A house manual guests actually read.
Check-in, wifi, the quirks, your picks, checkout — from your notes. $39.
Before · the host's notes
“The back slider sticks — you have to lift the handle UP while you slide it. I apologize about this in three different places in the current binder, my husband says stop apologizing… guests still text me the wifi password while they are standing next to the router.”
After · the manual
The house, and its two quirks
The back slider sticks: lift the handle up while you slide, and it moves easily. It locks the same way — lift, then latch.
Getting in
The front door has a keypad; your code is in the message we send the morning you arrive.
Questions for the host
Is checkout 10 AM firm? The manual states it plainly — say the word and we'll add a late-checkout line.
Sample manual · an invented cottage, from the 513-word notes below
Three steps.
Send the brain-dump
Everything you already text guests one at a time: how they get in and where they park (with the real warnings), the wifi, the TV's one trick, the burner that clicks, the hot tub rules, the rules you actually mean, the five places you send everyone, what breaks and the fix, and your checkout asks. However rough — the notes app rant is exactly right.
We write the manual
An arrival page a tired guest can follow at 11pm. The house's quirks said once, plainly, with zero apologies. Rules in a human voice — firm where you're firm, warm where you're warm. Your picks in your words, never padded from the internet. A when-something-goes-wrong page, and a checkout page with your actual asks. Door codes and your exact address stay placeholders unless you say print them.
Print it, paste it
A Word file, a text file and a PDF proof within two days — the same words go in the binder on the counter and in your listing's guidebook section. With them: a list of what we tidied or kept out and why, and your open questions, each a one-line change. One free round of changes within a week.
What you send, what you get.
Okay so the cottage is Juniper House, it's a 2-bed in Pinewood, Oregon, sleeps 5 (the sofa in the den pulls out). We've hosted about two years and I have rewritten the welcome binder three times and guests still text me the wifi password while they are standing next to the router. I want one manual that actually gets read, for the binder on the kitchen counter and a PDF I can paste into the listing app. Getting in: keypad on the front door, I send the code the morning they arrive, please don't print a code in the book, last host guide I saw online had the code right on page one which is insane. Parking is the driveway, two cars max. No street parking November through March because it's a snow route and they will get towed, this has happened, I'm still mad about it. Wifi is JuniperGuest, password is on the card by the router AND I text it, but see above. TV is a Roku, the input thing confuses people, it has to be on HDMI2, the soundbar remote is the little black one. Kitchen: the left burner clicks a few times before it lights, it's fine, it's not a gas leak, I get a text about it every month. Dishwasher tablets under the sink. Laundry is in the garage, free, detergent's there. The back slider sticks — you have to lift the handle UP while you slide it. I apologize about this in three different places in the current binder, my husband says stop apologizing. Hot tub: shower first, no glass in or near it, kids only with an adult, cover back on after, and it's closed at 10 …
Juniper House · the manual
Getting in
“Park in the driveway, up to two cars. From November through March, please don't park on the street: it's a snow route and the town does tow.” the tow warning, where guests need it
The hot tub
“It closes at 10 PM with quiet hours, and the cover goes back on after each soak — it keeps the heat in and the pine needles out.”
What we tidied · questions for the host
Seven lines saying what was moved or written from your facts (the code a placeholder, the slider apology cut to one instruction, quiet hours said once, only your five picks) and six questions your notes left open, each a one-line change. No rule, place or number is in the manual that you did not give. nothing invented
An invented cottage and the host's 513-word notes. Yours is written from your own house: one property, one manual.
Welcome-book templates sell for $10 to $35 a download: forty pretty pages of blanks, and the words are still yours to write at midnight. This is the words themselves — your house, your quirks, your rules, your picks, written and ordered once, so the “what’s the wifi” texts stop and the binder finally earns its place on the counter.
- The arrival page: directions, parking and its warnings, the door
- Wifi, TV and the house's quirks — each said once, plainly
- House rules in a human voice, quiet hours where they belong
- Your local picks, in your words — never padded
- The when-something-goes-wrong page, and checkout with your asks
- A Word file, a text file and a PDF proof · one free round of changes
Send the brain-dump.
Three questions.
What exactly do I get?
One property's house manual, within two days after payment, as a Word file you can edit, a text file and a PDF proof (Letter for the US and Canada, A4 for the UK and Australia): the arrival page (directions in your words, parking with its real warnings, the door — code as a placeholder), the wifi and TV page, the house's quirks said once and plainly, the rules in a human voice, your own local picks, the when-something-goes-wrong page (router, breaker, water shutoff, who to text) and the checkout page with your actual asks. The same words paste straight into your listing's guidebook section or print for the binder on the counter. With it: a list of what we tidied, moved or kept out and why, and a numbered list of what your notes left open. One free round of changes within a week.
Will you invent a rule, a restaurant or a code?
No. Every rule, place, appliance and number in the manual is one you gave; where your notes leave something open, the manual takes the plainest reading and lists it as a question for you. Door codes and your exact address stay placeholders unless you say print them. Your picks are yours alone — we never pad the local page from the internet, and we never dress a rule up as a law it isn't.
Is this affiliated with Airbnb? Is it advice?
No — Host House Manual is independent and not affiliated with Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com or any platform; the manual works wherever you host, and in a binder on the counter. Words only: not legal, safety, tax or permit advice — occupancy rules, STR licences and local law stay yours (where your notes touch one, the manual flags it as a question rather than advising). One property per order; a second cottage is a second order, and we say so before you pay.
Get the sample manual first
The invented Juniper House manual: the host's 513-word notes and the finished eight pages as a PDF, with the tidy list and the open questions.