How to write a house manual guests actually read

A good house manual saves you messages, saves your guests frustration and helps everyone have a better stay. The trick is to make the important information quick to find — not to write everything you know about the house.

Think about the questions guests ask you most often. Those answers belong at the top.

What guests actually look for

Start with the essentials. These are the things guests look for in the first hour, often while tired, carrying bags or arriving in the dark.

• Getting inParking, the key safe or smart lock, and what to do if it doesn’t open.
• Wi-FiNetwork name and password, right at the top.
• Heating and hot waterHow to turn it up — and how long it takes.
• The hot tubHow to use it safely, and what not to do.
• Bins and recyclingWhich bin is which, and collection days.
• LeavingCheck-out time and the few things you ask of them.

Then the nice-to-haves

Local walks, the pub with the best Sunday lunch, the nearest supermarket and a rainy-day list. Keep each to a line or two and a link.

Keep it fresh

Read your manual again every few months, as if you were a guest arriving for the first time. Update anything that has changed — a new Wi-Fi password, a new bin day, a favourite pub that has closed.