What to Include in a Guest Manual: 15 Essentials
A complete guest manual covers 15 items, in this priority order: Wi-Fi, schedules, useful phone numbers, appliance instructions, house rules, breakfast, shared areas, parking, paid services, emergencies, transport, local tips, waste and recycling, check-out and a review invitation. This post gives the full list, what to leave out, three examples by property type, and how to keep everything current without reprinting a single page.
By Equipe ViaHotelupdated on July 31, 20262 min read
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Why does your guesthouse need a manual?
Because every unanswered question becomes an interruption — and there are plenty of them: 60% to 75% of front desk interactions are repetitive, according to vendor research such as Runnr.ai. A complete manual is the difference between your team explaining the shower 12 times and welcoming people with coffee and a smile.
The 15 essentials (in priority order)
- Wi-Fi — network and password, large, at the top
- Schedules — breakfast, check-out, pool, quiet hours
- Useful numbers — front desk/WhatsApp and response times
- Appliance instructions — air conditioning, shower, TV, safe, door lock
- House rules — smoking, pets, visitors, noise
- Breakfast — where, when, and what to do outside those hours
- Shared areas — pool, barbecue, games (hours and rules)
- Parking — where, how, cost
- Paid services — late check-out, laundry, tours (with prices)
- Emergencies — hospital, 24h pharmacy, fire department
- Transport — taxi/ride app, stops, distances
- Local tips — 3 restaurants, 3 things to do, 1 grocery store
- Waste and sustainability — collection and recycling
- Check-out — a simple step by step
- Reviews — an honest invitation, no nagging
What NOT to put in
- A block of legal text — rules written like a condo notice go unread.
- Information that goes stale fast with no owner — someone else's menu, someone else's tour prices.
- Personal data about guests or staff — LGPD, Brazil's data protection law, equivalent to the GDPR.
- Everything on one single page — organize it by topic; nobody reads a wall-of-text manual.
How do you keep it current without reprinting anything?
Laminated paper is out of date the first time a schedule changes. The alternative is a digital manual with a permanent QR code: the printed code stays the same and the content changes with one tap. With an AI Concierge, the guest does not even browse — they ask and get the right answer, in 3 languages. See the guest welcome book template, ready to copy.
Examples by guesthouse type
- Beach: towels and outdoor shower, best hours at the beach, boat trips, sunscreen at the desk.
- Mountains/countryside: fireplace and heater (with instructions!), trails with safe hours, fog on the road at night.
- Urban: ride apps, deliveries at the entrance, noise and neighbors.
Turn this list into your digital guest guide in 10 minutes, with a ready-made template for each property type: start free — 14 days, no credit card.