A welcome page sets the tone; a house manual is the part that stops the mid-stay messages — the how-does-this-work questions about your specific place. The two overlap, but the manual is where the detail lives. Here's a checklist you can work through room by room.
If you haven't built the welcome page yet, start there — our welcome page guide covers the essentials — then use this to fill in the “how everything works” section.
Getting in and connected
- Entry: lockbox location and code, or the smart-lock steps, plus what to do if it fails.
- WiFi: network and password (one-tap copy beats a photo of a router sticker).
- Parking: where, which side, permit zones, garage height if it matters.
The appliances guests get stuck on
- Washing machine: which cycle, where the detergent is, roughly how long.
- Hot water: the switch or boiler, and how long it takes to heat.
- Air conditioning / heating: the remote or thermostat, and the mode that actually works.
- Oven, hob and dishwasher: anything non-obvious about turning them on.
- TV and streaming: which remote, which input, whether guests can log into their own accounts.
The quirks only you know
- The tap that runs hot the wrong way, the door that needs a lift-and-turn, the fuse box location.
- Windows and blinds that stick, the balcony door that must stay shut for the AC to cool.
- Anything a guest could break by using it the reasonable-but-wrong way.
Safety essentials
- Fire extinguisher, smoke and CO alarm locations.
- The main water shut-off and fuse box, in case something goes wrong.
- Emergency numbers for the area and your own contact for everything else.
Leaving
- Check-out time and where the keys go.
- The short list: bins out or not, dishwasher on, windows shut, thermostat down.
Keep it where they'll actually read it
A manual in a drawer doesn't get read. The version that works is on the guest's phone, one QR scan away, with the appliances as tap-to-open tiles instead of a wall of text — and editable from your phone the moment something changes.