Host templates
Free messages, signs, and checklists for short-term-rental hosts. Fill the blanks in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded.
Open these first
Six templates that follow a stay from the first reply to the clean. Not a ranking.
- Pre-booking Inquiry reply before a guest books Send this when someone asks about the home and has not booked. Answer the question they asked, then stop.
- Booking Booking confirmation message Send this after the reservation is confirmed. It thanks them and repeats the times. It does not add a new rule.
- Check-in Smart lock check-in message Send this on arrival day, after you have opened the door once with this stay's code.
- Checkout Checkout reminder Send this the evening before checkout. Repeat the listed time and the tasks they already agreed to.
- Welcome Welcome letter Print one copy for the stay and set it where they will see it before they start opening drawers.
- Checklists Turnover cleaning checklist Give this to the person who cleans between stays. It is the walk-through, not a deep clean.
Pre-booking
- Inquiry reply before a guest books Send this when someone asks about the home and has not booked. Answer the question they asked, then stop.
- Pre-approval note for open dates Send this only after you have checked the calendar and you are willing to accept a request for those dates.
- Polite decline when a stay does not fit Send a decline as soon as you know the stay does not fit, so the guest can look at other homes.
Booking
- Booking confirmation message Send this after the reservation is confirmed. It thanks them and repeats the times. It does not add a new rule.
- Three-day pre-arrival message Send this about three days before arrival, in the property's time zone, once the stay is still confirmed.
- Arrival time request Send this a day or two before arrival, after the guest is likely to know how they are traveling.
- Directions and parking message Send this the day before arrival, or with the three-day note, once you know the route they will actually use.
Check-in
- Smart lock check-in message Send this on arrival day, after you have opened the door once with this stay's code.
- Lockbox check-in message Send this on arrival day, or the evening before if the box code stays the same and you have checked the key is inside.
- Keypad check-in message Send this on arrival day. A keypad code is not an app, and the message should not talk like it is one.
- Late-night arrival message Send this once you know they will arrive during quiet hours, or include it when the listing already allows a late door.
- Wi-Fi details message Send this with check-in, or as soon as they say they are inside and cannot find the network.
During the stay
- Mid-stay check-in message Send this once, after the first night, and only when the stay is long enough that silence would hide a real problem.
- Maintenance acknowledgment Send this as soon as you have read a report of something broken, even if the fix itself is later.
- Noise concern message Send this the same evening you learn about noise, while the group can still turn it down.
- Outage note during a stay Send this when you know power, water, or Wi-Fi is out, including when you know before the guest writes to you.
Checkout
- Checkout reminder Send this the evening before checkout. Repeat the listed time and the tasks they already agreed to.
- Late checkout approval Send this only after you know the cleaner or the next guest can absorb the later time.
- Late checkout decline Send this as soon as they ask, once you know the listed checkout time has to stand.
- Left-behind item message Send this on turnover day, after you are sure the item is theirs and it is not trash or something from a prior stay.
- Thank-you note after checkout Send this after checkout, once you know the home is in order and you are not about to report damage.
Reviews
- Review request after checkout Send this only if a review reminder is allowed where they booked, and only after they have checked out.
- Guest review after a strong stay Write this after checkout, inside the review window, when the stay matched the listing and the home was respected.
- Guest review after a mixed stay Write this after you have cooled off and checked the facts, still inside the review window.
- Public reply to a five-star review Post this under a positive public review, within a few days, where future guests will read it.
House rules
- General house rules sheet Print this after you edit every line to match the listing. It repeats rules. It does not create new ones.
- Quiet hours sign Post this where voices carry, after the hours on the sign match the hours on the listing.
- Wi-Fi sign Print this only after the name and password match the router and the message you send at check-in.
- Checkout sign Hang this in the kitchen or by the door. Every task on it should already be on the listing.
- Trash and recycling sign Post this at the bins or under the sink, after you have walked outside and checked the labels.
Welcome
- Welcome letter Print one copy for the stay and set it where they will see it before they start opening drawers.
- Guidebook page for arrival Print this as a guidebook page, not as the only check-in instructions. The door code still belongs in the arrival message.
- Guidebook page for appliances Print this for the machines in the home. Strike a line for a machine you do not have.
- Guidebook page for checkout Print this in the guidebook. The door sign stays the short list. This page is the explanation.
Checklists
- Turnover cleaning checklist Give this to the person who cleans between stays. It is the walk-through, not a deep clean.
- Pre-arrival inspection checklist Walk this list after the clean and before you send door instructions, on the day the guest arrives or the evening before.
- Linen par sheet Fill the counts for this home, then use the boxes at turnover to see what is missing before the next guest.
- Supply restock list Write the amounts this home actually uses, then check the boxes at the end of a turnover.