Guests not reading check-in instructions? Make them easier to use

"Please send the door code." You already sent it, with the address, the parking and a warm welcome. Now the guest is outside, and you are scrolling for the same message to send again. You cannot make someone read. You can make getting inside depend less on reading everything you send.

First, find out what really went wrong

One host on a public hosts forum described exactly this: a guest asked for a code that was already in the message thread. The host pointed back to the earlier message, then copied it again, and in the end called. Later the host learned the guest had been confused by all the different emails they had received. The instructions were fine. Finding them was the problem.

So before you rewrite anything, look at the questions guests actually send. "Where is the code?" can mean they missed the message. "Which door?" points to a missing landmark. "It doesn't work" needs a person to find out what happened.

Answer the question first and look into the cause once the guest is inside. Telling someone the answer is further up the thread gives them another job at the moment they need help.

Write for the walk from the street to the room

Stand where a guest arrives and work forward. Where can they stop the car? Which building do they walk to? Which entrance? What do they do when they get there?

Put each action on its own line. Use the words on the real signs: if the gate says "Guest entrance", write that, not "side access". Swap "over there" and "on your left" for a landmark that makes sense from where the guest is standing.

Keep anything that affects getting in near the top. If a key has to be collected somewhere else, say so before you describe the front door. If the building and the room use different locks, label them separately.

Here is a made-up example for a made-up rental. Replace the brackets with your own details and check them before you send it:

Leave the rest of the welcome for later

Read your arrival message and ask of every sentence: does this help the guest reach the place or get inside? Restaurant tips, how the oven works and check-out chores can go in your house guide. Keep a rule only if it matters on arrival, like where a car must not stop, and put it next to the step it belongs to.

More messages are not always more help. Another host in a public discussion said guests told them they felt bombarded by the automatic messages. Lay your own messages side by side, cut repeated greetings and anything that adds nothing, and keep one clear arrival message that is easy to spot when the guest opens it again.

Help guests find the details again

Tell guests where their arrival details will be and when you will send them. "In your booking message thread" is clearer than "online", if that is where you really send it.

Time it around the trip. If someone needs directions before a long drive, do not send them only when the guest is due at the door. If the private code comes in a separate message, say so, so the directions do not look unfinished.

Keep codes in the private messages for the booking. General directions can go on a public page, but never put a working door code on your website or in a public chat answer. If a guest cannot find the details, send the part they need again through the booking's usual contact, after checking it is the right guest and the code is current.

Add a photo where words leave a choice

If someone could easily pick the wrong gate, parking space or door, add a photo taken from the direction the guest walks in, with a short caption naming what to look for.

Keep the written steps usable without the picture, because photos can be slow to open on the road. Take new photos when the entrance changes, and make sure none of them show another guest's details or a working code.

Test it on someone who has never been there

Give someone who does not know the place the message exactly as a guest gets it, on a phone, and let them follow it from the street. Say nothing unless they need help to stay safe.

Watch where they stop. Did they open the wrong message? Walk past the door? Reach the keypad and not know what to press? Fix that exact spot and try again. Do the test again after any change to parking, signs, keys or locks, and keep one current copy so whoever covers arrivals sends the same thing.

For guests who read another language, use short, literal sentences and have the access steps checked. Leave codes and labels exactly as they appear on the real lock or sign.

Have a reply ready for someone standing outside

Your fallback reply should start with the next step, not with the whole guide. Another made-up example:

"You're looking for the green door beside the wooden fence. Are you at that door, or at the main entrance? I can help you from there."

Once you know where they are, send the matching step. If the lock still will not open, the person covering arrivals takes over. Afterwards, write down what caused it: finding the message, finding the door, understanding a step or the lock itself. Fix that one part instead of making every arrival message longer.

Where Vaki fits

Vaki answers general guest questions on your website from the information you give it, in 13 languages, so "where do I park?" or "what time is check-in?" gets an answer at any hour. Door codes and anything personal stay with you: when a question needs a person, Vaki asks the guest for an email address and tells you.

Start with your next arrival message. Open it on your phone, walk from the street to the door, and remove anything that stands between the guest and the next step.

Start your 14-day free trial

Also: How to reduce repeated guest questions · Vaki for guesthouses and B&Bs · Vaki for holiday lets and glamping