The Ultimate Airbnb Guest Checklist For Every Superhost

Before you host, you may be looking for an Airbnb guest checklist to ensure you have everything you need. I have put together the best Airbnb guest checklist for you to use when walking through your property before going live!

It’s so scary because there’s so much that could go wrong and reviews are at stake. But if you’ve never hosted before, you just don’t know what you don’t know. I know this checklist will put your mind at ease as you prepare to go live.

This post is all about Airbnb guest checklist.

The Ultimate Airbnb Guest Checklist

1. Listing set up

First things first, you need to have your listing fully set up. Every field filled out, pictures organized and all details about the property completely covered. Guests will not be happy if there are surprises when they arrive so make sure you cover literally everything. They need a scripted walk through of your property in the description, take them on a tour!

Check out my article on the ultimate guide to setting up your Airbnb listing!

Airbnb Welcome Book

Once you have your listing all the way set up, take everything that was in your listing and put it into an Airbnb welcome book for your guests. You need to include all phone numbers, amenities instructions, local recommendations and check out instructions. You can download the exact one I use below!

Final Listing Touches

Next, you will want to do one final walk through on your property to ensure everything is set up like the photos. Make sure your cleaners are well trained, the back up linens are ready to go and guests are ready to be welcomed. If you need one final touch up cleaning, get that scheduled before you go live. You want your property perfectly cleaned for your first guest!

If you haven’t listed your property yet, use my Airbnb referral link to earn $40 from Airbnb for hosting your first guest!

2. Pricing optimization

Now that the listing is ready to go, you want to make sure you are fully optimized on the pricing front. I love using Pricelabs as a pricing optimization tool and recommend it to anyone I can talk to about Airbnb. A pricing tool is going to provide you with dynamic pricing that fluctuates based on demand in your area. You want to make sure you are capturing every dollar you can on every reservation. Do not drop pricing because you are a new listing and need reviews. If you’ve done the work to create a great listing, the bookings will come without compromising your profits.

3. Have Instant book turned on

This is an SEO game changer for new listings. So many hosts are hesitant to turn on their Instant Book settings but I know this will put your listing on page one of Airbnb for your area if you turn it on. You can set up all the safe guard parameters and I promise your guests will be good ones. One of the filters I have on is that they have to have stayed with Airbnb before and have good reviews from other hosts. Do not fear the Instant Book feature!

If you want to dive deeper into Airbnb essentials needed for your listing, check out this article!

4. Automatic messaging

Having your messaging automated is a game changer. I don’t even have to think about my messaging when my guest books because I know they will be timely greeted with a note of thanks and expectation setting for the rest of their relationship with you as a host. Here are the messages I send to my guests:

– Thank you for booking message along with when they will be receiving their checkin instructions.

– Checkin instructions with directions 48 hours prior to check in.

– The House Manual is sent 1 hour after the checkin time.

– Check out instructions and a thank you for staying note is sent the day prior to check out.

5. Smooth self check in process

Your check in process has to be as smooth as butter otherwise you will not get a 5 star review! Ensure your checkin instructions section of your listing is fully filled out with photos and give insanely detailed instructions. Guests have never been to your property in person, most likely, so treat it as such. More information is always better than less information. Keep the instructions clear and if it’s hard to find at night, make sure you put that in your listing description up front so they can understand what they are getting themselves into prior to booking.

6. Clear check out instructions

I always send my check out instructions at noon the day before check out so the guest has plenty of time to read and prepare prior to the day of check out. I also make sure to have them printed in the Airbnb welcome book on the property. If the guest reads the welcome book, they could have seen what’s expected at check out prior to my message.

Also, I really urge hosts to keep the check out instructions minimal. I like to make sure my guests know that I want the used beds to look unmade and used towels on the floor. We do ask they turn off the AC/Heater and a few other things but never ask them to start a load of towels.

I’ve stayed in properties where it literally feels like we are doing chores prior to check out and that will earn you a bad review in todays climate.

7. Automatic review process

So you can’t have an automatic review process in place unless you are using a Property Management Software to manage your properties. I do not use a PMS because I only post my properties on Airbnb. In my markets, I know this is fine and I will generate most of the income on this one platform anyways. So I can’t totally automate it, I have different review templates created that I will copy/paste into a guest review if they did in fact earn a 5 star review.

What did I leave out that you thought of for your Airbnb guest checklist? Let me know in the comments below!

This post was all about Airbnb guest checklist.