how to direct guests to find house manual, house rules, check in info, directions

[Joi0]

I have a recurring problem of guests asking me for all the information that I have already provided in my listing. I don't mind answering their questions but I would also really like to know how to direct them to the information through their booking details. After the booking is made, where is the following informaiton located for them?

-check in info

-directions

-house manual

-house rules

Are there links to all of these on their itinerary? Or do they have to hunt for it?

It seems odd that it's not obvious to them where to access this info.

Thank you for the help!

[Kenneth166]

I have a similar problem in that some guests can not find my house manual on the AirBnB site. It would be really helpful if there was a way to message guests with a link to the manual. 

[Sophie1045]

Thanks for all the comments.  I have printed out our manual for a paper version- I think that will help.  But in agreement with another host, it's nice for people to be able to read it before they arrive so they understand the place. I currently co-host some units, and there are specifics about the building and noise- and when a group books and then don't read the manual or rules, they arrive not understanding the situation.  most guests are great and easy and know how to behave, but some totally ignore the policies and come and party loud or have work meetings and smoke when in fact these are all things the owners have stated can't happen at their property.  in a way, its not the guests fault if airbnb don't make those rules and manual easy to find.  but then it results in unhappy guests when they are asked to follow the rules they didn't know about, unhappy neighbors, and unhappy hosts- bad reviews, etc... 

i am sorry but the air bnb staff reply in this thread made it seem like they copied and pasted a standard customer service response which is a bit frustrating. It seems pretty clear to me when i read the comments- please make the manual visible- no one can find it.  and please make it visible on phones as thats what many travelers are using.  it should be front and center, red button, all that... 

I read the user's comment which seemed quite clear about what the issue is and was, and i am not sure why it hasn't already been addressed and fixed.

[Coleman12]

It'd be great if we could link to the guest manual, in the same way that you can link to your guidebook – specifically if it was a smartcode variable as a LINK in scheduled messages. Right now, if you use the house manual variable, it dumps ALL the text from the house manual into the scheduled message! 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

The main problem is - people doesn't read any more. We are all bombarded with too much informations on every step, every day especially while traveling. Plus, guests often book via phone application where everything is less visible on the first sight and harder to read.

Also, they are on the move from one place to another, changing cities, planes, trams, buses, ABB-s... and their heads are full of all kinds of informations.  Listening all those instructions at every transit ABB room immediately after they landed or parked their car is sooo boooring..  I often feel like a mother dealing with a bunch of kids. It is better to show them and let them try to do it (lock the door for example) then just to write or tell. The worst are groups larger than 2 people. It is impossible to get the attention of all of them in the same time.

The most effective is to have short notes all over the place, although it is not decorative. For example self checkout instructions hanging on the entrance door, A/C manual by the remote controller, heating instructions hanging above the wall thermostat... etc... 

[Jen103]

Air BnB allows you to save messages so that you can use canned responses. I have my House Manual saved as a message, which I send to them on the morning of their arrival. That way they have all the instructions for checking in, wifi, etc, saved in their messages with easy access from a phone. One guest just informed me the the House Manual feature is not visibile on the Air BnB mobile website... such a problem since most people who are travelling are using their phones for everything. Curious as to why Air BnB wouldn't make the House Manual visible on the mobile site? 

Sending it via message seems to work really well- I haven't had issues since I started doing that.

Cheers!

[Agnieszka17]

that's a good idea, how long is your manual Jen?

[Chris158]

First impressions , if positive , usually also lead to a positve review - at least in my experince. I make a point of communicating promptly with incoming guests and providing a 2 page Welcome To My  Home pdf with all key info that they will require. It means I have to request their email address in advance of arrival, but at least we are now communcating and by the time they arrive we feel as though we (almost) know one another. Yes we live in an increasingly digital age but I doubt hard copy is going to become redundant any time soon. For that reason I also leave a print out of the Welcome To.. pdf in their room, translated where necessary into their prefered language if language appears likely to be a problem.  Does tend to focus their attention... and works for me and my guests if the reviews are any guide.

Cheers

Chris M.

[Julie1261]

 Lol. I do that too and that still dont work.

[Lara101]

I stumbled across this looking for instructions on how to find the house manual as a guest - I really don't think it's always a case of people not reading, but that the house manual is actually impossible to find!

I'm very proficient technically, but have clicked on every possible link both from my account and emails (including the one I was sent this morning saying "View house manual" - but just takes me to the reservation confirmation page) and can't find it! Can anyone point me in the right direction!? Is it that hosts don't always provide a manual, hence sometimes it is not available? The UX is terrible here! 

[Yvette50]

I'm having the same problem! I'm an Airbnb host and thought it would be pretty easy to find, but I've just booked a stay and was looking for the other hosts House Manual and could not find it to save my life! I looked everywhere! 

I usually send the entire manual as a message to the guest too and am glad that I've been doing that because I don't think anyone could find the thing. How on earth do you locate it from the guest side?

[Neil76]

@Joi0 I've been testing a new idea to get guests to actually read the house manual and I thought I'd share it here. I hate reading long and boring manuals too so I symphathise with guests that don't.

I like the idea of sticky notes in relevant places but I hate splattering my place with notes so I built a way to create digital sticky notes that guests can view around my house whenever they need information. I can basically share it with my guests as an app they can use to look around my house and access all the information I need them to see. 

Here's a link to it. Check it out and if you want to try it, let me know.
http://vertical.ai/placenote/

[Suzanne781]

Shoot, this looks really interesting and I just noticed how old this thread was and that the domain is no longer active. I’m guessing you gave up on it? It was such a good idea.

[Tony230]

I have already typed up directions to my place but now I want to edit them and can't find it anywhere. Which section can I edit to get the directions?

[Geoffrey43]

I am a guest and cannot find the manual anywhere!  This is the second time a host has referred to it but I cannot find it on logging in on my computer and the app I can find the manual link but there is nothing there.  

[Geoffrey43]

found this discussion googling, looking for instructions on where to find the manual....