Is a welcome book the same as a house manual?

Not quite. A welcome book leans towards hospitality and orientation — the greeting, the neighbourhood, where to eat. A house manual leans towards operating the property — heating, appliances, bins and rules. Most hosts end up combining both into a single guest information book.

Should guests receive the welcome book before arrival?

The arrival-critical part should reach them before they travel: the exact address, check-in steps, parking and access, and how to reach you. The rest — Wi-Fi, appliances, rules and local picks — is more useful once they are inside the property.

Should Wi-Fi be in the welcome book?

Yes. Airbnb calls Wi-Fi one of the first things guests ask for when they arrive, and in Touch Stay's 37,359-conversation 2026 dataset it was the single most-asked topic. Write the network name exactly as it appears on the phone, put the password on its own line so it is easy to copy, and say where the router is in case a restart is needed.

What appliance instructions should I include?

Anything a guest cannot work out in ten seconds: heating and air conditioning, hot water, the washing machine and dishwasher, the oven and hob, the coffee machine, the TV and streaming, and waste or recycling days. Short numbered steps beat long paragraphs.

How often should I update my welcome book?

Review it whenever something in the property changes — a new Wi-Fi password, a new appliance, changed check-in or check-out times, or a recommended restaurant that has closed. A quick seasonal review a few times a year catches the rest.

Is a PDF enough for a vacation rental welcome book?

A PDF works for sending information ahead, but once a guest downloads it that copy never changes. If details move often, a live free digital welcome book is easier to keep current because you edit it in one place instead of resending a new file.

Do guests need an app for a digital welcome book?

No. A digital welcome book is a web page, so guests open a link in the browser they already use. There is nothing to install and no account to create.

Is TapStay free for one Airbnb or vacation rental property?

Yes. The first active property is free forever, with the full TapStay feature set and no credit card required. Paid pricing only starts when you activate additional properties. The free plan covers the digital guidebook, guest portal and AI concierge — the physical NFC/QR plaque is a separate order if you want one.

What’s the difference between a welcome letter and a welcome book?

A welcome letter is a short greeting — who you are, check-in time, and how to reach you. A welcome book is the full guest guide: arrival steps, Wi-Fi, rules, how things work, local picks, and check-out. Keep the letter short; put the working details in the book.

How long should an Airbnb welcome book be?

Long enough that a guest can find Wi-Fi, the door, and one confusing appliance without messaging you — usually a few screens, not a brochure. If a section needs more than a short list, it is probably too long. Local picks belong as a handful of host choices, not a directory.

Should I use a printed welcome book and a digital one?

You can. A common hybrid is a short printed note or QR on the table, plus the same live page for Wi-Fi, rules, and updates. Print goes stale the moment a code changes; the live link should be the version you edit. A PDF is fine to send once if you also keep one current link.

Is Airbnb’s Arrival Guide the same as a welcome book?

No. Airbnb’s Arrival Guide (and house-manual field) is what the app can show around check-in. Your welcome book is the host-owned guide for the whole stay — Wi-Fi, appliances, rules, local picks, check-out. Put door-level steps in both if you want; keep the rest in the book so you are not limited to the app fields. For writing the door-level steps, see Airbnb check-in instructions.

Free host resource · Welcome book checklist

Free Airbnb Welcome Book Checklist & Template for Hosts

Q: What should be in an Airbnb welcome book?

A welcome and arrival overview, check-in instructions, Wi-Fi details, house rules, appliance and property instructions, parking and access, emergency and contact information, local recommendations, and check-out instructions. These nine sections cover the core stay-information categories hosts repeatedly need to document — from arrival through check-out.

A useful welcome book is not about writing more. It is about putting the right information in the right order, so a guest standing at the door — or looking for the oven instructions on day three — finds the answer without messaging you.

First property free forever

Jump to the checklist Create your first guidebook free

No credit card · Full TapStay feature set for your first active property

Nine sections · Works for Airbnb, direct bookings and any vacation rental · See how the TapStay Digital Guidebook works

Welcome book checklist

Welcome & arrival overview01
Check-in instructions02
Wi-Fi03
House rules04
Appliance & property instructions05
Parking & access06
Emergency & contact information07
Local recommendations08
Check-out instructions09

Quick answer

What should an Airbnb welcome book include?

An Airbnb welcome book should include everything a guest needs to arrive, use the property and leave without asking you a question. In practice that means nine sections: welcome and arrival overview, check-in instructions, Wi-Fi, house rules, appliance and property instructions, parking and access, emergency and contact information, local recommendations, and check-out instructions. Order matters as much as content — arrival information first, reference information after. For the local section, see how to write local recommendations guests actually use.

Welcome & arrival overview
Check-in instructions
Wi-Fi
House rules
Appliance & property instructions
Parking & access
Emergency & contact information
Local recommendations
Check-out instructions

Sources behind this checklist

What this checklist is built on

The checklist combines Airbnb’s first-party hosting guidance with a vendor-published dataset from Touch Stay. The two are different kinds of evidence: Airbnb documents its own recommended house-manual structure, while Touch Stay’s figures come from its own customer base and are supporting evidence rather than a universal industry census.

First-party guidance

Airbnb house-manual guidance

Airbnb’s hosting resources recommend listing the Wi-Fi password first, covering parking, safety items and appliances, and writing the manual once to avoid resending the same information for every booking.

Airbnb: Write a house manual

Vendor dataset · supporting

Touch Stay 2026 guest-message dataset

37,359 guest conversations across 11,293 Touch Stay properties (Nov 2025–May 2026). A companion survey of 203 guests found Wi-Fi, appliance instructions and property details the most-wanted guidebook information. Published 30 June 2026.

Touch Stay: Airbnb Wi-Fi data

The 9-part checklist

Nine sections, in the order guests need them.

Open any section to see what belongs inside it, why guests need it, and a few concrete examples. The advice works the same whether your guest information book lives in a document, a printed folder or a digital guide.

Why guests need it · It sets the tone and tells guests, in a few seconds, that the information they need exists somewhere obvious.
- Property name and a warm one-paragraph welcome
- Check-in and check-out times side by side
- The first three things to do on arrival (lights, thermostat, Wi-Fi)

Terminology

Welcome book vs house manual: what’s the difference?

A welcome book is hospitality and orientation. A short-term rental house manual is how the property works. Most hosts do not need to choose — a strong guest guide combines both, with the hospitality voice at the front and the operating instructions where guests can return to them.

Welcome book

Greeting and orientation
Arrival overview and first steps
Local recommendations and neighbourhood
Tone: hospitality
Read once, early in the stay

House manual

How the property operates
Appliance and system instructions
House rules and expectations
Tone: instruction
Referred back to mid-stay

Timing

What to send before arrival, and what can wait.

This is a recommended structure rather than a universal requirement. The principle is simple: anything needed to enter the property safely should reach guests before they travel; everything else is more useful once they are inside.

Before arrival

Anything needed to get in safely

Exact address, with building and floor
Arrival and check-in steps
Parking, gate codes and access notes
How to reach you, and expected reply time

If a guest would be stuck outside without it, send it ahead.

During the stay

Everything that makes the property usable

Wi-Fi network and password
Appliance and heating instructions
House rules and quiet hours
Local recommendations

This is the part guests reopen, so it should be easy to find again.

Before departure

A short, unambiguous close

Check-out time
Key return method
Departure checklist
How to leave feedback

Repeat the check-out time here even if it appears in the welcome section.

Worth avoiding

7 common Airbnb welcome book mistakes

01
Burying the check-in instructions
Arrival details belong at the top, not after three paragraphs about the neighbourhood. Guests read this outside, in a hurry.
02
An outdated Wi-Fi password
It is the fastest way to lose credibility. Whenever the router changes, the guide changes in the same minute.
03
Rules written like legal terms
“Quiet after 22:00, the neighbours share a wall” lands better than a clause. Write instructions, not liability text.
04
Too much local information, no curation
Forty restaurants is not a recommendation. Five confident picks with a one-line reason each are far more useful.
05
No appliance guidance
Every property has one confusing machine. Guests will message you about it unless the steps are written down.
06
No clear contact or emergency path
Guests should never have to search a booking thread to find out who to call or where the water shut-off is.
07
Old PDFs still in circulation
Once a file is downloaded it stays as it was. If you send files, make sure only one version can be current.

Format

Print, PDF or a live page?

The content matters more than the format — but the format decides how easily the content stays true.

Printed book

Visible on the kitchen table and needs no signal — but every correction means reprinting, and guests cannot read it before they arrive.

PDF

Easy to send ahead and easy to lose in a message thread. Downloaded copies keep showing whatever was true on the day you sent them.

Live digital guide

A page you edit in one place. Guests open the same link before arrival and mid-stay, and always land on the current version.

If your details change often, see how a digital welcome book works — the same nine sections, kept in one place you can edit.

Template

Free Airbnb welcome book template outline

This free Airbnb welcome book template outline is yours to use immediately. Copy it into a Google Doc, Notion page or Word file and fill each heading with the specifics of your property — or turn the same outline into a live digital guidebook your guests open by link. Both paths start from the same nine sections below.

Filled example (delete and rewrite — not a real property):

Welcome. Welcome to [property name]. Check-in from [time], check-out by [time]. First three things: lights [where], thermostat [where], Wi-Fi below.

Wi-Fi. Network [name]. Password [password]. Router: [location].

Check-out. Leave by [time]. Keys: [how]. Lights and AC off. Rubbish in [bin]. No need to strip beds.

Use the nine headings below for everything else. A Google Doc or Notion page is enough; you do not need a PDF for this to work.

01WelcomeGreeting, property overview, check-in & check-out times
02ArrivalAddress, entrance, keys or lock steps, what if it fails
03Wi-FiNetwork, password, router location
04House rulesQuiet hours, smoking, pets, visitors, building rules
05How things workHeating, AC, kitchen, laundry, TV, waste
06Parking & accessWhere to park, permits, gate, lift, transport
07Emergency & contactHost contact, emergency numbers, shut-offs, safety
08Local recommendationsCoffee, dinner, groceries, pharmacy, two things to do
09Check-outTime, keys, short departure checklist

Live guide

Prefer a live guide instead of a document? Your first TapStay property is free forever.

The outline above works as a standalone template. But when the same information lives in TapStay, it stays editable and live — one change updates the link, the QR code and the NFC plaque at once, instead of producing a new file to resend. Your first active property includes the full TapStay feature set with no credit card required; paid pricing only starts when you activate additional properties.

Create your first guidebook free See how the TapStay Digital Guidebook works

FAQ

Welcome book questions hosts ask.

Turn the checklist into a live welcome book — your first property is free forever.

The checklist is useful on its own, and it stays useful. TapStay lets you keep the same information live, editable, mobile-friendly and available by link, QR or NFC — so a changed Wi-Fi password or check-out time never means resending a file.

Create your first guidebook free Explore the Digital Guidebook

First active property free forever · No credit card · No guest app

If you are deciding what the welcome book should actually live inside, compare adigital guidebook and a guest portal, or browse every guide in theTapStay resources hub. Choosing between solution types? What to look for in a digital guest guidebook covers the criteria.