Every host has a house manual. Maybe it's a binder on the coffee table. Maybe it's a PDF you email before arrival. Maybe it's the same five text messages you send every time a guest asks for the WiFi password.
My wife and I did all three. None of them worked well. The binder got coffee on it. The PDF got buried in the guest's inbox. The texts came at 11pm.
So I built GuestBook, and today it's live in HostHive.
What GuestBook Is
GuestBook is a digital guide for your guests. Arrival and access instructions, WiFi, house rules, emergency contacts, local recommendations: everything they need for their stay, in one mobile-friendly place.
There's no app to download. Guests open a link on whatever phone they have, and it works.
Why It Matters
The questions guests ask aren't hard. They're just constant, and they come at the worst times. Where do I park? What's the WiFi? Is there a good coffee place nearby? Every one of those is a message you answer by hand, often from somewhere you'd rather not be typing.
A guide that answers them before they're asked gives you your evenings back. It also gives the guest a better first hour at your place, which is the hour they remember.
How It Works
Verified guest access
Your property details stay with your guests. A guest signs in with the access code you share, then confirms with a one-time code sent to their email. You can revoke access at any time. And because every guest who signs in confirms their email, you end up with a list of the people who actually stayed with you.
Your brand, your theme
There are 25 themes across five styles, with your own colors and logo on top. GuestBook looks like your property, not like generic software.
The stay guide
Arrival and access details, WiFi with a scannable QR code, house info and emergency contacts, all on the property info pages. If you have a house manual as a PDF, you can attach it too.
Host recommendations
Share your favorite local restaurants, beaches and hidden gems. Host recommendations also has AI-assisted discovery, so you can find good places near your property without starting from a blank page, and guests can search by mood.
Guest-to-host chat
Guests can chat with you live from inside GuestBook, so their questions land in your HostHive inbox instead of scattered across texts.
What It Doesn't Do
GuestBook doesn't replace your booking platform. Airbnb and VRBO messages stay on Airbnb and VRBO; HostHive can't read or send those. GuestBook is the guide guests use once they've booked with you.
Turn It On
Open a property in HostHive, set up its GuestBook, pick a theme and fill in the stay guide. You can preview it as a guest before anyone else sees it. Then share the link with your next guest.
Why It's Free
GuestBook is included with HostHive, and HostHive is free. I built it for our own rentals first, and it didn't feel right to charge other hosts for the thing that made our own stays better. Sign up and set up your first GuestBook.
If something about it doesn't work the way you expect, tell me. I read every message.
— Mitch mb@hosthive.io