places you'd genuinely send a friend, with a line on why.
7. Emergencies and contacts — emergency numbers and how to reach you.
8. Checkout — a short checklist and the time you need the property back.

Keep each section short. Guests skim on a phone, so lead with the answer (“The key safe is to the left of the front door”) and add detail underneath.

Step 3: Write it for someone arriving tired in the dark

The best test of an arrival section is whether someone who has never been to your area could follow it at 10pm in the rain. A few habits help:

• Use landmarks guests can actually see (“the green gate after the second cattle grid”) rather than only a postcode, which can be vague in rural areas.
• Number the steps for anything with a sequence, such as opening a key safe or lighting a wood burner.
• Say what to expect: “The hall light is on a timer, the switch is behind the door.”
• Be specific about times: “Check-in from 4pm, checkout by 10am.”
• Write rules as reasons where you can: “Please keep noise down after 10pm — the neighbours are close and early risers.”

Step 4: Decide what not to publish

A digital welcome book is usually shared by link, and links can be forwarded. Anything in the guide should be something you're comfortable with any of your guests seeing. Many hosts choose to send the key safe code separately, close to the arrival date, and change it between stays. Keep your personal address and any security information out of the guide.

Step 5: Choose a tool and publish

You can build a simple welcome book with a document or website builder, but you'll need to handle phone layout, sharing and updates yourself. A purpose-built guest guide tool gives you a structure to fill in and a mobile layout out of the box.

With GuestsGuide, you create a free account, fill in a step-by-step editor with your property's details and up to 10 photos, and preview exactly what guests will see. When you're happy, you subscribe the property, publish, and get a private link and a printable QR code sign. You can see the result in our sample guest guide, and the pricing page explains what it costs.

Step 6: Share it at the right moments

Guests are most likely to read the guide when it arrives with something they're already looking for. Good moments to share the link include:

• In your booking confirmation message.
• A day or two before arrival, alongside the check-in time.
• On a printed QR code sign by the door or on the kitchen table — see how to create a QR code guest guide.

If you list on a booking platform, check its messaging rules about sharing links before you rely on one channel.

Step 7: Keep it up to date

The main advantage of a digital guide is that it can change as quickly as your property does. When a guest asks a question the guide didn't answer, add the answer. When a café closes or the bin day changes, update it. In GuestsGuide, your edits are saved as a draft and guests keep seeing the last published version until you publish the changes, so you can tidy things up without guests seeing a half-finished page.