Free host template
Airbnb house manual template you can copy and make your own
A useful house manual saves a host from answering the same questions after every arrival: how the heating works, which bin to use, where to park, what the coffee machine needs, and who to call if something goes wrong. Copy this Airbnb and vacation-rental house manual template, replace the [BRACKETS], and keep the practical details guests need in one place.
What is an Airbnb house manual?
A house manual is the operating guide for a specific rental home. It is not the same as a listing description, and it is not a stack of generic rules. It tells a guest what they need once they are through the door: how to connect to the internet, set the temperature, use the oven, sort waste, enter the building after dark, find safety equipment, and get help without guessing.
Think of it as the practical section of your guest experience. Your digital welcome book can still introduce the neighborhood, recommend dinner and set a warm tone. The manual answers the operational questions that tend to arrive when you are driving, cleaning another property or asleep. When both are easy to find, guests feel looked after without needing to message for every small thing.
The full Airbnb house manual template
Copy this into your welcome page, shared document or Airbnb saved message. Everything in [BRACKETS] needs your property's information. Delete a line that does not apply, but resist adding a paragraph for every appliance manual: guests need clear next steps, not a technical archive.
HOUSE MANUAL — [PROPERTY NAME] WELCOME Welcome to [PROPERTY NAME]. This manual has the practical details that make the home easy to use. Save this link or keep this page open during your stay. YOUR CONTACTS • Host / co-host: [NAME], [PHONE / WHATSAPP] • For an urgent building problem (water, power, lock): [BUILDING CONTACT + PHONE] • Emergency number: [LOCAL EMERGENCY NUMBER] • Address: [FULL ADDRESS, BUILDING, FLOOR, APARTMENT] WI-FI • Network: [NETWORK NAME] • Password: [PASSWORD] • Router location: [LOCATION] • If the connection drops: [RESTART STEPS OR CONTACT] HEATING, AC & HOT WATER • Heating / thermostat: [WHERE IT IS + SIMPLE SETTINGS] • Air conditioning: [REMOTE LOCATION + HOW TO TURN IT OFF WHEN LEAVING] • Hot water: [ANY WAIT TIME, BOOST BUTTON OR LIMIT] • Please keep windows closed while heating or AC is running. KITCHEN & COFFEE • Hob / oven: [HOW TO SWITCH ON, CHILD LOCK OR TIMER QUIRK] • Coffee machine: [WHERE THE PODS / BEANS / WATER TANK ARE] • Dishwasher: [TABLET LOCATION + WHICH PROGRAM TO USE] • Please do not pour cooking oil, coffee grounds or food scraps into the sink. LAUNDRY • Washer: [LOCATION + SIMPLE CYCLE TO USE] • Detergent: [LOCATION] • Dryer / drying rack: [LOCATION + ANY RULES] • Please leave the washer door ajar after use so it can dry. TV, LIGHTS & OTHER APPLIANCES • TV remote: [LOCATION]. Open [APP / INPUT] to watch. • Lamps / switches: [ANY NON-OBVIOUS SWITCHES] • Coffee machine, fan, blinds or other equipment: [SHORT USE NOTE OR LINK TO PHOTO] • If something does not work, message us before trying to force it. PARKING & BUILDING ACCESS • Parking space / street: [LOCATION + PERMIT OR GATE DETAILS] • Building entrance: [CODE / KEY / INTERCOM INSTRUCTIONS] • Lift / stairs: [ANY QUIRK, FLOOR OR ACCESS NOTE] • Please do not block [NEIGHBOR / DRIVEWAY / FIRE ACCESS]. TRASH & RECYCLING • General waste: [BIN LOCATION + COLLECTION DAY IF RELEVANT] • Recycling: [WHAT GOES WHERE] • Glass / food waste: [LOCATION + LOCAL RULE] • On check-out, please take rubbish to [LOCATION]. SAFETY • First-aid kit: [LOCATION] • Fire extinguisher / blanket: [LOCATION] • Smoke / carbon monoxide alarm: [LOCATION + WHAT TO DO IF IT SOUNDS] • Do not tamper with boilers, electrical panels or safety equipment. Contact us if there is a leak, smell of gas, exposed wire or alarm. HOUSE CARE • Quiet hours: [TIME RANGE]. Please keep voices and music low in shared areas. • Smoking / vaping: [POLICY + PERMITTED LOCATION IF ANY] • Windows and balcony doors: close and lock them when you leave. • Report spills, breakages or appliance problems straight away. Small issues are easiest to solve while you are here. CHECK-OUT REMINDER • Check-out is by [TIME]. • Leave keys [LOCATION / METHOD]. • Turn off heating / AC, lights and appliances; close windows and lock the door. • Follow the short departure checklist here: [LINK TO CHECK-OUT INSTRUCTIONS]. Thank you for looking after [PROPERTY NAME]. [YOUR NAME]
What to include in a vacation rental house manual
Start with the sections below and adapt them to the questions your own guests ask. A city studio may need detailed building entry and recycling guidance; a countryside cottage may need more on heating, water, parking and outdoor equipment. The best template is a starting point, then a record of the answers you have already needed to send.
1Start with the help guests need in the first five minutes
Put the Wi-Fi name, password, host contact, address and emergency route near the top. A guest who arrives late with a flat phone battery should not have to hunt through a long document for the one number they need. If a co-host, building manager or cleaner handles different problems, say which person handles what rather than listing three unexplained contacts.
Tip: Use the network name exactly as it appears on the router. Similar names and ambiguous characters are a common source of avoidable messages.
2Explain heating, cooling and hot water in plain language
Every property has one system that feels obvious to the host and mysterious to a first-time guest: a thermostat behind a curtain, a boiler that needs a boost button, or an AC remote with a mode setting. Write the shortest sequence that works, state any normal wait time, and add one photo if the control is hard to identify. This is operational information, not a technical manual.
Tip: Tell guests what not to touch as well as what to press. A single line about the electrical panel or boiler can prevent a late-night call.
3Cover the appliances that generate repeat questions
A house manual earns its place when it answers questions before the guest asks them. For most Airbnb and vacation-rental homes, that means the coffee machine, oven or hob, dishwasher, washer, dryer, TV and blinds. Give the location of the remote, pods or detergent, then one useful instruction or a link to a photo. Do not document every button unless it actually causes confusion.
Tip: Each time a guest messages "how does this work?", add the answer to the manual after the stay. The guide becomes more valuable with real use.
4Make waste, parking and building access specific
Guests cannot infer local recycling rules, which bin belongs to the apartment, where a permit is required or which gate they may use. These details matter because they affect neighbors and cleaners as much as the guest. Name the bin location, collection day when it changes what guests should do, parking restrictions, and the exact route through shared doors or a garage.
Tip: A visual landmark is often better than a formal description: "the green bin beside the rear gate" is easier to follow than a building-plan reference.
5Add safety information without making the page alarming
Guests should be able to find the first-aid kit, fire blanket or extinguisher and the local emergency number immediately, but the wording can stay calm. Give clear instructions for real hazards: a leak, gas smell, exposed wire, alarm or lockout. Then make the normal path obvious too: message the host or co-host for non-emergencies. This shows care without turning the welcome into a warning notice.
Tip: Check the locations after every refurbishment or furniture move. A safety instruction is only helpful if it still points to the right cupboard.
6Keep house rules separate but easy to reach
Your house manual can remind guests about quiet hours, smoking, visitors and balcony use, yet it should not replace the rules they accepted before booking. The manual is where guests look during the stay, so a short reminder works well. Keep detailed policy wording in your booking-platform rules and link to a clear guest-facing version in the home.
Tip: Use our house rules template as the starting point for the policy language, then keep the practical manual focused on living in the property.
7Finish with a short, realistic departure reminder
The manual should point guests to the information they need on their last morning: check-out time, key return, windows, heating or AC, and rubbish. It does not need a long list of chores. A small checklist with the tasks that protect the home and help the cleaner is more likely to be completed than a page of instructions introduced only at departure.
Tip: Send the same check-out link in your scheduled or day-before message so guests see it before they are packing bags.
Keep the manual, rules and arrival instructions connected
Guests do not experience your information as separate documents. They need arrival steps before the stay, operating help while they are inside, and a departure checklist at the end. Link the sections together instead of pasting the full manual into every message. Our check-in instructions template covers directions, lockboxes and the day-before message. The vacation-rental house rules template gives you concise policy wording. For the last morning, use the check-out instructions template so departure tasks are clear without making the house manual feel like a chore list.
That linked structure also helps you update one fact in one place. If the lockbox changes, edit the arrival section. If collection day changes, edit the waste note. Guests see a guide that is organized around the moment they need information, while you avoid maintaining five slightly different versions of the same instruction.
Digital alternative: put the house manual behind a QR code
A printed binder is familiar, but it has one recurring problem: it is usually wrong the moment a detail changes. A new Wi-Fi password means another printout. A replacement coffee machine means a handwritten note. A revised trash schedule becomes a message to guests who never saw the update. A PDF is easier to send, yet it is still hard to read on a phone and easy to lose in a message thread.
A digital house manual gives the fridge-card idea a better destination. Place one QR code on the fridge, near the entrance or beside the coffee machine. Guests scan it and open the live welcome page in a browser, with no app to install. You can change a section in the dashboard when the property changes, while the printed QR remains useful. Once guests have opened the page, it is also available offline for the information already loaded, and HostGreeter can auto-translate it into 9 languages for international stays.
If you are deciding where to put the code and what it should open, see our guide to a QR code for Airbnb guest information. It shows why one editable guest page is more useful than a collection of separate appliance stickers and old PDFs.
A quick review before each busy season
Open your manual on a phone as if you had just arrived. Check the network name against the router, test any access instructions, look at appliance photos, and ask whether the waste and parking notes still match the property. Then read the first five lines again: can a tired guest find help, Wi-Fi and heating without scrolling? This short review catches more problems than a decorative redesign.
The same habit improves your welcome book over time. When a guest asks a useful question, add the answer in the relevant section instead of replying only in chat. Your next guest receives the answer before asking, and your manual becomes a quiet part of the service rather than a document you remember only when something breaks.
Airbnb house manual template FAQ
What should an Airbnb house manual include?
An Airbnb house manual should cover the practical details guests need while they are in the property: host and emergency contacts, Wi-Fi, heating and AC, hot water, kitchen and laundry appliances, TV and remotes, parking, building access, trash and recycling, safety equipment, and a short check-out reminder. Keep booking rules in their own section, but repeat the essentials guests may need to check during the stay.
What is the difference between a house manual and a welcome book?
A welcome book introduces the stay: arrival, local recommendations, house rules and the experience you want to create. A house manual is the operational layer inside that guide: how the thermostat works, where bins go, what to do with the washer, who to call for a leak, and other property-specific instructions. Most hosts need both, but they work best as sections of one easy-to-open guest page.
Should I leave a printed Airbnb house manual?
A short printed card can be useful as a backup, especially for Wi-Fi or an emergency contact, but a full printed binder becomes outdated quickly. Door codes, appliance notes, collection days and recommendations change. A mobile house manual opened from a QR code on the fridge or by the door gives guests the current version without reprinting the whole guide.
How detailed should vacation rental appliance instructions be?
Be as detailed as the appliance requires and no more. Name the control, give the first action, explain one property-specific quirk and say where to find supplies or help. A photo is useful for an unusual thermostat or remote. The aim is to let a guest make coffee, use the heat or start laundry without waiting for a reply, not to reproduce the manufacturer manual.
How do I share a house manual with international guests?
Put the manual on a mobile welcome page and share its link in the pre-arrival message, then place its QR code in the property. HostGreeter guest pages can be auto-translated into 9 languages, so guests can read the same current instructions in a language they understand instead of sorting through separate PDFs or screenshots.