Why Airbnb hosts need a welcome book
Airbnb has made it easier than ever to list a property and start taking bookings. It hasn't made it easier to communicate with guests. The platform's messaging tools are functional, the house manual is a plain text field, and there's no native way to give guests a rich, organised guide to your home and the area around it.
The result is that most Airbnb guests arrive with a handful of messages, a printed check-in code, and a set of house rules they agreed to at booking and haven't thought about since. They find the WiFi by messaging the host. They find a restaurant by opening Google Maps. They find out about the quiet hours rule when they've already broken it.
A welcome book solves all of this. Not by replacing the Airbnb platform, but by filling the gap it leaves: the part of hosting that's about making guests feel genuinely looked after, not just checked in.
Airbnb's house manual vs. a real welcome book
Airbnb does have a house manual feature. Hosts can add arrival instructions, WiFi details, and house rules in the host dashboard, and guests can access them through the app. For many hosts, this is where the welcome communication starts and ends.
The limitations are significant:
- Plain text only, no formatting, no sections, no images. A long house manual is a wall of text guests scroll past.
- Only accessible after booking. Guests can't read it while deciding whether to book or planning their trip.
- One language, no multilingual support. International guests read the same English text as everyone else.
- No local recommendations. The house manual field is for logistics, not for the insider knowledge that makes a stay memorable.
- Platform-dependent. Guests need the Airbnb app to access it. A welcome book is a URL that works on any device, offline once loaded.
A proper welcome book doesn't replace the Airbnb house manual. You still fill that in, because it's what guests see on the platform. But it goes far beyond what the platform can offer.
What to include
The structure of an Airbnb welcome book is similar to any short-term rental guide, with a few additions that matter specifically on the platform.
Arrival essentials
WiFi prominently at the top, not buried. Check-in access: door code, lockbox, smartlock instructions. Parking. What to do if something doesn't work on arrival. Guests who can't get in at 11pm don't message politely.
House rules, in full
Airbnb guests agree to house rules at booking, but most have forgotten them by check-in. The welcome book is where the rules live with context: quiet hours and why, smoking policy, parties policy, check-out instructions. Framed as shared care for the property, not as warnings. For everything on writing rules that stick, see the vacation rental house rules guide.
How things work
The appliance notes that prevent 80% of support messages. How the heating or AC works. The hot water timer. The espresso machine. The TV inputs. The pool controls if there's a pool. Write a line for anything a guest might get wrong.
Check-out instructions
What to do with keys, linens, rubbish. What time. Whether to strip the bed. Airbnb's automated check-out reminder helps, but a clear section in the welcome book means guests aren't guessing at 9am.
Local recommendations: the part that earns reviews
This is where the welcome book separates good Airbnb listings from memorable ones. Not a list of every restaurant in the area; four places you'd take a friend to, with a note on what to order. The beach that doesn't appear on the first page of search. The morning market on Thursdays. The sunset spot locals actually use. Guests mention this in reviews because it's the part that felt personal.
Emergency contacts
Your number. A backup if you're unreachable. Local emergency services. Nearest hospital or clinic. Nearest 24-hour pharmacy. In a separate, clearly labelled section, not buried at the end.
For the complete section-by-section breakdown, read the full digital welcome book guide →
The Superhost connection
Superhost status on Airbnb depends on four things: response rate, cancellation rate, completed trips, and review score. A welcome book doesn't automate your response rate. But it directly affects the two things that shape your review score: how informed guests feel during the stay and how personally looked after they feel.
Hosts who use a well-structured welcome book consistently see fewer support messages. Guests find answers themselves rather than messaging at inconvenient times. And they see more specific, positive review mentions: guests reference the restaurant recommendation, the local tip, the small note about the property that showed the host thought about their stay.
A 4.7 that becomes a 4.9 rarely happens because of a renovation. It happens because guests felt looked after in ways they didn't expect. A welcome book is the most reliable way to do that at scale, across every check-in, without additional effort.
Multilingual guests on Airbnb
Airbnb is a global platform. If you host in a destination that draws international visitors, the Greek islands, coastal Italy, southern Spain, a significant share of your guests are reading your listing in a language that isn't their first. Airbnb auto-translates listing descriptions, but the house manual stays in the language you wrote it in.
This matters more than most hosts realise. A Russian family who doesn't read English well may not register an English-only house rule, not because they're ignoring it, but because the nuance didn't land. A German couple who finds your restaurant recommendations translated into German, with the dish name written out correctly, has a different experience than one who has to paste your notes into a translation app.
Be Our Guest writes and designs welcome books in nine languages: English, Greek, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese. Each version is written from scratch, not machine-translated, so the tone stays warm and the local references still make sense in context. For the full case for multilingual welcome books, read the multilingual welcome book guide →
How Be Our Guest builds it
Be Our Guest builds welcome books for boutique hotels, villas, and short-term rental hosts, Airbnb, Booking.com, and direct-booking properties alike. The platform doesn't change what makes a great welcome guide; the hospitality does.
The process starts with a discovery session: you tell us about the property, the guests you typically host, and the local knowledge you want to share. From there, we write the copy, design the layout, and translate into the languages your guests actually speak. The finished guide is a mobile-first web page your guests open via a link or QR code. No app, no login, works offline once loaded.
You keep an editing link so you can update the WiFi password or swap a restaurant recommendation yourself, any time. One price, no subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Does Airbnb have a welcome book feature?
Airbnb has a house manual field: plain text, accessible after booking, one language. A proper welcome book is a separate guide you share via link or QR code: formatted, multilingual, accessible before arrival, and not dependent on the Airbnb app.
What should an Airbnb welcome book include?
WiFi and check-in access first. Then house rules, how appliances work, emergency contacts. Then the local knowledge, restaurants, beaches, day trips, that turns a functional stay into a memorable one. The local recommendations section is what guests mention in reviews.
Can an Airbnb welcome book be in multiple languages?
Yes, and for hosts who regularly welcome international guests, this is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. Be Our Guest writes welcome books in nine languages, each version written from scratch rather than machine-translated.
Does a welcome book help with Airbnb Superhost status?
Indirectly. Fewer support messages means more time and less friction. Better-informed guests write more specific, positive reviews. A consistent welcome experience across every check-in builds the review score that Superhost status depends on.
Is a welcome book different from Airbnb house rules?
Yes. House rules are a short list guests agree to at booking: a filter and legal reference. A welcome book is a full guide: arrival instructions, appliance notes, local recommendations, emergency contacts. House rules are one section of a welcome book.
Related guides
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