From Your Airbnb or Booking Listing to a Guest Guide: What to Reuse and What to Add
published 28 September 2026
Most short-term rental hosts know that a good guest guide saves messages and prevents problems on arrival. And most put it off for the same reason: it feels like starting from scratch. In fact, much of it is already written. Your Airbnb or Booking listing describes the home, the amenities, the rules and the area. What is missing is what a listing, by its nature, cannot contain: the private, practical information guests only need once they have booked.
This article explains what you can reuse from your listing, what you need to add, and a step-by-step way to get to a useful guide without rewriting everything.
A Listing and a Guide Do Different Jobs
A listing is public and has one aim: to persuade someone to book. It highlights the best of the home, lists amenities and answers the questions of people still comparing options.
A guide is private and has another aim: to help someone who has already booked arrive, get in, use the home and leave without trouble. It needs information that should never be in a public listing, such as access codes or the wi-fi password, and a more practical tone: less "stunning views", more "the second key opens the garden gate".
The platforms themselves keep the two apart. On Airbnb, for example, the full address and the host's contact details are only shared once a booking is confirmed, and detailed check-in instructions only become visible close to arrival. In other words, the listing is a good starting point, but never the complete guide.
What You Can Reuse From the Listing
- Description of the home and its spaces: bedrooms, beds, bathrooms, what is in each room.
- Amenities list: washing machine, air conditioning, equipped kitchen, cot, parking. This is the backbone of a "how the home works" section.
- Check-in and check-out times, as set in the listing.
- House rules: smoking, pets, parties, maximum number of guests.
- Neighbourhood description: area, distances, transport, points of interest.
- Accessibility information: steps, lift, step-free access.
All of this has already been written, checked and often refined over many stays. There is no point writing it again.
What the Listing Lacks and the Guide Needs
- Step-by-step arrival instructions: how to find the right door, where the key box is, which entry-phone button to press, with photos. See our guide to self check-in.
- Access codes: key box, lock, gate, garage. They are never in the public listing, and rightly so.
- Wi-fi: network name and password, exactly as written.
- Appliance instructions: the water heater that needs switching on, the air conditioning remote, the induction hob, the coffee machine.
- Rubbish and recycling: where the bins are and how to sort.
- Check-out procedure: where to leave the keys, what to do before leaving.
- Contacts and emergencies: your number, that of whoever covers for you, 112, the nearest hospital and pharmacy.
- Personal recommendations: restaurants, beaches, walks, with the reason for each. The listing talks about the area in general; the guide can talk about where you actually go for dinner.
- More detailed rules: those that do not fit in a listing, such as the quiet hours set by the building. Our house rules template in four languages is a good starting point.
Step by Step
- Open your listing and copy the description, amenities, times and rules. If you list on more than one platform, use the most complete one.
- Reorganise it by stage of the stay: before arrival, arrival, during, departure. The listing is organised to sell; the guide should be organised to use.
- Cut the promotional wording. The guest has already booked; they do not need persuading.
- Add the private information: codes, wi-fi, access instructions, with photos.
- Add what only you know: the quirks of each appliance, your personal recommendations, the tricks of the home.
- Check that everything is current: times, rules, restaurants that still exist.
- Translate it into your guests' languages. If your Alojamento Local is in a multi-owner building, Portuguese law requires the information book to be in Portuguese, English and at least two other foreign languages.
- Test it on someone who does not know the home: can they get in and connect to the wi-fi using only the guide?
When a Tool Writes the First Draft
Steps 1 to 3 are the dullest and the ones that make hosts put the job off. That is where an importer helps: it reads your listing or a document you already have and prepares a first, organised draft of the guide. It is worth being clear about what that means:
- It is a draft, not the final guide. Something may be misread, or already out of date in the listing itself. You should review everything.
- Private information does not come from the listing. Codes, wi-fi and access instructions are not public, so you add them yourself.
- What only you know is still your job. No tool knows the trick with the water heater or the restaurant where you usually eat.
Even so, starting from an organised draft instead of a blank page makes a real difference to how long it takes to have a guide ready.
How ciceroni Helps
In ciceroni, you can paste the link to your Airbnb or Booking listing, or upload a PDF you already have, and ciceroni drafts a guide from that content. You review everything and add what the listing does not have, such as codes, wi-fi and arrival instructions. Each stay then gets its own guide in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish, and an AI concierge answers guests' questions based on what you wrote. It is free during launch.
FAQ
Can I just send guests the listing link as their guide?
You can, but the listing lacks what matters during the stay: arrival instructions, codes, wi-fi, appliances, check-out procedure and emergency contacts. It is a starting point, not a guide.
Should I put the access code in the listing?
No. The listing is public. Codes should only be shared with the guest who booked, ideally close to arrival and, if possible, different for each stay.
How long does it take to build a guide from a listing?
It depends on the home and the level of detail, but reusing the listing saves the longest part, describing the home, amenities and rules. Most of the time goes into adding the private information and reviewing the whole.