What to Include in an Airbnb Guest Book (And What Most Hosts Get Wrong)

Search "what to write in a guest book Airbnb" and you get two completely different answers, because hosts use "guest book" to mean two completely different things.

One is the leave-a-note book sitting on the coffee table for guests to sign on their way out. The other is the information book with the WiFi password, door code, and house rules. Both matter. They are not the same thing, and the content for each is very different.

This post covers both, in that order.

The leave-a-note guest book (the physical one)

This is the romantic version. A hardback notebook on the kitchen counter with a pen on top, where guests write a short note before they leave. Some hosts skip it. The ones who keep it usually have a couple of pages of guidance on the first page.

What goes on that first page:

A short welcome line. One sentence. "Thanks for staying. If you have a minute before you head out, we'd love to hear how it went."
A prompt. Most guests freeze in front of a blank page. Give them something to react to: "What did you do in town?" or "Best meal you had?"
An ask, if you want reviews. Not a hard sell. "If we earned it, a review on Airbnb means the world to us." That is it.

What does NOT go on that page:

Rules. Rules go on a sign or in the digital guide. The signing book is for goodwill, not enforcement.
WiFi passwords. By the time a guest opens the book, they have already needed the WiFi for three days.
Long stories about the property. Save it for the digital guide where it can be skipped.

The information guest book (the digital one)

This is where 95% of host time and frustration actually goes. The "guest book" that answers WiFi, check-in, parking, trash day, and the question that comes at 11pm: "I can't find the lockbox."

Here is the order that works, tested against thousands of guest sessions:

1. WiFi network and password

First. Always first. Not on page 3. Not in a paragraph. As a tappable copy-to-clipboard field if you can.

2. Door code and check-in instructions

A photo of the lockbox, a short sentence on where it is, and the code. If you change codes between guests, this is the field that gets edited every Friday.

3. The address with a tap-to-open map

Guests in taxis from the airport need this in two taps, not buried under "About the property."

4. House rules, but short

Three to five lines. Quiet hours, shoes off, no smoking. Long lists do not get read. A short list does.

5. Trash and recycling

The most common late-night question after WiFi. Day of pickup, where the bins live, what goes in which.

6. Emergency contact

Your phone number, or the number of whoever handles the property. One line.

7. Local recommendations (optional, last)

Three or four places, not twenty. The cafe you actually go to, the dinner spot, the bakery. Twenty options paralyzes guests. Three feels like advice from a friend.

What to skip

A welcome video. Guests watch it once. The text is what they come back to.
A full guide to the city. They have Google Maps and the entire internet.
A 12-page house manual. Nobody reads it, including you.
Your origin story. Save it for the listing description, not the guide.

Why a link beats a PDF or printed binder

A printed binder works until the guest is on the couch and the binder is upstairs. A PDF works until the guest is on a phone, where it opens blurry and the WiFi password is on page 4. A simple link, shared in the booking confirmation message, opens on any phone, fits the screen, and shows what the guest needs in the order they need it.

We built Guest Guide for exactly this. You set it up in 10 minutes, share one link, and never repeat the WiFi password again. Free to try, no credit card.

TL;DR

Keep the paper book for goodwill notes. Put everything else in a digital guide that opens on a phone. Lead with WiFi. Cut anything that is not in the top six. Skip the welcome video.