Good Airbnb checkout instructions fit on a phone screen: the checkout time, three to five tasks, where the keys go, how to lock the door, and who to message if the guest is running late. Below is a template to copy, two filled-in examples, the key variants for a lockbox, a smart lock and an in-person handover, the tasks to leave off, and when to send it.
What should Airbnb checkout instructions include?
Five things, in the order a guest needs them on the way out: the time, the short task list, the keys, the door, and what to do if they are late. Anything else belongs earlier, in your house rules or the guide.
- The time, as a time (“by 11:00”), and how to ask for a later one if that is ever possible.
- The tasks, three to five of them, each one specific enough to do without asking.
- The keys: exactly where they go, not “leave them inside”.
- The door: how to lock it, and what locked looks like, so the guest can check.
- Running late: your number, and what happens if they are a few minutes over.
Is there a checkout instructions template I can copy?
Yes. Copy this, fill in the brackets, and delete any line that does not apply to your place.
Hi [guest name], a few things before you head out today:
CHECKOUT TIME
By [time]. [If a later checkout is sometimes possible: "Message me the
night before and I will confirm in the morning if the place is free."]
BEFORE YOU GO
[Three to five tasks, each one specific. For example:
- Strip the beds and leave the sheets in [place].
- Put the dishes in the dishwasher and start it.
- Rubbish in [which bin, where].
- Turn off [the heating / the AC].]
KEYS
[Exactly where: back in the key box and spin the dial / on the kitchen
counter, door pulled shut / handed to [name] at [time].]
DOOR
[How it locks: turn the key twice to the left / it locks itself when
you pull it shut, check the handle does not open from outside.]
RUNNING LATE?
Message me on [number]. [What happens: "Up to fifteen minutes is fine,
the cleaner arrives at [time]."]
Thank you for staying, and safe travels.
What does a filled-in checkout message look like?
Here is the template filled in from two sample guides: the full message for Lantern House in Sarajevo, with a key box, and a short reminder for Apartman Lanterna in Split. The tasks are the ones each guide’s checkout section asks for, word for word where possible.
Lantern House, Kovači 14, Sarajevo (the sample guide): key box, checkout by 11:00.
Hi Amira, a few things before you head out today:
CHECKOUT TIME
Any time before eleven.
BEFORE YOU GO
- Strip the beds if you have a minute.
- Leave the dishes in the machine and start it. The tablets are
under the sink.
KEYS
Put both keys back in the box to the right of the green door: the long
one for the street door and the small brass one for the courtyard.
Then spin the dial.
RUNNING LATE?
Message me here.
Thank you for staying, and safe travels.
Apartman Lanterna, Šperun 12, Split: the same flat in the Croatian sample, sent as the morning-of reminder. The guest already has the full instructions, so this one is three lines.
Good morning Tom, checkout is any time before eleven today. Beds
stripped if you have a minute, dishwasher started, both keys back in the
box by the green door and the dial spun. Safe travels.
The Sarajevo list has two tasks, not five. If your place needs only two, send two. Its guide does not say how the door locks, so the message has no DOOR line: write yours in.
How do the key instructions change with a lockbox, smart lock or in-person handover?
Only the KEYS and DOOR lines change. Write them for the way your guest actually leaves:
- Lockbox or key box. Where the box is, how many keys go back in, and “spin the dial” or “scramble the code”, because a box left showing the code is open to anyone.
- Smart lock or keypad. Whether the door locks itself when pulled shut or needs a button press, and how the guest can tell it has locked: a light, a sound, a handle that no longer opens from outside.
- In person. Who meets them, where, and at what time, and what to do with the keys if that person is not there yet.
- Intercom or building door. Whether the street door needs a key to open from inside, so a guest who has already returned the keys is not stuck in the hallway.
Your check-in instructions already describe the same door from the outside: reuse their words, so the guest leaves the way they came in.
Which checkout tasks should I ask for, and which should I leave off?
Ask for the tasks that save your cleaner real time or protect the place, and leave off anything optional. Airbnb’s own hosting guidance says guests expect an easy checkout without any cleaning tasks, and after a stay a guest can report “excessive checkout tasks” in their feedback.
Worth asking for, if they apply:
- Beds: strip them and say where the sheets go, or say nothing at all.
- Dishes: in the dishwasher and started, or washed and left to dry. Pick one.
- Rubbish: only if collection or bin space means it cannot wait for the cleaner.
- Heating or AC: off, if you pay for it directly.
- Keys and door: always.
Leave off:
- “If you have time” tasks, like vacuuming. Next to real tasks, an optional one reads as an obligation.
- House rules again. Quiet hours and smoking belong in the house rules, said once, before the stay.
- Anything you would not mind being skipped. A list of unenforced tasks teaches a guest to skim the ones you do care about.
Where do checkout instructions go on Airbnb, and when should I send them?
On Airbnb, put them in the Arrival guide in the Listing editor, and send a short reminder the morning of checkout as well. According to Airbnb’s page on checkout, the Arrival guide offers five ready tasks (gather used towels, throw trash away, turn things off, lock up, return keys) with room for details and your own requests, guests can read them before they book and in their Trips tab afterwards, and Airbnb sends an app notification with your checkout time and instructions at 5:00 PM local time the day before checkout, to guests who have the app and notifications on.
That reminder does not reach every guest, and it arrives the evening before. Send your own short message the morning of checkout, like the Split example above: the time, the tasks and the keys, in three lines. For a Vrbo or direct booking, send the full message the day before and the short one that morning. Checkout is the last message in a sequence that starts with a pre-arrival message and runs through the Airbnb house manual and the welcome book. For the questions guests ask between arrival and checkout, see what guests ask most in a vacation rental.
Questions hosts ask
Is there an Airbnb checkout instructions example I can copy? Yes: the template above, and the two filled-in messages from the Sarajevo and Split sample guides. Copy one and change the time, the tasks and the keys to your own.
How many checkout tasks is too many? Keep it to three to five, each one specific. The Sarajevo example has two, and Airbnb lets guests flag excessive checkout tasks in their feedback.
Should I send a checkout reminder? Yes, on the morning of checkout, short: the time, the tasks and where the keys go. Airbnb’s own reminder goes out the evening before and only to guests with app notifications on.
Where do Airbnb checkout instructions show up for guests? On the listing before they book, and in their Trips tab after booking, next to the house rules and Wi-Fi details.