Airbnb Welcome Book Template (2026): The Free Guide Hosts Actually Use

It is not a brand brochure. It is a guest's emergency lookup at 11pm when they cannot find the bin, the Wi-Fi password, or the light switch for the bathroom. Everything in it should pass one test: does this answer a question a tired person is about to ask me on Airbnb?

If a section does not pass that test, cut it. Save the building's history for the listing description.

Welcome note · Check-in · Wi-Fi · How things work · House rules · Neighborhood picks · Emergencies · Checkout.

That is the whole book. If a section is not on that list, ask yourself whether a guest has ever messaged you about it. If not, leave it out.

Below is the template. Replace the bracketed parts. The whole thing should fit on three or four pages once you remove the placeholders.

— — —

WELCOME TO [PROPERTY NAME]

Hi [GUEST FIRST NAME], we are so glad you are here. There is fresh coffee in the cupboard above the kettle and a bottle of water in the fridge. If anything is not perfect, message us on Airbnb — we usually reply within a few minutes.

— — —

CHECK-IN

Address: [FULL ADDRESS]. Door code: [CODE]. The door is the [COLOR] one on the [LEFT/RIGHT] as you face the building. Parking: [SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS — 'free on the street after 6pm and all day Sunday' beats 'street parking available'].

— — —

WI-FI

Network: [SSID]. Password: [PASSWORD]. If it drops, the router is in the [LOCATION]; switching it off for 30 seconds fixes it 9 times out of 10.

— — —

HOW THINGS WORK

Heating: [TWO SENTENCES, NOT A MANUAL]. Hot water: [WAIT TIME IF ANY]. Coffee machine: it takes [NESPRESSO/POD BRAND] pods, extra pods in the top drawer. TV: [STREAMING APPS LOGGED IN — be specific]. Washing machine: setting [NUMBER] for a normal cycle, runs ~90 minutes.

— — —

HOUSE RULES (THE SHORT VERSION)

No smoking inside. Quiet between [TIMES]. Maximum [N] guests. Please do not move the furniture. That is it — the long legal version is in your booking.

— — —

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PICKS

Coffee: [NAME], 4 min walk, get the [SPECIFIC ORDER]. Dinner under $25: [NAME], 6 min walk, book ahead on weekends. Dinner for a special night: [NAME], 12 min walk. Grocery: [NAME], open until [TIME]. Best walk on a sunny day: [SPECIFIC ROUTE OR PARK].

Five picks beat fifty. Guests trust a short list with reasons.

— — —

EMERGENCIES

Lockout: message us first, we usually have someone there in under 30 minutes. Water leak: shut-off valve is [LOCATION], then message us. Fire: nearest exit is the [STAIRS/DOOR], extinguisher under the [LOCATION]. Local emergency number: [911 / 999 / 112].

— — —

CHECKOUT

Check out by [TIME]. Leave keys [WHERE]. Please start the dishwasher if there are dishes in it and put used towels in the bath. That is all — no need to strip beds or take out trash unless you want to.

— — —

If you had a great stay, a review means more to us than you know. If something fell short, please tell us before you leave so we can fix it. Thank you for choosing [PROPERTY NAME] — safe travels home.

— — —

Too long. 40 pages is a binder, not a welcome. If your book needs a table of contents, it is too big.

No specifics. 'Great restaurants nearby' is not a recommendation. A restaurant name, the dish you would order, and the walking time is.

Buried Wi-Fi. The password should be findable in under five seconds. Print it big. Put it on the fridge too.

Rules in legalese. Guests skim. Five short rules in plain English beat two pages of terms.

Out of date. Bakery closed, the new coffee shop is better, the bus stops moved. A printed book is only as good as your last visit to the property.

Honestly? Around the second time a guest from Tokyo messages you in Japanese at midnight asking whether the espresso machine takes pods. Your book has the answer. They cannot read it. They could not search it even if they could.

This is the moment most hosts I talk to start looking past the PDF. Not because the book is bad — it is doing its job for the guests who read it — but because the book cannot translate itself, cannot answer the questions you did not anticipate, and cannot quietly nudge guests toward a late checkout or a paid mid-stay clean.

Keep the printed book. The handwritten note, the bottle of water, the laminated card with the Wi-Fi — that is still the warmest first impression in hospitality.

Then add a small QR sign on the kitchen counter and the bedside table that opens an AI concierge trained on your property. The book sells the experience. The concierge handles the 11pm question in any language. Guests get an instant answer; you get a clean digest in the morning of every conversation that happened while you slept.

That is what ValAi was built for — the acrylic sign, the QR, the AI that knows your place like you do. If you want the hybrid setup live in a weekend, that is us.

Do I need a welcome book if I have an AI concierge? Yes, a short one. The printed touchpoint sets the tone the moment guests walk in; the AI handles everything after that.

How long should a welcome book be? Four pages, give or take. If you can fit it on the fridge and the bedside table without folding, you are close.

Should I include local discount codes? Only if they are real and current. A dead code is worse than no code.

Can I sell this template? It is free. Use it, change it, share it. A link back to ValAi is appreciated but not required.