Is your listing up to date to take advantage of the new guest Arrival Guide?

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Is your listing up to date to take advantage of the new guest Arrival Guide?

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Have you ever had nervous guests at check-in? Do you find yourself answering the same questions over and over? 

 

Airbnb’s new guest Arrival Guide can help your guests have a more confident and seamless start to their stay, and help save you time.

Starting this month, guests will find a new check-in guide at the top of their Trips tab 48 hours before check-in, giving them important details like directions to your space, check-in instructions, and wifi info. 

 

In order for this to work, you’ll need to check that you’ve filled out all the fields under the Info for guests section of your Listings tab. 

 

Check out the RC article for more details, and to see how your guests will experience the Arrival guide.  

 

The Arrival Guide will be available to guests on all three platforms (IOS, Android, and mobile web) by the end of May 24, 2021. Guests won't receive an Arrival Guide if their Host doesn't have check-in information filled out on the listing, so we recommend double checking just to be safe.

 

What do you think of the new arrival guide? What are your tips for making the best use of the Arrival guide for your hosting routine?

92 Replies 92

Thank you for confirming this.  We have a single in house suite, communicate before check in and greet each guest as they arrive.   Hosting without a host removes the quality from the service.  So glad to hear that this "feature" is not required.

@Nicky168  I haven't actually taken any action to complete an arrival guide. I just know that most of the information it apparently contains has been in there for a long time already.  Did Calvin explain how to see if one actually has an arrival guide ?      Does it just turn on, magically, all by itself, after May 24th, using listing information that already exists ? 

 

What I'm finding frustrating is that we aren't given enough information to be able to deal with this properly.  Nor do we, apparently, have any control over it whatsoever.

Stephen1156
Level 10
Brogo, Australia

I use scheduled messages to get all this information to my guests. It works very well and is far more personal than simply an online assembling of the various bits of my listing. I get what Airbnb are trying to do, but I do feel like it is probably not needed in a significant number of cases.

Perhaps there should be a way to have this on for places where hosts aren't present, or are less involved, and off for places where we hosts are more hands-on?

I also keep several saved messages, and sometimes personalise them for certain guests....depending if they are flying, getting the train, driving or a bus.
ABB wasting their time on this.

ABB need to do LESS 🙂

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Airbnb  So the question posed in your topic post here is : What do you think of the new arrival guide? What are your tips for making the best use of the Arrival guide for your hosting routine?

 

Now you have 4 pages of responses, all telling you that hosts don't need and don't want this. Are you listening? This very often happens with new features you proudly announce.

 

Do you never learn? Why do you not ask hosts for their input when you are considering a new feature to see if we want it or would find it useful? Why do you institute these things without polling hosts before, rather than after the fact?

 

Back a year ago, when Airbnb cancelled all reservations due to Covid, and there was a huge outcry, Mr. Chesky put out a video apologizing to hosts for not including them in the decision making, and promising that hosts would not be left out of the loop like that again.

 

Yet nothing has changed. Hosts are continually left out of the loop, only being informed after things are a done deal.

Kevin1842
Level 2
St Paul, MN

More stuff to go wrong if you ask me.  I already send all this information in a templet note after they book and make it seem more personal.  No thanks.  Instead why aren't ya'll working to make the tech you already have just work?  

Andrew216
Level 5
Scotland, United Kingdom

I wish they would stop pishing around with the website....... keep it basic and simple.

Thank you @Andrew216

 

I don't think airbnb has ANY understanding when it comes to rural, remote, old world, or off grid properties...

 

If I ever list my cottage in Ireland it will be a REAL challenge to explain to guests what a Boreen is... 

Philip-and-Jen0
Level 1
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Is there a way of adding photos to a guest's check in instructions (like it was before)? For one of my listings the lockbox is hidden away and you need a picture to show where it is. It would be good to include this in the standard check in instructions so I don't have to message each guest the same picture. Thanks

That's what I'd like to know 🙂  

The video seems to suggest that guests get to see certain photos for arrival information, but I can't find anywhere to put this or to assign existing photos to check in.  Our place isn't easy to find as the postcode is useless, and we are easy to miss.  I have directions and always send guests photos in messages as it's far easier to find with a photo, but if those couple of photos could be added to arrival information that would be great!

Cathy170
Level 3
Saint Paul Charlestown Parish, Saint Kitts and Nevis

For myself, the homes I rent for others, is on a small island with very, very few street names, let alone numbers.  Directions would never work for someone that has never been here before, such as look for the rock with the face of the famous so and so.  Unless someone is a repeat renter, there is no way to give them instructions to the homes I rent, and I feel like my hands are slapped for this in a sense.  Also, if we ever open again for tourists, flights are pretty impossible to keep up with.  During season flights can be as much as 8 hours late, and I have been known to sit alone at midnight waiting for a guest to arrive and take them to their rental.  I communicate with each and every guest every step of the way, and try to make everything as seamless as possible.  I have taxi's or rental cars waiting for them along with myself to show them where the rental is located and fill them in on everything they possibly need to know.  There is no way a Guest Arrival guide can do what I do.  Airbnb needs to look outside the box in these situations, it is not like the U.S. or the U.K., and it doesn't seem like people from these countries are happy with this lack of communication between the host and guest.  In our environment, there are so many things that a newby will not be aware of and will need my services and communication over a bot at any given moment.  The only time I have any issues, is when someone that has been living here locally rents and complains about something in a review, such as wifi not working, when they are aware these things happen often here.

Cathy Yearwood
Fernando1606
Level 1
El Centro, CA

Some of my guests speak only Spanish. How can the right language message be selected? Is it possible? I'll hate send a message in English to someone who wouldn't understand it.

Tom730
Level 2
Vilnius, Lithuania

Would be better to have opportunity to attach PDF. Some apartments are more difficult to find in Europe Old towns... and just photos will not help

I agree (try Bali or India locations!) mind you, I do find using Google maps to be very efficient - I established my locations up under Google Business', which is tedious but does provide even more coverage and visibility.