House Manual

[Michelle53]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about doing a printed House Manual in a binder over the quiet period.   I feel like "House Manual" isn't quite right. Maybe just "Guest Information" or "Guest Guide" ?

I'm considering things like adding details about my house, age, history, etc, details about the garden, like what native plants can be found, the neighborhood, local shopping and restaurants, environmental considerations like use of chemicals, recycling, etc, possibly information about local wildlife. e.g. what birds can be seen, our coyotes, and, yes, even our spiders ;).

Thinking about it some more, maybe there's room for a "How to do a Review" page, along with rules and regs, and local ordinances ?

But I wonder how much information is too much information ?

What do folks think ?

[Colleen253]

@Michelle53 That's a great idea. How about Welcome Guide'. If it's going to be fairly in depth, I would suggest a table of contents so guests could flip to whatever section they find helpful or relevant at any given moment. 

[Susan151]

@Michelle53  I call mine the "Windmill House Handbook." It has the Wifi network and password along with information about the house, local restaurants and services. I never mention the review, star system, or anything along those lines. As a guest that makes me feel uncomfortable; as a host that makes me uncomfortable.

[Susan151]

Oh, one additional note. My "Handbook" has restaurants and services that you can walk to from my house, but I also have more sheets with restaurants and coffee shops in other neighborhoods that are popular with tourists. Each neighborhood is clipped together so that guests can throw them into a back pack when they head out in the AM. This has been very popular, especially the Chinatown and North End packages.

[Sarah977]

@Michelle53  I think the way it's presented can make a big difference as to whether guests bother to read through it. The history of the home, native plants and wildlife, I would find interesting as a guest.

But if it's just a bunch of text, guests might not be drawn to it and read the important stuff, like how you want them to deal with recycling, water usage, or how various things in the home work.

I'd divide it into clear sections, use lots of graphics, photos, and different fonts to draw attention and make it fun and easy to read.

If "Please remove street shoes before entering the house" is just written in a list of house rules, guests might ignore it- if there was an eye-catching graphic of a pair of crazy-looking shoes next to it, that would likely stick in their minds. People are very visually oriented in these days of mass media and ever-changing images.

[Emilia42]

I have this. I call it a "Welcome Binder." It is a three ring binder that sits on the kitchen table. It has all the  important info/reminders. I am one of those geeks who always reads the book in the hotel room with the room service menu, pool hours, etc. I find a lot of people read my welcome binder and it saves me from answering a lot of questions. The info fits on about 3 pages but it is nicely spaced out and I have bolded headers to separate each topic. It is easy and quick to read.

Here are a few things that I include and I usually keep adding/making changes as new questions arise. 

- A welcome message

- A blurb about it being an older house with corky characteristics 

- A blurb about respecting the space

- All my contact info

- A reminder of the house rules

- Check in/out times

- Parking info

- Internet troubleshooting

- Trash/recycling info

- Questions previous guests have asked me and the answers to them

- Short guidelines for a smooth check out

- A blurb about providing a 5 star experience

- A few seperate pages on restaurant recommendations in the area

- A selection of sample menus from the closest restaurants 

[Robin129]

I have a small binder as well. I use sheet protectors, print on single pages but place two back-to-back in them. This makes it easy to update pages without having to start over. 

[Cor3]

Hi @Michelle53,

I call mine: just the “Manual” (Electronic information package).

Which I typically distribute as a link to a Google Drive PDF Document (we have a paper version in the apartment).

It started small, with basic information. But I’m afraid it got a little out of hand (over 350 pages now!).

I always tell our guests, they should use it as a reference guide. Or to lookup any information, they may need. Including things on how to pay for the toll-roads and that sort of stuff.

Furthermore: In Portugal, a host is officially obliged to have certain information available. I.e. Manuals to all the equipment (the document contains links to the original manuals). The HOA regulations and that sort of stuff.

The document grew to this size. Because each time a guest had a valid not yet described question. I added information on the topic to the document.

Despite the fact, it is a vast document. Roughly 35% of all our guests, indicate they are happy with the information provided. And I’ve noticed, our paper version is really used a lot. I have to replace it once a year, as it will be torn after 1 season.

The biggest advantage basically is, guests can never complain: Information was not available.

Because of its sheer size, I’m thinking about turning it into a secured set of webpages.

In this way, it will not feel as a very vast document, consisting out of hundreds of pages.

And yes: It does contain a chapter on how the review system works.

In there, I explain. A 4-Star stands for: Not good enough!

Or a low rating, may potentially lead to repercussions from Airbnb to the host.

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Michelle53,

I think you may find a guide from our Festival of Hostility useful in this instance: Mastering a guidebook

Thanks 

[Colleen253]

@Stephanie I'm going to check that out, thanks. Hoping it has tips on creating more than one guide book, because I need to do that for my City AND Town. ROFL at Festival of "Hostility". 🤣

[Stephanie]

*face palm* Christmas dinner with my family is always a Festival of Hostility @Colleen253 

[Schalk8]

Hello

I want to know if it will work to write my own word document manual converting to pdf and then copy/paste it on the 'guest manual' section? Will only confirmed guests that booked be able to view it then?