Why Every Airbnb Host Should Provide Guests with a Guidebook

If you’re an Airbnb host, you probably hear the same questions over-and-over again. “Where is the closest cafe?” … “What’s the wifi password?” ... “Can we use the washing machine?”

These same 10-or-so questions can lead some hosts into insanity, making you feel more like a robot that is simply repeating the same instructions.

This is where a guidebook comes in handy. By simply leaving out a book full of notes, maps, and brochures, your guests instantly have all the answers they need, without even having to get into contact with you. Freedom! It also increases the likelihood of a glowing review.

In order to help you prep for the busy spring and summer seasons, here are Mopify’s top five reasons for why every Airbnb host should have a guidebook.

Saves You Time

By just spending an afternoon creating a guidebook, you will save yourself hours of free-time answering emails, phone calls, and texts. A guidebook is the place to leave all your FAQs and relevant information, allowing your guests to have access the answers 24/7.

Some key points to include in your guidebook include: the wifi username and password, washing machine instructions, check-out time, the closest parking spot, nearby grocery stores, the best bars in the city, your favourite coffee shop, the coolest museums and major attractions nearby, and any emergency contact numbers.

Improves Your Rating

A guidebook can answer the questions of your guests much faster than you can, so this means less waiting for your guests and more doing, which in turns means a higher rating for you. Woohoo!

Some other helpful information to add to your guidebook includes: DIY pub crawl maps, coupons to local businesses and attractions, family-friendly activity planners, and a listing of LGBTQ nightlife venues.

It Will Make you a Better Host

When you create your guidebook, you will have to do some research and this will in-turn make you a better host. You will learn a lot about your community, your city, and even your own home, making you more informed for when you do choose to answer questions via text, email, or in-person.

Airbnb Encourages It

With your Airbnb account, you can create a virtual guidebook that will be sent to your guests upon confirmation of the booking. This is essentially just your response email to the booking, but we like to think of it as an early edition of your guidebook!

This email gives your guests access to important facts about your home and community weeks before they arrive, preventing the usual email or two with questions about parking, sleeping arrangements, and the borrowing of goods like cross-country skis or bicycles. “Yes, yes, and of course!”

Don't Want to Make One? Airbnb Has You Covered

For those who like the idea of a guidebook, but just don’t want to make one (we’re not judging), Airbnb offers premade templates for most major cities across the world. While Ottawa or Calgary are not on the list yet, Airbnb has guidebooks for Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, showing off these cities’ best cafes, nightlife, and public parks. Check em out!