"The one thing that cut my guest messages in half — and I almost didn't do it"

[Alex14663]

Long-time lurker, occasional poster. I've been hosting for about three years now (a 2-bedroom apartment), and I wanted to share something that genuinely changed my hosting life — because I wish someone had told me earlier.

I rewrote my check-in instructions from scratch. Not tweaked. Fully rewrote.

Sounds boring, right? I thought so too. But here's what happened:

For the first two years, I was copy-pasting the same instructions I typed up on day one. They were fine. Covered the basics. But I kept getting the same 4-5 questions from almost every guest:

• "Where do I park exactly?"
• "The WiFi password isn't working?" (it was — they were typing it wrong)
• "Is there anything I shouldn't put in the recycling?"
• "What time is checkout again?"

These seem small. But when you multiply them by 30+ bookings a year, it's exhausting — and it chips away at your response time stats.

So I did something simple: I kept a note for 60 days of every single question guests asked me. Then I rewrote my check-in guide to answer all of them — proactively, in plain language, with photos where it helped.

Results after 3 months:

• Guest messages dropped by roughly half
• My first review after the rewrite mentioned how "seamless" check-in felt
• I stopped dreading the day-of-arrival window

A few things that made the biggest difference:

1. A photo of the exact parking spot — not just "there's parking out front"
2. The WiFi password in BIG text with a note: "Make sure to type it exactly — it's case-sensitive"
3. A simple 3-item house rule reminder right before checkout instructions (not the full list — just the 3 that guests actually forget)
4. A "don't panic" section — what to do if the door code doesn't work, power goes out, etc. Guests love knowing there's a plan

I now update the guide every few months based on any new questions that come up. Takes maybe 20 minutes.

Curious — has anyone else done this kind of "audit" of your guest communication? What questions kept coming up for you? Would love to know what issues are most common in different types of listings (houses vs apartments vs cabins, etc.). 🙏

[Carolyn1049]

@Alex14663 This is very helpful. Question: What's the "simple 3-item house rule reminder"?

[Barbara3861]

I have had no luck. Everything is stated in the listing. And yet I get questions. Obviously people don't read anymore! 

[Abderrahim49]

Hi Ms.Barbara,

Personly i write the nessary things and put it where the guest must see it .for example in the entrance, on eating table, or workspace.....

[Abderrahim49]

As addition to what i said ,when i ask the guest , is everything going well? 

The answer is :excellent.

[Greystone0]

Hi @Alex14663  - this is a great approach and we have a similar tactic on our end. Every question or odd circumstance gets considered and then an update is made if needed. It's very interesting what different people are able to absorb or learn and so each guest is different. 

We have a one pager for check in and another for check out that gets updated accordingly.

Despite having what we thought were very easy, simple,  good  check out instructions we were still getting these types of  questions:

- do we need to strip the beds? no, you don't

- do we need to start laundry? no, please don't

- do we need to collect towels? no, just leave them hanging in the bathroom

and so now our written check out  instructions includes this list of things you 'don't have to do"

great tip and great reminder!

[Rebecca]

Hi @Alex14663 👋

Thanks so much for sharing this. I wondered if you had seen the replies from some of the others hosts below? 

[Patricia2526]

Hi @Alex14663 very helpful! Thanks

[Sabrina222]

Io pure, e ho anche implementato con fotografie con sopra scritto quello che devono fare per raggiungere casa.

---

Me too, and I've even added photos with what they need to do to get home written on them.

[Google translation added by OCM]

[Tommy430]

Photo of exact parking spot that's a good one. 

My pre check in message is too long, should probably chop it up and drip it out over a period of time