What Is a Digital Guest Guide for Airbnb?
A digital guest guide replaces the printed house manual with a link guests open on their phone — arrival help, Wi-Fi, appliances, house rules and local tips in one place.
HIOZ Editorial12 August 2026Updated 23 August 20263 min read
What is a digital guest guide for Airbnb?
A digital guest guide for Airbnb is a mobile web page that guests open from a link or QR code, containing everything about their stay — check-in instructions, Wi-Fi, appliance help, house rules, local recommendations and checkout steps. Unlike a printed manual, it stays up to date, can translate itself into the guest's language and can be protected with PINs for sensitive details.
Key takeaways
- A digital guest guide is a link, not a binder — guests open it on their phone before and during the stay.
- The essentials are arrival, Wi-Fi, appliances, house rules, local tips and checkout.
- Digital guides can do what paper can't — video, translation, PIN protection, expiring access and analytics.
- Video-first guides remove the writing work entirely — you record a walkthrough and AI drafts the sections.
Every Airbnb has the same unofficial second listing: the stream of questions guests send after booking. What's the Wi-Fi password? How do I get in? How does the hob work? A digital guest guide exists to answer those questions before they're asked.
Why the printed manual stopped working
The classic laminated binder has three problems. Guests don't find it until they've already messaged you. It's out of date the moment you replace an appliance or change the bin day. And it speaks exactly one language.
Meanwhile, your guests plan their whole trip on their phone. Information that isn't on that phone effectively doesn't exist.
What a digital guest guide should include
The core sections, roughly in the order guests need them:
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Arrival & access | Directions, parking, key safe or smart lock, entrance quirks |
| Wi-Fi | Network name and password — the single most-opened section |
| Heating & hot water | Thermostats, timers, the boiler's personality |
| Appliances | Hob, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, coffee machine, TV |
| House rules | Noise, smoking, pets, parties, pool rules |
| Safety | Emergency numbers, first aid, fire extinguisher, shut-offs |
| Local recommendations | Restaurants, cafés, beaches, transport, your genuine favourites |
| Checkout | Keys, bins, dishwasher, heating off — the leaving-day list |
What digital does that paper never could
Always current. Change the checkout time once and every future guest sees it. No reprinting.
Video. Some things need showing — the trick with the shower dial, the pool cover handle. A ten-second clip beats any paragraph.
Translation. A digital guide can greet German, Spanish and French guests in their own languages from the same content.
Privacy. Key-safe codes don't belong in a binder on the kitchen table. Digital guides can hide sensitive details behind a per-stay PIN that expires after checkout.
Analytics. You can finally see what guests actually read and ask — which usually reveals the one confusing thing in your property worth fixing.
The video-first shortcut
Most digital guest guide apps still make you do the hardest part: writing. You sit down with templates and type out every section — which is why so many guides never get finished.
The video-first approach flips it. With HIOZ, you record a walkthrough of your property once, talking naturally. AI transcribes it, splits it into topics, drafts each section and links it to the exact moment in your video. Translation into up to nine languages is one click per language, and the built-in Ask HIOZ concierge answers guest questions from your own content.
See how a HIOZ digital guest guide works →
Getting started
- Walk through your property with your phone and explain it like you would to a friend.
- Review the drafted sections and add your local recommendations.
- Put the link in your Airbnb check-in message and print a QR code for the hallway.
That's the entire project — most hosts finish in an afternoon, and every future guest benefits.
Build for free. No credit card required.
