An Airbnb house manual explains how your place works once a guest is inside: the heating, the hot water, the oven, the Wi-Fi, where the spare blankets are and what to do when something stops working. It sits in your listing’s arrival guide, and Airbnb’s help page says only guests with a confirmed reservation can open it.
Below: what goes in it and what does not, a filled-in manual you can copy, the lines to change for a smart lock or a keypad, where the field is, and the three things it cannot do however well you write it.
What should an Airbnb house manual include?
Everything a guest needs after the door is open and before they leave. That one test sorts almost every line, and in the order of a stay it comes out as:
- How things work. Heating or air conditioning, hot water, the hob and oven, the washing machine, the dishwasher, the TV, the coffee maker. One short paragraph each.
- Where things are. Spare blankets, the iron, the fuse box, the water stop-valve, the fire extinguisher, the first-aid kit, the bins and which bag goes where.
- The things with a time attached. When the heating runs, rubbish collection, when the lane outside closes to cars.
- Leaving. What time, what to do with the keys, the beds and the dishes.
- When something goes wrong. What to do if the Wi-Fi drops or the power trips, and your number with the hours it is fine to use it.
What does not belong in the house manual?
Four things, each of which has a better home:
- Anything a guest needs before booking. Stairs and no lift, a road that floods, church bells at seven. That goes on the listing, where a guest who cannot live with it chooses another place.
- Anything you would want to enforce. That is the house rules field, which Airbnb shows guests before they book, while the manual appears only after booking. A short version is in house rules guests actually read.
- Restaurant lists and day trips. That is the guidebook, a separate field.
- Anything with a specific date in it. You will not remember to change it, and the wrong line sits next to the right ones.
Two symptoms tell you something is in the wrong field: house rules that explain how the dishwasher works, or a house manual that says “no parties”.
What does a filled-in house manual look like?
This one is for Lantern House, the made-up flat in Sarajevo behind our sample guide. Every detail below comes from that guide; copy the shape and replace the details with yours.
LANTERN HOUSE, Kovači 14, Stari Grad, Sarajevo
Check-in from 15:00. Check-out by 11:00.
KEYS
Two keys in the key box. The long one is the street door, the small
brass one is the courtyard. Put both back in the box when you leave.
WI-FI
Network: LanternHouse Password: lanterna2026
If it drops: unplug the white box on the hallway shelf for ten seconds
and give it two minutes to come back. Nothing else needs restarting.
HEATING
The radiators run on a timer, 06:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 23:00.
The dial in the hallway raises the whole flat by a couple of degrees.
HOT WATER
It takes about a minute to reach the shower.
OVEN
Left-hand dial. Turn it to the flame mark.
Hold it in for about three seconds.
Then set the temperature.
KITCHEN
Dishwasher tablets are under the sink. Coffee is in the cupboard above
the kettle, and it is yours.
BIKES
Covered rack in the courtyard, left-hand wall. It locks from the inside.
PARKING
The lane outside is pedestrian-only from 10:00, so unload before then.
The public garage two streets down the hill takes cards; it is a
four-minute walk back up.
LEAVING
Strip the beds if you have a minute, start the dishwasher, put both
keys back in the box and spin the dial.
Three things make it work. Each block starts with its subject in capitals, so a guest scanning for “WI-FI” finds it without reading the rest. The oven’s awkward step, the three-second hold, gets a line of its own. And it reads correctly as plain text, so it survives if the field drops your formatting.
What does a short house manual that points to the full guide look like?
If you keep the full guide somewhere else, the Airbnb field can hold only what a guest needs with no signal, plus a pointer. This one is for Apartman Lanterna, Šperun 12, Split, the made-up flat in our Croatian sample guide, which shares the Sarajevo flat’s layout:
APARTMAN LANTERNA, Šperun 12, Split
Check-in from 15:00. Check-out by 11:00.
KEYS: key box on the wall right of the green door, at shoulder height.
The code is in the message I send the morning you arrive.
Two keys: the long one is the street door, the small brass one the courtyard.
WI-FI: network ApartmanLanterna, password lanterna2026.
If it drops, unplug the white box on the hallway shelf for ten seconds.
EVERYTHING ELSE (heating, oven, parking, leaving) is in the full guide:
scan the QR code by the door, or open the link in your check-in message.
The way in and the Wi-Fi are repeated in full because a guest needs them at the moment nothing else works; everything else is one pointer to the copy you keep up to date.
How do I change it for a smart lock, keypad or in-person check-in?
Only the KEYS block changes; the rest of the manual stays the same.
- Keypad:
KEYS: The keypad is on the left of the door. Enter the code from your check-in message, then press the tick. If the light flashes red, wait ten seconds and enter it again. - Smart lock:
KEYS: The door unlocks with the code in your check-in message. To lock it from outside, close the door and press the lock button once. Inside, turn the knob. - In person:
KEYS: I will meet you at the door and hand over two keys. If you leave before I am up, lock the door and post both keys through the letterbox.
Write the step that goes wrong as its own line: the confirm key on a keypad, the door that needs a firm pull before it locks. The full arrival message, with a variant for each entry method, is in the Airbnb check-in instructions template.
Where is the house manual on Airbnb?
In the listing editor, under your listing’s Arrival guide, next to the check-in method, directions, the Wi-Fi details and checkout instructions, per Airbnb’s help page. Airbnb moves and renames these screens, so if the path differs, look for the arrival guide.
Fill in the neighbouring fields too, and repeat two things in every place a guest might look: the way in and the Wi-Fi, because they are needed at the moment nothing else works. Both have their own page: the check-in template and how to give guests the Wi-Fi password.
Why might guests miss the house manual?
Guests miss it for three reasons that good writing does not fix: they have to find it, they have to have booked on Airbnb, and it has to still be true.
It cannot make a guest find it. Nothing on the public listing announces it, and it opens only for a confirmed reservation. Tell guests it exists in a message they do read: the check-in message, one line above the door steps.
It cannot reach a guest who booked somewhere else. A guest who booked on Booking.com, Vrbo or directly with you never sees the Airbnb field. If you take bookings on more than one site, either you keep two copies that drift apart, or you keep one copy every guest can reach.
It cannot keep itself true. A manual in the Airbnb field, a PDF you email, a printed folder and a card on the fridge are four versions of the heating instructions, and nothing tells you when they disagree.
The fix for all three is one copy you can change from your phone, with every other place pointing at it: a short Airbnb house manual with the essentials and a link to the full version, a QR card by the door, a line in the check-in message. Askello is one way to keep that copy: it drafts the guide from your listing, guests open it from a link or QR code without installing anything, and on the paid plans they can ask it questions answered only from what you wrote. See it from the guest’s side on the sample guide.
Can I copy one house manual to my other listings?
Copy the parts that describe you, and rewrite every part that describes the building. A copied manual is a draft for the next place, not a finished one, so walk it section by section and publish only after the check.
Safe to reuse between places:
- Quiet hours, pets, parties and extra guests, if your rules are the same everywhere.
- How you want checkout to go: beds, dishes, rubbish, keys.
- Your welcome tone and sign-off.
- Neighbourhood tips, if the places are a short walk apart.
Never copied without checking against the place itself:
- The door code and the lock steps.
- The Wi-Fi name and password.
- Parking, which can change from one address to the next street.
- Appliance steps, even for the same brand bought a year apart.
- The floor, the door, the name on the bell and the way in.
- Where the fuse box, the water stop valve and the fire extinguisher are.
When you fix something in one manual because a guest asked, check whether the same fix belongs in the others: a new checkout time you set for every place does, a new router does not.
What should I check before publishing it?
Check eight things, each a line you can tick:
- Every appliance a guest has to operate has a paragraph.
- The step that goes wrong has its own line.
- Nothing in it is a rule you would want to enforce.
- Nothing in it has a date you will forget to change.
- Each block starts with its subject.
- It reads correctly as plain text on a phone.
- Guests are told it exists, in a message they read.
- Guests who booked elsewhere can reach the same information.
For the questions guests send after the house manual has run out, see what guests ask most in a vacation rental; for the whole in-stay document laid out in sections, the vacation rental welcome book template; and for the last message of the stay, the checkout instructions template.
Questions hosts ask
Who can see the Airbnb house manual? Only guests with a confirmed reservation, per Airbnb’s help page. It is not part of the public listing.
Is the house manual the same as the house rules? No. House rules are shown to guests before they book, per Airbnb’s help page; the house manual explains how the place works and is visible only after booking.
What is the difference between a house manual and a guidebook on Airbnb? The house manual covers the inside of your place: appliances, heating, keys, leaving. The guidebook covers the area: places to eat, sights, walks.
Can I copy one house manual into every listing? Copy the shape and the parts about you: the blocks, their order, your rules and your checkout steps carry over, while the codes, the Wi-Fi, the heating times and the bins differ from place to place. The full list is in the section on copying above.
How long should an Airbnb house manual be? As long as your appliances need and no longer: one short block per thing a guest has to operate or find, as in the example above.