If you're a holiday rental host — on Airbnb, Booking, or taking direct bookings — you probably know the feeling: you're having dinner, watching a show, or trying to sleep, and your phone buzzes. It's the guest. And you already know what the question is.
Answering repetitive messages isn't just exhausting — it's a sign your communication process can be improved. The good news is that the most common questions always follow the same pattern, and that's exactly why you can eliminate them once and for all.
1. "What's the Wi-Fi password?"
The undisputed champion of repetitive questions. Guests barely open their suitcase before they're hunting for the password. Even if you sent it at booking time, it gets lost in the Airbnb chat or WhatsApp history.
The solution isn't to send it more often — it's to put it where guests will naturally look: in a digital guide accessible from their phone, with a copy button, available at any hour without depending on you.
2. "How does the shower work?"
Electric showers, external valves, gas heaters — every property has its quirks. What seems obvious to you can be a mystery to someone who has never seen that model. And the message usually arrives exactly when the guest wants to take a shower.
A photo of the shower with an arrow pointing to the temperature selector, or a 15-second video showing how to turn it on, eliminates that doubt before it becomes a WhatsApp message.
3. "How do I turn on the air conditioning?"
Remote controls with dozens of buttons, modes nobody understands, temperatures that won't respond. If your property has a split air conditioner, you've received this message. And the frustration of a guest who spends a hot night unable to turn on the unit directly impacts your final review.
Explain the basics: which button turns it on, what temperature to set, which mode to use. Simple, quick, and effective.
4. "What time is check-out? Where do I leave the key?"
This question almost always arrives on departure morning — exactly when you're getting ready to welcome the next guest. Check-out information should be clear from the start: the time, the key handover procedure, what to do with towels and rubbish.
When that information is organised and accessible, guests check out on their own, without calling you at 10 a.m.
5. "Any good restaurants around here?"
This is the friendliest of the five — and also the one that sets you apart when answered well. A guest asking this is handing you a golden opportunity: to curate their experience in your city.
But answering each guest individually gets tiring. The solution is to build a curated list of your 3 to 5 favorites — bakery, restaurant, 24-hour pharmacy — and keep it in your guide, organised by category, with direct links to Google Maps.
Why PDFs and printed manuals don't solve it
Most hosts have already tried solving this with a PDF or a printed binder. The problem is that guests can't find it — or don't read it. Dense blocks of text with no visual organisation get ignored by the tired brain of someone who just finished travelling. If you want to understand the difference between paper and digital, read this article.
The solution: a digital guide that works for you
A digital guest guide centralises all those answers in a single link — accessible on any phone, with no app to download. You send the link when the booking is confirmed, and guests arrive already knowing everything they need.
The practical result: fewer messages, fewer interruptions in your day, and guests who feel safer and better taken care of — which shows up directly in your reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still have to answer guest messages if I have a digital guide?
For basic questions — Wi-Fi, shower, check-out — no. A well-structured guide eliminates most of them. You'll still be contacted for unexpected situations, but the frequency drops dramatically.
Will guests actually use the guide?
Yes — especially if you send the link before check-in and mention that all the information is there. Guests prefer solving things on their own over having to ask for help.
Do I have to create a different guide for each property?
Yes, each property gets its own guide with specific information. With Guialo, you can create guides for every property from the same dashboard.
Does the guide work for international guests?
Yes. Guialo automatically translates your guide's content so every guest can read it in their own language. You create it once and you're done.
