- By Laura Clayton
- 9th June 2022
- Guest Experience
- Airbnb
First impressions count. Whether you’re meeting a new boss, on a first date, or…welcoming new guests to your Airbnb. The first impression sets the tone for the whole experience. A welcome letter is a simple way to make sure your Airbnb guests feel welcomed from the moment they step through the front door. A good Airbnb welcome letter lets guests know that they’re not just renting four walls and some furniture, they’re renting a home for the next few days. And Airbnb hosts (and superhosts!) who set their guests up for a wonderful experience see: If you’re on the hunt for any of those assets, this article is for you. We’re going to outline: So, let’s get cracking! No trick questions here! An Airbnb welcome letter is just that: it’s a letter or card that welcomes guests to your Airbnb property. It doesn’t need to be lengthy, or elaborately formatted. It just needs to provide a warm welcome to your rental home, and direct guests towards the more in-depth information that you might keep in a house manual or digital guest welcome book. If you don’t meet your guests in-person – an option which has grown in popularity for guests, hosts, and managers in recent years – a welcome letter shows guests that you’re still present and invested in their stay. It’s basically you saying hello to your visitors, but in paper format! It’s easy to see a short welcome message as an added extra – something that’s nice, but not strictly necessary. We’re here to dispel that myth. Your Airbnb welcome note is essential to your guests’ experience. It creates a sense of human connection, and helps guests to truly feel at home at your property. It can also: Your welcome note is a crucial aspect of your Airbnb guest experience – it adds the personal touch that lets your visitors know you really care about their stay. In turn, providing a great guest experience helps you to build a reputation as an outstanding Airbnb host, which is your first step towards a reliable stream of bookings. READ: what, how, and when to communicate with vacation rental guests A Touch Stay digital guidebook enhances your guest experience by communicating the crucial property information that would clutter up a welcome note. It intuitively presents all the practical details your guests need – from driving directions to which kitchen equipment you provide – plus your personal local recommendations. Start sharing your digital welcome book with guests as soon as they book. Simply paste your guidebook link into existing communications, or set up scheduled alerts in our guest notification system. Prepared guests are happy guests, and your guests will have all the info they need at their fingertips before they even pack their bags. READ: about how you can restore hours to your day with an Airbnb house manual template Get started with a short term rental guidebook template As the digital guest welcome book experts, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how short term rental owners and managers can welcome guests to a property. Here are our tips and ideas for the key things you might like to cover in your Airbnb guest welcome note. This is the most important aspect of your welcome message. You need to openly tell your guests how glad you are that they’ve chosen to stay with you. It might feel like a really obvious thing, but it’s important that you make it explicit. Think of how you want your guests to feel when they arrive with you: Writing something that feels friendly and human will go a long way to achieving this. Ditch anything formal and express – in your own voice – how excited you are to be hosting visitors, and what a wonderful time you hope they’ll have. Your note will feel even more welcoming if guests can sense that it was written by you. So, insert a few personal touches such as: These details will help guests to feel that they know you a little better, and reinforce the personal connection you’ve started to build through pre-arrival communications. If you’ve chosen to leave a welcome basket, this is the moment to point guests towards it and explain the story behind any of the more whimsical items you’ve included. Welcome guests with a digital guidebook Help your guests settle in by providing some insights into the quirks that give your property character. These small details will help them to feel as though they’re being given an exclusive look into your Airbnb. You’ll make them feel like A-list visitors if, for example, you highlight: If you can intertwine these recommendations with particularly special memories you have in the property, your guests will feel as though you’re letting them into your home. You probably don’t have the time to craft a brand new welcome letter from scratch for each new set of guests. But this doesn’t mean you should print off the same generic message for every visitor who arrives at your Airbnb. A message template allows you to pre-write the majority of your welcome note, whilst leaving gaps for a few details personal to each guest. At the bare minimum it should include guests’ names – there’s nothing worse than being met with a note that starts ‘Dear valued guest…’! To really ace the guest experience your personalisation should go above and beyond. Use your pre-arrival communications to harvest some details about your guests’ stay. Keep an eye out for clues about: Leave space to congratulate them on their anniversary, wish them a happy birthday, or recommend a local site you think they’d enjoy. You’ll signal that you were really paying attention to what they had to say. Kickstart your communications with a digital guest book Your Airbnb welcome note needs to encourage guests to get in touch if they have any issues. Hopefully, their stay will run smoothly, but if they do run into any problems, you want to be able to fix them immediately. If guests tell you straight away that they can’t figure out how to turn the shower on, or that the sound system doesn’t seem to be working, the likelihood is that you can address these problems fairly easily. They’ll be back to hot showers with blaring music in no time! However, if they don’t let you know, their lasting impression of your property will be of frustrating technology and lukewarm showers. They might choose to mention this in a review, which then makes it the first impression for prospective guests. So, it’s essential that guests know they can contact you with any questions or problems, and that they know how to do so. Make sure your contact details – email and telephone number – are front and centre in your welcome note. You don’t want to overcrowd your welcome letter with too much practical info about your Airbnb. Your guests need to know how to turn on the dishwasher, when to put the rubbish out, and how to access the garden, but trying to condense all of that in here will make your note more overwhelming than welcoming! Your Airbnb welcome message should: This way, the focus of your letter remains on providing a bright, warm welcome to your home, rather than immediately jumping into the importance of putting the recycling out on the right day. Your Touch Stay digital guidebook perfectly complements your Airbnb welcome message by allowing guests to quickly jump to the more practical details. Simply: Give your visitors a warm welcome, provide a flavour of your property, and then direct them to a sleek guest app that they can use to explore your Airbnb even further. Start your 14-day free trial now Now that we’ve got the basics down, here are a couple of final hints to help you craft an exceptional welcome letter for your Airbnb guests. This is a great chance to solidify your brand in your guests’ minds. Airbnb is a brilliant platform for sourcing new guests, but your property can sometimes be obscured beneath guests’ idea that they’re staying in “an Airbnb”. Your listing will work hard for you if you can use it to express your property’s personality: Then, carry this brand personality into your welcome note. Don’t worry about adopting a formal tone, write in a way that feels natural to you, and which reflects the character you’ve already infused throughout your listing. Establishing a consistent tone of voice will solidify your property in guests’ minds, and leave them in no doubt about who they should be recommending to family and friends. We touched on templates above: creating a template for your welcome letter helps you to personalise each letter to the recipients, without draining more time from your day. All you have to do is: Your Airbnb welcome letter is only one aspect of your guest communications. You might also send: The same rule applies to each of these messages: they need to feel personable and specific to the guest, without taking a huge chunk of time out of your day. That’s where Memo – our guest notification system – comes in. We’ve drafted email and SMS templates for you to share your guidebook (plus other crucial information) with guests at seven different moments throughout their stay. Memo pulls in information specific to each guest so that they always receive messages which sound like you, and which are personal to them. Customise each template as extensively as you like, or simply enable them all and head off to more important stuff. Memo allows you to add the personal touch to all your guest communications, whilst helping you to reclaim time in your day. DISCOVER: four alternatives to the Airbnb welcome book template Enhance your guest communications today In case you’re still in search of ideas, we’ve crafted some (free!) guest welcome letter templates that will put a smile on the face of any Airbnb guest. Want a glossy version of them to edit for your own holiday rental property? Just fill in the form below and we’ll send you your own printable Airbnb welcome letter template. We’ve already made them pretty in Canva – just tweak the details and you’re good to go! Welcome to the Beach Retreat, *GUEST NAME*! And, of course, feel free to reach out to us by cell at (555) 234-5678 if you have questions or concerns. If your guests are coming back then you’re definitely doing something right! They clearly felt welcomed and relaxed during their first stay with you, and now they can’t wait to do it again. By drafting an Airbnb welcome letter template specifically for returning guests, you continue to develop your relationship with them, and show them what it means to you that they chose to come back. Welcome back to The Beach Retreat, *GUEST NAME*! You know the drill – kick off your shoes, grab a cold drink from the fridge and relax. (Like before, we’ve stocked some waters, juice for the kids and beers for you.) And, of course, feel free to reach out to us by cell at (555) 234-5678 if you have questions or concerns. Your welcome starts well before guests walk through your front door of your Airbnb – it starts from the moment they book. Every communication you send shapes their initial impression of your property. With a Touch Stay digital guidebook, your guests will know immediately that they’re in safe hands. Deposit all of your practical property information, along with personal local recommendations, into a sleek guest app. All your guests have to do is click on the link you share with them and they’ve got instant access to everything from access codes and appliance instructions, to your recommendations of what to pack. And with Memo, you don’t even have to remember to share your digital welcome book. Simply: Want to provide a warm, welcoming guest experience whilst still having time to handle work stuff, home stuff, and fun stuff? Click below to give Touch Stay a try with a 14-day free trial - no card details needed! Create your guidebook nowWhat is an Airbnb welcome letter?
Why it’s important to write an Airbnb welcome letter for guests
Welcome guests to your Airbnb with a digital guest welcome book
What to include in your Airbnb welcome message
1. A warm welcome to your Airbnb
2. Personal recommendations to help guests enjoy your property
3. Details personal to your Airbnb guests
4. Clarify your contact information
5. Directions to more detailed information
Complement your welcome letter with a digital guidebook
Top tips for writing your Airbnb welcome note
Align the tone of your welcome letter with your Airbnb listing
Balance efficiency with personality
Make your guest communications work for you with Memo
Example Airbnb welcome letters for guests
Sample Airbnb welcome letter for a first-time guest
We’re so glad you’ve made it all the way from Pennsylvania. Now let’s get down to business: kick off your shoes, grab a cold drink from the fridge and relax. (We’ve stocked some waters, juice for the kids and beers for you.)
The Beach Retreat has been in our family for three generations – and it’s been through a lot. Countless board game nights, seafood feasts on the picnic table, s’mores at the fire pit, barefoot walks along the beach, and firefly chases have happened here.
We love to see all of the folks from around the world calling this house “home,” even if only for a few nights. We hope you and your extended family have a wonderful reunion.
And don’t forget to look at our digital welcome book, created by Touch Stay. Use the QR link below to access the digital guidebook – you won’t have to download anything and you’ll have access right away. Inside you’ll find:
Most importantly, enjoy your stay!
Jane CartwrightAirbnb welcome letter template for a returning guest
We’re delighted to welcome you back!
Although you’re already familiar with The Beach Retreat, we want to make sure you enjoy it as much as last time. We hope you feel at home here.
Remember, we have a digital welcome book, hosted by Touch Stay. Use the QR link below to access the digital guidebook – you won’t have to download anything and you’ll have access right away. Inside you’ll find:
Thanks for coming back – I hope you have another wonderful stay.
Jane CartwrightWelcome Airbnb guests with a digital guidebook
Written by Laura Clayton
Laura Clayton is a copywriter with a BA in fiction writing from Columbia College Chicago. From holding a position as a background investigator retained by the United States government, to teaching English, and writing about real estate, Laura has a diverse and varied background. She has been writing for SaaS companies since 2019 in a wide range of industries.