Airbnb House Guide
If you’re staying in someone else’s house, you’ll want to know what to expect—as will your guests. It’s not surprising that visitors want the same knowledge, comfort, and peace of mind that they have in their own home. This is where a house guide comes in handy as it allows you to introduce yourself and your house, give your guests vital information, and showcasing the best of what your neighbourhood has to offer. So, writing great Airbnb house guides are vital if you want to grab a coveted five-star Airbnb rating.
The good news is that creating a great guide is pretty straightforward. Here are a few tips for creating an Airbnb house guide that will greatly improve your guests’ experience of your home and your neighbourhood.
First Things First
Group together all the important information, and put it at the top of the guide. Nobody wants to wade through reams of paper to find out, say, how to lock the front door, especially if they’re in a rush. So, avoid unnecessary frustration by summarising all your key information and putting it at the top of your guide.
No Unnecessary Obfuscation or Wasteful Verbiage
Your Airbnb house guide needs to be clear and concise. That can’t be overstated—it absolutely should not cause any confusion and misunderstanding. The best thing to do is to get a friend to read over your guide and ask them what might be unclear or confusing if they were a guest staying in your home—it’s always best to have a fresh pair of eyes look over it.
Local Knowledge
Writing great Airbnb home guides all starts with your know-how. Do you have a favourite restaurant, a beautiful park to stroll about in, or a market where you love to shop? If so, put that into your guide—guests love to know where people who live in the area really go, to get an authentic taste of a neighbourhood. Be sure also to list local amenities, like shopping centres, supermarkets, pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries—your guests will need to know these things.
Think about How Guests will Read It
It’s important to bear in mind not just what your guests read, but how they read it. Perhaps you’re best to offer more than one copy, and do so in a format that guests can easily take with them and read when they’re not in your house. Perhaps it’s easier to post it online than it is to offer several paper copies, especially if you’re somewhere with a reliable mobile internet connection—although guests from overseas may struggle to access it given roaming costs and other factors. Or, perhaps it’s easier to use a service like YourWelcome to best accommodate your guests. YourWelcome provides a tablet that you leave out in your home, which comes pre-loaded with area guides and recommendations for your area—but nobody knows your neighbourhood like you do, so it gives you the chance to upload your own tips and recommendations, as well as to create a welcome video and post guides to your home. In addition, YourWelcome has partnered with companies such as Addison Lee and Deliveroo to allow your guests access to services such as takeaways and taxis, laundry and money-saving deals that they might not have had access to otherwise.
Writing Great Airbnb House Guides Summary
Part of being a good Airbnb host is ensuring that your guests have the information that they need to make the most of your property—which also means that you spend less time and energy troubleshooting your guests’ problems. Remember, your goal is to make sure that your guests have the best experience possible, which means better ratings and more occupancy, and providing a great guide to your home is key to this.
