The seven questions every guest asks
Every stay produces the same handful of messages. None of them are hard to answer — the problem is answering them again, and again, one guest at a time. Here are the seven, and how to answer each one exactly once.
"How do I get in?"
Arrival is the moment of highest anxiety — a tired guest, a suitcase, a door that will not open. Directions from the station, the building entrance, the floor, the lockbox code, the trick to the lock: write it as if the reader has never seen your street.
Answer it once: pair written steps with a photo of the door and the lockbox. Guests stop asking when they can see it.
"What's the Wi-Fi password?"
The most asked question in hospitality. Network name, password, and where the router is when it needs a restart. If the password is on a sticker under the router, say so — but do not make that the only place it lives.
Answer it once: put it in your guide's first screen. We wrote a whole chapter on this in the welcome guide tutorial.
"Where are the keys — and what do I do with them at the end?"
Keys generate questions twice: at arrival and at departure. Where they are, how many sets exist, what to do if one gets lost, and exactly where to leave them at check-out.
Answer it once: document arrival and departure as two separate entries — guests look for them at different moments.
"What are the house rules?"
Quiet hours, smoking, visitors, shoes, the terrace after midnight. Most guests want to behave well — they just need to know what "well" means in your house. Rules read better as short, warm sentences than as a legal list.
Answer it once: explain the why. "The walls are thin and the neighbors wake early" lands better than "No noise after 22:00."
"Which transport should I use?"
The nearest stop, the line that matters, how to pay, and how long the walk really is. A guest who understands the transport map on day one explores more and asks less.
Answer it once: a printed neighborhood map by the door answers this before it is asked. That map is free to create.
"Where do I buy things nearby?"
Supermarket, pharmacy, bakery, cash machine — and their opening hours, which surprise every visitor somewhere. Add the one personal recommendation only you can give; it is the part guests remember.
Answer it once: group places by need ("late-night", "breakfast", "essentials"), not by category. Guests search by situation.
"How do I reach you?"
When everything else is documented, this is the question you want to receive — the real one, the emergency, the exception. State how to contact you, when you answer, and who to call when you cannot.
Answer it once: list emergency numbers and a local backup contact alongside your own. It reassures more than it is used.
Write each answer once, keep it in one place, and let every guest read it — in their own language.