The 20 questions every guest asks (and how to answer them once)
WiFi, check-in, the heating: the same messages arrive at every stay. Here is the real list, and what to write so it stops.
·7 min read
Every host knows the feeling. The message arrives at 11pm: “Hi! What’s the WiFi password?” You answered the same question last week, and the week before, and you will answer it again on Friday when the next guest arrives.
This is the list of what guests actually ask. Not a list we invented: it comes from data published by other people in this industry, and from Airbnb’s own guidance to hosts. After each question there is the answer that makes the question stop coming back.
What the data actually says
In June 2026, Touch Stay published an analysis of 37,359 real guest conversations across 11,293 properties, collected between November 2025 and May 2026 through the chat inside their guidebooks. Two findings are worth keeping in mind before you write anything:
WiFi is the single most asked question, and also the one most often left unanswered by the guidebook itself.
15.2% of all guest questions went unanswered because the information simply wasn’t in the guidebook. The most common gaps, in order: WiFi password, cancellation policy, hairdryer, iron, heating.
The same analysis found that 24.2% of conversations carried negative sentiment, with “WiFi down”, no hot water and lockouts among the main drivers. In other words: the questions guests ask are not small talk. They are the moments where a stay quietly goes well or quietly goes wrong.
Before arrival
01
What time can I check in?
Give the time and the reason it can’t be earlier (“cleaning finishes at 3pm”). A time without a reason invites negotiation; a time with one usually ends the conversation.
02
Where exactly is the place?
The street name isn’t enough. Guests want the last fifty metres: which door, which colour, what’s next to it. One photo of the entrance replaces three messages.
03
Where do I park?
Airbnb’s own guide to writing a house manual uses parking as a worked example, down to the sentence a host wrote: “You’re welcome to park in front of the white picket fence on the right side of the driveway, near the hedge.” That level of detail is the point. If parking is paid or restricted at certain hours, say so before arrival, not after the fine.
04
Can I drop my bags before check-in?
Yes or no, plus what to do instead. “No, but there are lockers at the station, ten minutes away” is an answer. Silence is what turns into a bad review.
05
I land at 1am — is that a problem?
Late arrivals are the moment self check-in either works or collapses. Write the procedure as if it were night: lights off, nobody to call, phone battery at 8%.
Getting in
06
What’s the door code?
Put it where it can be found in one tap, not at the bottom of a long message thread. Airbnb itself only shows the detailed check-in instructions to the guest 48 hours before check-in, which is late for someone still organising the trip.
07
Which floor, which door?
Floor, door, name on the bell. If the building numbering is odd — and in old European buildings it usually is — say it explicitly.
08
The code isn’t working.
Write the two most likely mistakes (press the key first, wait for the beep) and a fallback that doesn’t depend on you answering the phone.
09
Where do I leave the keys when I go?
Answered on arrival, not on departure day. It removes a message on the morning guests are most stressed.
The first hour inside
10
What’s the WiFi password?
The most asked question of all. Write the network name exactly as it appears, mind the capital letters, and put it at the top of the guide in large type. In Airbnb’s guide to house manuals, a host from Norway explains why it belongs there: “They all want the wifi code, so that is my trick for having them open the house manual.”
11
How do I turn on the heating or the air conditioning?
Heating was among the five most common gaps in the data. A photo of the actual remote, with the two buttons that matter circled, beats a paragraph of text.
12
There’s no hot water.
Often the boiler switch, not a fault. If your place has a quirk, write it down: this is one of the complaints that drives negative sentiment.
13
How does the TV work?
Which input, which remote, whether guests can log into their own Netflix (and whether they should remember to log out).
14
Is there a hairdryer? An iron?
Both appear in the top five unanswered questions. The fix costs nothing: list what exists and where it is. If something doesn’t exist, say that too — an unanswered question about a hairdryer becomes a one-star surprise.
During the stay
15
When does the rubbish go out, and where?
Bin day and separation rules are the most local thing in any home, and the thing no guest can guess. Day, place, colour of the bag.
16
Are there quiet hours?
Say the hours and who else lives in the building. Guests break rules they don’t know about far more often than rules they disagree with.
17
Where are extra towels and blankets?
One line. It saves a message and prevents a wardrobe being searched.
18
Where’s the nearest supermarket or pharmacy?
Two or three names with walking times. Not a list of twenty: guests want a decision, not a directory.
19
Where should we eat tonight?
The question hosts like most, and the one where a real recommendation beats any app. Three places you actually go to, with what to order.
Leaving
20
What time is checkout, and what do I need to do?
Time, keys, bins, dishes, windows. Keep it to five lines: a checkout list that reads like a contract is the fastest way to lose the star you earned during the week.
What to do with this list
Answer all twenty once, in one place your guests can open from their phone, and the messages stop arriving. That is the whole idea behind a digital guidebook — and it’s why the 15.2% figure above matters more than any marketing claim: a guidebook only works for the questions it actually answers.
If you want to start from something rather than a blank page, tulligo creates the guide with these sections already in place, in your guest’s language, with an AI chat that answers only from what you wrote — and says “I don’t know” when the answer isn’t there. Three days free, no card required.
