Home Guide: What Is It And Why You Need One

What is a Home Guide?

If you run an Airbnb you probably know what a House Manual is. You might even know what a Welcome Letter is. Now, imagine just by combining those two you can take guest experience to the next level! In this post I’m about to discuss with you something fairly new but a rather handy tool that comes in a printed booklet format. Let’s call this a Home Guide.

Like every home is unique, every Home Guide is unique, too. However, a good Home Guide will include five primary portions that cover everything the guests need to know while staying. These are

1. Welcoming,
2. Essentials,
3. Recommendations,
4. Home appliances and
5. House Rules.

Welcoming
This is the warmup part. A method of making a personal connection with your guests. A welcome message can include anything that makes them feel at home. It’s a warm and delightful greeting that cheers them up after a long journey.

Essentials
The essentials aim to summarize the basic information about your property like contact details and WIFI password completed with safety information and emergency numbers. Think of any possible scenario on a vacation. This part of the Home Guide should provide answers to most of them.

Recommendations
When I say recommendations I mean everything and anything you can advise your guests to do or not to do. Area map, public transport, food, drinks, sports and entertainment… from a 24/7 grocery store to the nearest yoga studio, this chapter can add all your favourite places in town.

Home appliances
Air conditioning, heating, coffee maker, smart home devices, funny shower knobs, unusual door locks and so on. This section is dedicated to detailed instructions on how to run your most complicated or high-tech electronic devices. It’s always good to add a bit of visual data to the steps, so that your guests could understand more easily.

House Rules
This part states the basic ground rules regarding the inside and the outside of your property. It gives the guests guidelines on how we actually want them to treat their temporary home.

Do you have a Home Guide?

Already have it? You rock! Have a collection of maps and business cards in a good old binder or thinking about putting something together? You are on the right path. Just not yet sure how a Home Guide could serve you? You are right, too. It is totally fair questioning why you would need all that if your short rental is killing it anyways. Let’s look at some points you might have missed… until now.

1. First of all, it saves time for you!

   How many times have you repeated the same phrases? Ok, stop counting… If there was a booklet that answers some questions for you… wait… there is one! Say hello to uninterrupted moments when having dinner with family… or time out with friends… or sipping tea and reading your favourite book. Do I need to tell more? Now, come back to earth and keep on reading.

2. It saves time for your guests

   Less time spent on figuring out the appliances, more time spent on enjoying their trip. Isn’t it what you want when you are on a vacation? Chances are that if your guests called you for instructions, you wouldn’t be able to pick up the phone right away. And that is ok. Being a host is not a 24/7 shift. Unlike your Home Guide, which is there for them in every moment they call for it.

3. Faster check-in and no more forgotten information

   Ok, that’s actually two reasons but they speak for themselves. Simply put, faster check-in means that you need to explain less things. Your Home Guide will do the hard work as soon as your guests are ready to absorb the information. When arriving hungry and tired the last thing they need is a crash course on your home. You do your best to hand over all the information and the next day they phone you asking the same things. No wonder. Or, if you question yourself after every check-in: “Did I forget to tell them anything?” then your time has come. You can have an assistant that won’t ask you for a pay raise. Looks like this point is a win-win.

4. It can reduce damages

   Providing your guests with a Home Guide isn’t only a way to improve their stay but also a tool to help them live in your house properly. If you give clear instructions to the home appliances and let them know the basic house rules then you can ensure less damages to your electronics and other home goods. That means less money to spend on maintenance. Yesss!

You might ask: “I always email the house manual to my guests, is that enough?” If you want to be on the safe side you better back it with a printed version. The issue with emailing the copy to your guest is, that they might delete the email, ignore it or have difficulty finding it. It is a solid idea to send them your Home Guide beforehand so that they can get familiar with your rules but printed copies are always a smarter idea.

Remember, your Home Guide can definitely replace you in many cases but you still have to be there for your guests when they really need you.

Have you always wanted a lovely Home Guide but could never take out the time or energy to create it yourself? Or just got the buzz now? My partner and I had this idea to create The Ultimate Home Guide for our friend Julia’s Airbnb and she is loving it. You can order now in early access deal and start making plans for your free time!

P.S. And don’t forget to share what you have learned with your short rental friends!