Last month a guest called me at 11 PM because they couldn’t find the lockbox. The instructions I’d sent were clear — to me. “Lockbox is on the left side of the porch railing” made perfect sense when I wrote it standing in my driveway at 2 PM. But this guest was arriving in the dark, from the street side, where “left” meant something completely different.
That phone call cost me 20 minutes and a minor hit to my review (“check-in was a bit confusing”). I’ve been hosting three properties for four years now, and I still make mistakes like this. But I make them a lot less often than I used to, because I’ve learned what actually works in check-in instructions — and more importantly, what doesn’t.
The Problem Isn’t What You Include. It’s How You Structure It.
Most hosts write check-in instructions like a manual. Paragraph after paragraph of every detail they can think of: parking, door codes, Wi-Fi, house rules, trash schedule, pool hours, thermostat instructions. All in one massive message.
Guests don’t read manuals. They’re pulling up to your property after a six-hour drive with two kids in the back seat. They want one thing: how do I get inside?
Everything else can wait.
The single biggest improvement I made to my check-in instructions was splitting them into two messages instead of one. The first message covers getting through the door. That’s it. The second message — sent after they’ve been inside for an hour — covers everything else.
Timing: When to Send What
Timing matters more than most hosts realize. Send check-in instructions too early and guests forget them. Send them too late and guests are already frustrated.
Here’s the timing I use across all three properties:
3 days before arrival: Confirmation message. Brief, friendly. “Looking forward to hosting you! Check-in is at 4 PM. I’ll send detailed instructions the day before.”
24 hours before arrival: The actual check-in instructions. Just the essentials: address, parking, how to get in, door code. Nothing else.
30 minutes after check-in time: A welcome message with Wi-Fi password, house guide, local recommendations, and anything else they’ll want during their stay.
Morning of checkout: Checkout instructions. Keep these short too.
This spacing prevents the “wall of text” problem. Each message has one job, and guests can actually absorb it because they’re not drowning in information they don’t need yet.
What Goes in the Check-In Message (And What Doesn’t)
Here’s exactly what belongs in your 24-hours-before check-in message:
Include:
- Property address (full, copy-paste ready — not “it’s the blue house on Oak Street”)
- Check-in time
- Parking instructions (specific spot, street parking rules, garage code)
- Step-by-step entry instructions (which door, code/key location, any quirks)
- Your phone number for emergencies
Don’t include:
- Wi-Fi password
- House rules
- Local recommendations
- Checkout instructions
- Appliance tutorials
- Anything that isn’t about physically getting inside
I know it’s tempting to dump everything into one message. Fight that urge. Every extra paragraph reduces the chance they’ll read the part that actually matters.
Write Instructions Like Directions, Not Descriptions
This is the biggest mistake I see hosts make. They write descriptions of the check-in process instead of step-by-step directions.
Bad example:
“The property features a keypad entry system on the front door. The lockbox with a spare key is located near the side entrance. Parking is available in the driveway which can accommodate two vehicles. The check-in time is 4:00 PM and we ask that guests respect this to allow time for cleaning between stays.”
That reads like a real estate listing. A tired guest scanning this on their phone is going to miss half of it.
Better:
- Park in the driveway (space for 2 cars)
- Walk to the front door (red door, faces the street)
- Enter code 4829 on the keypad
- Turn the handle and push — the door sticks slightly
- Light switch is immediately on your right
Numbered steps. Short sentences. Specific details. “The door sticks slightly” is the kind of thing that prevents a panicked “I think the door is broken” message.
Pay attention to that last point. You know your property’s quirks. Your guests don’t. If the deadbolt needs a firm push, say so. If the garage door opener is slow, mention it. If the keypad beeps twice before unlocking, include that. These tiny details are the difference between a smooth check-in and a confused phone call.
Photos and Videos Change Everything
Words only go so far. A photo of your front door with an arrow pointing to the keypad does more than three paragraphs of written directions.
I started including photos in my check-in instructions about two years ago, and the “I can’t find the…” messages dropped to almost zero. Here’s what I photograph:
- The approach from the street (what the property looks like when they pull up)
- Where to park
- Which door to use (especially if there are multiple)
- The keypad/lockbox/key location
- The light switch inside the door
For properties with a tricky setup — like my cabin where guests need to walk around the side of the building to reach the entrance — I shoot a 30-second walkthrough video on my phone. Upload it to YouTube as unlisted, drop the link in the message.
It takes 10 minutes to create this once, and it saves hours of back-and-forth over the course of a year.
The “Friend Test”
Before I finalize check-in instructions for a new property, I run what I call the friend test. I send the instructions to a friend who’s never been to the property and ask them to tell me, step by step, how they’d get inside.
Every time I do this, they find something I missed. “Which side of the house is the driveway on?” “Is the keypad at handle height or above the door?” “Do I need to lock the door behind me or does it auto-lock?”
These are questions that never occur to you because you’ve walked through that door 200 times. But your guest is doing it for the first time, probably in the dark, probably tired.
If you don’t have a friend to test with, try reading your instructions out loud as if you’ve never seen the property. Better yet, read them while looking at a Google Street View of your listing. That’s closer to what your guest’s experience actually looks like.
Platform-Specific Formatting Tips
Airbnb’s messaging system doesn’t render markdown the same way email does. A few things I’ve learned:
Numbered lists work well. Airbnb’s message system handles these cleanly, and they’re scannable on mobile.
Bold text gets attention. Use it for the door code and address. Those are the two things guests search for when they’re standing outside.
Keep it under 500 words. For the check-in message specifically. Airbnb truncates long messages on the app, and guests have to tap “read more” to see the rest. If your door code is below the fold, that’s a problem.
Line breaks matter. Dense paragraphs look intimidating on a phone screen. One thought per line. White space is your friend.
And a small thing that makes a big difference: put the door code on its own line, bolded. Guests will screenshot your message and zoom in on the code when they’re at the door. Make it easy to find.
Common Mistakes That Cause Late-Night Calls
After four years and probably a thousand check-ins across my properties, here are the patterns that generate the most confused messages:
Directional language without a reference point. “Turn left” means nothing without specifying where you’re standing and which way you’re facing. Use landmarks: “facing the front door, the keypad is on the right wall.”
Assuming guests know the area. “Park at the end of the cul-de-sac” assumes they know what a cul-de-sac looks like on your street. “Drive to the end of Pine Street where it dead-ends — the driveway is on your left” is better.
Burying the door code. The door code should be the most visible thing in the message. Not tucked inside a paragraph. Not after three paragraphs of parking instructions.
Not accounting for nighttime arrivals. Half your guests will arrive after dark. “The blue house with the garden out front” becomes useless at 10 PM. Include the house number and a physical description that works at night.
Overcomplicating things. If your check-in process requires more than 5 steps, the problem might not be your instructions. Smart locks, clear signage, and good exterior lighting solve more check-in problems than better writing ever will. I wrote about the smart lock setup I use across all my properties in my guide to Airbnb smart locks — it simplified my check-in instructions dramatically.
Building a System Instead of Rewriting Every Time
Once you’ve written solid check-in instructions for each property, the next step is automating the delivery. You shouldn’t be manually sending the same message to every guest. That’s where guest messaging templates become worth their weight in gold.
The flow looks like this: guest books → booking confirmation sends automatically → check-in instructions send 24 hours before arrival → welcome message sends after check-in → checkout reminder sends the morning of departure.
You set it up once per property. Then you forget about it.
I use OutKeepr to handle this automatically across all three of my properties — it sends the right message at the right time, and if a guest replies with a question, it responds with accurate property-specific info instead of leaving them on read until I wake up. The combination of good instructions and automated guest messaging means I rarely get check-in calls anymore.
The Check-In Instructions Checklist
Before you send check-in instructions for any property, run through this:
- Address is complete and copy-paste ready
- Door code is bolded and on its own line
- Steps are numbered, not buried in paragraphs
- Instructions work for nighttime arrivals
- You’ve tested directions from the street, not the driveway
- Quirks are mentioned (sticky doors, slow keypads, tricky locks)
- Photos or video are included
- Message is under 500 words
- No information that belongs in a later message
Get this right, and you’ll stop being the host who gets calls at 11 PM. Your guests will walk in, put their bags down, and the first message you get won’t be a confused question. It’ll be “This place is great!”
That’s worth the 30 minutes it takes to get your instructions dialed in.
Ready to automate your vacation rental?
AI guest messaging, smart lock codes, cleaner scheduling, and more — starting at $5/mo per property.
Try Outkeepr Free