A guest pulls up at 4pm with a bag in each hand and can't get on the WiFi. The password is on page six of a PDF you sent three days ago, somewhere between the trash schedule and the thermostat notes.
You have a vacation rental house manual. Nobody opened it.
This is a fixable problem, and it's mostly about writing, not software. Here is how I'd write one that guests actually use.
Why it matters
A manual nobody reads costs you in small, steady ways.
You answer the same questions by message, usually at the worst time. The guest who couldn't find the parking rules parks where they shouldn't. The one who missed the check-out steps leaves the hot tub cover off, and your cleaner finds out first.
A confused guest is also an unhappy guest. A problem that could have been solved in ten seconds with the right page can turn into a line in a review.
My wife and I manage a few vacation rentals ourselves, so I know the pattern. The information exists. It just isn't where the guest is looking, at the moment they're looking.
How to write a house manual guests read
1. Start with the questions, not the house
Don't walk through the property room by room. Write down every question a guest asks, or would ask, and answer those.
How do I get in? What's the WiFi? Where do I park? How do I work the TV? Where's the nearest grocery store? What do I do at check-out? Who do I call if something breaks?
2. Put the first hour first
Order the manual by when the guest needs each thing, not by how much you want to say about it.
Arrival comes first: how to get in, parking, WiFi. Then the everyday items: heat and air, TV, kitchen quirks. Then the rules. Check-out goes last, and it is also worth repeating near the end of the stay.
3. One action per line
Guests skim. Write instructions they can follow with one hand while holding a phone.
- •Weak: "The hot tub should be covered when not in use and the jets are controlled from the panel."
- •Better: "Cover the hot tub when you're done. Jets are on the panel by the back door."
If a task has steps, number them. If it doesn't, don't pad it.
4. Give the reason behind each rule
"No shoes upstairs" gets ignored. "No shoes upstairs, the carpet is new" gets followed. A one-clause reason takes seconds to write and changes how the rule is received.
If you can't think of a reason, ask whether the rule needs to be there.
5. Cut, then cut again
Read each paragraph and ask what happens if it's gone. If the answer is "nothing", delete it.
Things guests need rarely, such as breaker panel location or what to do in a power cut, can live at the bottom under a plain heading. They should be findable, not in the way.
6. Write for a phone
Most guests will open your manual on their phone, standing in a driveway or on a couch. Short paragraphs, clear headings, no tables, no tiny print. Avoid anything that needs pinching and zooming.
7. Get it in front of them before they arrive
A great manual sent too late is a bad manual. Share the link before check-in, in the same message as the arrival details, so the guest already knows the plan when they pull up.
8. Test it like a stranger
Ask someone who has never been to the property to follow it. Have them find the WiFi, work out parking, and explain check-out back to you. Wherever they hesitate, rewrite.
Common mistakes
- •Writing a novel. If it takes more than a few seconds to find an answer, guests give up and message you. Fix: keep arrival and WiFi at the very top, and trim everything else.
- •Burying the WiFi. It's the single most-looked-for item. Fix: put it in the first screen, not in a section called "Technology".
- •Rules in all caps. It reads as angry and guests resent it. Fix: plain sentences with a reason.
- •Sending a PDF attachment. It's hard to read on a phone and easy to lose in a message thread. Fix: use a page they can open from one link.
- •Never updating it. A changed router, a moved trash bin or a new parking rule makes the whole manual untrustworthy. Fix: check it each time something in the house changes, and go through it once a season.
Try it in HostHive
If you'd rather not build this by hand, this is what GuestBook is for. It's a mobile stay guide for each guest with the WiFi, check-in instructions, local recommendations, weather, and a direct line to you, all in one place. I wrote about why I built it in Introducing GuestBook.
The basics come from Property Information: WiFi, check-in instructions, parking and emergency contacts. With Guest Invitations, HostHive emails each upcoming guest a personal link to their GuestBook before check-in, so they arrive knowing the WiFi, the door and the plan.
To be clear about what it doesn't do: HostHive can't message guests on Airbnb, and a guide only helps if you write clear instructions in it. HostHive is free.
If something doesn't work right, tell me. I read every message.
— Mitch mb@hosthive.io