Holiday let guest questions, stage by stage, and where to answer each one once
By Ahmed, founder of Azur Stay
Published Updated 9 min read
A guest's questions follow the course of the stay: the day before arrival, the day itself, on arrival, during the stay and at check-out. When the answer already exists, the question comes up because it isn't where the guest is looking at that moment. This article sorts the questions by stage of the stay, says which category of your welcome book each answer belongs in, once and for all, and names the requests that will always deserve a conversation with you. The questions are worded the way an English-speaking guest might ask them.
Why do guests ask a question you have already answered?
Because at that moment they don't know where to find the answer. It's in the listing, in a message sent days earlier, or on a sheet left in the flat or cottage, so they write to the one person they can be sure of reaching: you.
The fix isn't to reply faster. It's to put each answer in one place, which the guest opens when they need it. In a welcome book, that place is the category that matches their stage of the stay. The categories are covered in our guide to the Airbnb house manual; below, we follow the stay in order and say, question by question, where to write the answer.
What do guests ask before they arrive?
Two questions, at two different moments: the day before, what time they can arrive; on the day itself, on the road, where the property is.
“What time can we check in?”
This is the day-before question. It reaches you when the arrival time isn't written anywhere the guest looks. In your host area, you set a check-in time and a check-out time: both appear at the top of the Arrival & Access category of the welcome book. If arrival has a limit, such as a time after which nobody can let guests in, add it in one sentence in the same category. If the guest got the link to the welcome book when the booking was confirmed, they can read the answer before they ever ask. Related questions, such as how to get in and where to park, also go in Arrival & Access.
“Can you send us the location?”
This one comes on the day itself, from the road. The welcome book answers it without a message: once you have entered the property's coordinates, the Directions category gives a Google Maps button and a Waze button, built from those coordinates rather than from the town. The guest taps a button and the route to the property opens. In your host area, you paste a Google Maps link or the coordinates once.
What do guests ask on arrival and on the first evening?
The Wi-Fi first, which guests want to use as soon as they've put their bags down. Then come the first-evening questions about how things work: the heating, the hot water, the towels.
“What's the Wi-Fi password?”
In the welcome book, the network name and the password are displayed in plain text, each with a “Copy” button, so the guest has nothing to retype. They appear on the welcome book's home screen, and in the category called “The accommodation”. The Wi-Fi QR code is on the A4 sign you print and put up in the property, but only once the network has been filled in. The link gives access to the whole welcome book, Wi-Fi password included: send it to the guests on the booking, and no one else.
No welcome book yet? The free Wi-Fi QR code tool makes the sign and its QR code in your browser, with no sign-up; your password is never sent to our servers.
What do guests ask during the stay?
Tips on where to go out, and small practical details, such as where the bins are.
“Can you recommend anywhere good to eat?”
Guests can find lists of restaurants elsewhere; your opinion, they can only get from you. Write your recommendations in the Eat & drink category, with a line on what you like about each, and your ideas for days out in Things to do. Only include places you know. These two categories are among the three you can hide; if you hide them, or leave them empty, the guest doesn't see them.
Where do the bins go?
It's the kind of detail that's easy to forget to write down, because it seems obvious to anyone who knows the property. One sentence is enough: where the bins are, and the collection day if you know it. It belongs in the Good to know category, or in House rules if you give recycling instructions. Other practical details of the same kind go in the same place.
What do guests ask at check-out?
The check-out instructions, and the request to leave later.
“Can we check out later?”
It isn't missing information: the guest knows when they're due to leave and would like to make the most of their last day. No welcome book can answer for you, because the answer depends on you (is the property free afterwards?). What the welcome book can do is show the check-out time, at the top of the Arrival & Access category alongside the check-in time, so the request arrives clearly, and give the guest an easy way to make it: the WhatsApp button, covered below. The routine instructions (where to leave the keys, what to do before leaving) go in the Check-out category, so the guest finds them without writing to you.
Check-out is also when your end-of-stay message goes out: if you have a Google Business Profile, that's where the review link belongs (see our article on Google reviews for holiday lets: who is eligible, and how to ask).
Where should you answer each question, once and for all?
In the welcome book category that matches the moment the guest asks. The table links each topic to its category and to the moment the guest looks for it.
| Topic | Where to put it in the welcome book | When the guest looks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Check-in and check-out times | Arrival & Access (times set in your host area) | The day before |
| Getting in, where to park | Arrival & Access | The day before and on arrival |
| The location | Directions (Google Maps and Waze buttons) | On the day, on the road |
| The Wi-Fi | The accommodation, and the A4 sign for the QR code | On arrival |
| Heating, hot water, towels | The accommodation | The first evening |
| The bins | Good to know | During the stay |
| Where to eat, what to do | Eat & drink, Things to do | During the stay |
| Having visitors | House rules | During the stay |
| Where to leave the keys, what to do before leaving | Check-out | The day before leaving |
So that the answer is also where the guest is, the A4 sign you put up in the property always carries the welcome book's QR code. You can see the 12 categories and the sign in the demo of the welcome book and the A4 sign.
Which questions still deserve a proper conversation?
The ones where the answer depends on you or on the situation: a late check-out request, a special request, a problem in the property. A welcome book isn't meant to replace those.
- The late check-out: it depends on your calendar, as we saw above.
- The special request: anything outside what you planned for in the welcome book.
- The problem on site: a piece of equipment that isn't working, or a situation the welcome book didn't foresee.
- The guest who hasn't opened the welcome book: answer their question, then point them to the category where the answer sits.
For these conversations, the welcome book keeps a WhatsApp button. It opens a conversation with the property's support contact, with a message already written, in the guest's language. It stays hidden until a WhatsApp number has been entered. The aim isn't to stop every message, but to make sure the ones you get deserve a reply.
What I do in my properties
The same messages used to keep coming back to me. The day before arrival, what time guests could arrive. On the day, on the road, the location. On arrival, the Wi-Fi details. During the stay, a good restaurant or where the bins are.
Since 2025, ever since that information has been on a QR sign and in a welcome book that guests open before they arrive, I've had practically no messages at all about arrival times, directions or the Wi-Fi.
Requests for a late check-out still come in, though: those are decided case by case, depending on the next booking.
Ahmed
Frequently asked questions
Does the welcome book send the link to guests by itself?
No. Once your welcome book is published, you send the link yourself with the “Send by WhatsApp” button in your host area: it opens WhatsApp with a ready-written message containing the link, and you choose who receives it. Nothing is sent automatically.
Do you have to fill in all 12 categories before sending it?
No. A category with nothing in it doesn't appear in the guest's welcome book: start with the ones in the table above. You can complete the others later; when you republish, the welcome book's address and QR codes stay the same.
In summary
- A guest's questions follow the stay: the day before, the day itself, on arrival, during the stay and at check-out.
- They write to you when they don't know where the answer is: put it in the category that matches their stage of the stay.
- Check-in and check-out times in Arrival & Access, location in Directions, Wi-Fi in The accommodation, restaurants in Eat & drink, bins in Good to know, check-out instructions in Check-out.
- Send the welcome book's link to the guests on the booking, and no one else: it gives access to the whole welcome book, Wi-Fi password included.
- Some requests always deserve a conversation (late check-out, a special request, a problem on site): keep an easy way to reach you, the WhatsApp button.
- A category with nothing in it doesn't appear: start with the essentials and complete the rest later.