Review your guide when something changes: a router, an appliance, parking arrangements or the start of a hosting season. Walk through the instructions guests rely on and update the parts affected.
Walk through arrival again
- Confirm the route, entrance description and parking arrangement.
- Replace photos if a sign, gate or building appearance has changed.
- Check that arrival and check-out times match your current booking information.
- Keep a backup arrival message available outside the guide.
Try the everyday tasks
Connect a phone to the guest Wi-Fi using the details in the guide. Pick up the television remote described in the instructions. Check any equipment you have replaced. Update the writing to match the actual controls, and use manufacturer instructions for the specific model where needed.
Review recommendations selectively
Check the official website for each place you recommend. Remove places you no longer recommend and fix broken links. If you cannot maintain opening hours or prices, link to the place’s own information and explain why you suggest it.
Review what the link reveals
- Keep door, lockbox and access codes out of the guide.
- Remove private contact details that guests no longer need.
- Decide whether the address or Wi-Fi password belongs in a downloadable PDF.
- Remember that anyone with the guide link can forward it.
Use a simple update routine
- Make the changes in your draft.
- Read the phone preview as if you were arriving for the first time.
- Publish the reviewed version when hosting is active.
- Open the usual guest link and confirm the new information appears.
- Export a fresh PDF and replace printed copies where needed.
Check the QR card as well as the page
Scan the printed card from the place you expect guests to use it. Routine updates keep the existing link, so the QR card usually stays usable. If you rotate or revoke the share link, replace every old QR card and stored message that uses it. Check the new code before leaving the property.
Keep a small maintenance note
Keep this note for your own records. Check property details and external links yourself. Copied guides are independent, so each property needs its own review.
Separate seasonal details from year-round instructions
A winter route, summer parking arrangement or seasonal business may need a separate note. Label when the information applies and remove it when that period ends. Confirm the details from the relevant official or property source. Do not carry last season’s hours or access assumptions into the new guide.
How often should I update a welcome book?
Review it before a new hosting season and whenever a guest-facing detail changes. Equipment replacement, a new Wi-Fi network, a different contact method or altered parking are practical review triggers. You do not need to rewrite accurate instructions just to change the date. Keep your maintenance note specific about what you checked and changed.
Manage independent guidebooks for several properties
