A great guest experience begins long before check-in. When arrival details, Wi-Fi information, house instructions and local recommendations are easy to find, guests feel more confident and hosts spend less time answering the same questions.
A digital guest guidebook brings everything guests need into one organised, mobile-friendly place. Unlike a printed folder, lengthy welcome message or static PDF, it can be shared before arrival, opened without downloading an app, searched in seconds and updated whenever something changes.
HostyGuides makes this even easier by creating the guidebook for you. Each personalised guide combines your essential property information with more than 100 carefully researched local recommendations, interactive maps and one-tap directions. You can try the finished guide with real guests for 30 days, with no upfront cost or commitment.
What Is a Digital Guest Guidebook for Hosts?
A digital guest guidebook is an online welcome book containing the information guests need before and during their stay. Hosts share it using a simple link through Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, email, WhatsApp or their direct-booking system. Guests can open it on any phone, tablet or computer without creating an account or downloading an app.
A useful guidebook brings together practical details that are often scattered across confirmation emails, message threads and printed notes. This can include:
- Arrival and parking instructions
- Check-in and departure information
- Wi-Fi details
- House rules and appliance guides
- Heating, hot-tub and safety instructions
- Emergency and host contact details
- Places to eat, walks, attractions and other local recommendations
Because everything is organised in one place, guests can quickly find answers without searching through old messages or contacting the host.
A digital guidebook is also easier to maintain than a printed welcome folder or static PDF. If your check-in time changes, a restaurant closes or you replace an appliance, the information can be updated without reprinting pages or sending revised documents to future guests.
HostyGuides takes this a step further by building and personalising the complete guidebook for you. Your property information, house instructions and local knowledge are combined with carefully researched recommendations to create a polished guide that feels specific to your accommodation not like a generic template.
Why Every Holiday Rental Benefits From a Welcome Book
Even experienced travellers can feel uncertain when arriving somewhere unfamiliar. Where should they park? How do they collect the keys? Is the Wi-Fi password correct? How does the heating work? A well-organised welcome book removes this uncertainty and helps guests settle in from the moment they arrive.
It also reduces repetitive questions. Instead of repeatedly sending check-in instructions, restaurant suggestions or appliance directions, hosts can guide guests to one reliable source of information. Guests become more independent, while hosts have more time to focus on running their property.
A thoughtfully prepared holiday rental or Airbnb welcome book can:
- Give guests confidence before they arrive
- Reduce routine calls and messages
- Explain how to use appliances and property features safely
- Reinforce house rules without sounding unfriendly
- Help guests discover trusted places to eat, visit and explore
- Provide consistent information across every booking platform
- Create a more organised and professional guest experience
Providing the right information at the right moment is particularly valuable. Guests can check arrival instructions while travelling, browse local recommendations while planning their day and review departure requirements before checking out. That is much more useful than information they can only access after entering the property.
Clear instructions can also help protect your accommodation. Explaining how to operate the heating, light a wood burner, use a hot tub or separate recycling reduces the likelihood of avoidable damage, confusion and unnecessary call-outs.
A digital format keeps this information accurate. Printed folders can become worn, pages disappear and local menus or opening hours quickly become outdated. A digital guest guidebook can be updated without reprinting anything, so every guest receives the latest version.
Some hosts still leave a short printed card containing essential emergency details, Wi-Fi information and the guidebook link. This can be a helpful backup, while the full digital guide remains the main source of information throughout the stay.
Essential Information Every Guest Guidebook Should Include
The best digital guest guidebooks answer questions in the order guests are likely to ask them—from planning their journey to checking out at the end of their stay.
Arrival and Check-In
Begin with everything guests need to reach and enter the property confidently:
- Full property address
- Google Maps, Apple Maps or what3words location
- Clear driving directions and nearby landmarks
- Parking instructions
- Check-in time
- Key-safe, smart-lock or key-collection instructions
- Access codes where appropriate
- Host contact details for arrival problems
Rural properties and accommodation that can be difficult to locate at night benefit from particularly clear directions and photographs of the entrance or parking area.
Property Information
Once guests are inside, make everyday essentials easy to find:
- Wi-Fi network name and password
- Heating, cooling and hot-water instructions
- Television and streaming information
- Appliance guides
- Hot-tub, pool, wood-burner or fireplace instructions
- Laundry and dishwasher information
- Waste and recycling arrangements
- Where to find spare bedding, towels and household supplies
A useful rule is simple: if guests regularly ask how something works, the answer belongs in the guidebook.
House Rules and Safety
Present house rules clearly and positively so guests understand what is expected without feeling overwhelmed. Include relevant information about:
- Smoking and vaping
- Pets
- Noise and quiet hours
- Maximum occupancy and visitors
- Children’s safety
- Barbecues, fires and outdoor equipment
- Emergency exits and fire-safety equipment
- Local medical services and emergency contacts
Important safety instructions should be concise, prominent and easy to access. Essential emergency information should also remain available inside the property as a physical backup.
Local Recommendations
Local knowledge transforms a practical welcome book into a genuinely useful guest experience. Include a varied selection of trusted recommendations, such as:
- Restaurants, cafés and pubs
- Food shops and local producers
- Walks, beaches and outdoor activities
- Family attractions and days out
- Dog-friendly places
- Rainy-day activities
- Independent shops and markets
- Public transport, taxis and local services
- Personal host favourites and lesser-known places
Recommendations are most valuable when they explain why a place is worth visiting, who it suits and how far it is from the property.
Departure Information
Finish with a straightforward check-out checklist covering:
- Check-out time
- Where to leave the keys
- What to do with rubbish and recycling
- Dishwasher or kitchen expectations
- Heating and appliance settings
- Windows, doors and security
- Where to leave used towels
- How to report damage or maintenance issues
Clear departure guidance helps guests leave confidently and gives cleaners a more consistent starting point between stays.
For further guidance on communicating with guests and managing bookings, hosts can also consult the Airbnb Help Centre, Booking.com Partner Hub and official tourism resources from VisitBritain.
For safety and compliance topics, hosts should refer to appropriate official guidance, such as GOV.UK resources and local authority requirements.
How HostyGuides Saves Hosts Time and Effort
Creating a digital guest guidebook from scratch can take considerably longer than expected. Hosts need to decide what to include, write and organise the content, research local recommendations, choose a design, make everything work properly on mobile and keep the information updated.
HostyGuides is a done-for-you service. Rather than giving you another piece of software to learn, we build and personalise the complete guidebook for your property.
You provide your essential property details, house instructions and personal recommendations. We then:
- Organise the information into a clear guest-friendly structure
- Write and format the content
- Research relevant local recommendations
- Add interactive maps and navigation
- Apply your chosen design and colour style
- Optimise the guidebook for mobile devices
- Prepare it for sharing with real guests
Every HostyGuide is shaped by more than 15 years of holiday-let experience and genuine guest feedback. This helps ensure that important information is easy to find and that the guide follows the way guests naturally use it before arrival, during their stay and at check-out.
Once finished, your guidebook is shared using a simple link. You can include it in Airbnb or Booking.com messages, automated emails and direct-booking confirmations, or display a QR code inside the property. Guests do not need to create an account or download an app.
The result is a consistent source of information for every guest, regardless of where they booked. Instead of repeatedly typing the same instructions or recommendations, you can direct guests to the relevant part of their guidebook.
See It Working With Your Own Guests
You can try your completed HostyGuide with real guests for 30 days. There is no upfront cost, setup fee or commitment, giving you the opportunity to see how it fits into your hosting process before making a decision.
Better Local Recommendations, Interactive Maps and Search
Property information answers practical questions, but local recommendations help guests make the most of their stay. Instead of leaving visitors to search through hundreds of unfamiliar online results, a HostyGuide gives them a carefully organised collection of places that are genuinely relevant to the property.
Each guide includes researched recommendations across useful categories such as:
- Places to eat and drink
- Scenic walks
- Beaches and outdoor spaces
- Attractions and family days out
- Rainy-day activities
- Food shops and local producers
- Independent shops
- Dog-friendly places
- Public transport and local services
- Host favourites and hidden gems
Your personal recommendations remain at the heart of the guide. Host favourites can be highlighted so guests immediately recognise the places you particularly enjoy or trust.
Each recommendation can include a photograph, concise description, address and practical visitor information. Rather than simply listing a place, the guide helps guests understand why it is worth visiting and who it may suit.
Interactive Maps and One-Tap Directions
Recommendations are displayed on an interactive map alongside the property location. Guests can browse nearby places by category, see where each recommendation is situated and open directions using Google Maps or Apple Maps.
This is particularly useful for visitors unfamiliar with the area, families planning a day out and guests staying in rural locations where attractions may be spread across a wider area.
Searchable Guest Information
Built-in search helps guests find the right information quickly. They can search for terms such as “Wi-Fi,” “parking,” “bins,” “pub,” “chemist” or “check-out” instead of scrolling through a lengthy document or searching old message threads.
Key guidebook information can also remain available when mobile reception is unreliable, making HostyGuides particularly useful for rural cottages, coastal accommodation, cabins and countryside stays.
Try Your Finished HostyGuide Free for 30 Days
You do not need to design the guidebook yourself, learn complicated software or commit before seeing the finished result. HostyGuides builds and personalises the complete guide for your property, ready for you to share with real guests.
During the 30-day trial, guests can use the guidebook before arrival and throughout their stay. There is no app to download and no account to create, just one simple link containing everything they need.
A personalised HostyGuide helps you:
- Keep arrival details, house information and local recommendations together
- Reduce repetitive guest questions
- Give every guest clear and consistent information
- Share useful local recommendations
- Provide interactive maps and one-tap directions
- Create a more polished and memorable guest experience
The trial is completely free, with no upfront cost, setup fee or contract. Once you have seen how the guide works with your guests, you can decide whether you would like to continue.
Every HostyGuide is shaped by more than 15 years of holiday-let experience and genuine guest feedback. The result is more than an online welcome book, it is a thoughtfully curated guest experience built around your property.
Ready to See What HostyGuides Could Create for You?
Start your free 30-day trial and let us build your personalised digital guest guidebook.