What is a digital guest manual for short-term rentals?

A digital guest manual is a mobile-friendly place for guests to find the information they need before and during a short-term rental stay. Hosts may also call it a vacation rental guest guide or short-term rental digital guidebook. It usually includes arrival instructions, Wi-Fi, parking, house rules, appliance notes, safety details, local recommendations, and support contacts.

Who this is for

• Hosts who answer the same guest questions over and over.
• Property managers who need consistent information across multiple homes.
• Service providers who want their offers to appear in the right stay context.
• Guests who want one reliable place for property details instead of searching old messages.

Quick answer

A digital guest manual is an online stay guide. A strong version is easy to open on a phone, clear enough to answer common questions, careful with private details, and connected to services only when those services are actually available.

What a digital guest manual usually includes

• Arrival basics: address context, parking, check-in steps, and what to do if plans change.
• Property basics: Wi-Fi, heating and cooling, appliance notes, trash, recycling, and quiet hours.
• Safety basics: emergency contacts, local emergency numbers, property-specific cautions, and support paths.
• Local context: practical recommendations that are current and useful, not copied city content.
• Guest services: optional add-ons or local services shown with clear ownership and availability.

• View sample manual 

  See how a guest manual can combine stay details, service context, and mobile-first access.

Where StayPerk fits

StayPerk positions the manual as the front door for the guest stay. The manual should answer normal stay questions, but it should also make the next useful action clear: request a service, view an add-on, contact the host, or understand what is available at that property.

That positioning matters because a guest service shown at the right moment can feel helpful. The same offer shown without context can feel like noise. StayPerk is designed to keep manuals, add-ons, providers, and property manager workflows connected around the stay instead of scattered across separate tools.

• StayPerk for hosts 

  Explore StayPerk's host workflow for manuals, add-ons, guest services, and payouts.

What to keep private

A digital manual should not expose everything to the public web. Access codes, lockbox details, private owner notes, internal vendor instructions, and sensitive guest data should be protected. Public content can explain the shape of the stay. Private content should be limited to confirmed guests and authorized operators.

When this may not be right for you

A separate digital manual may be unnecessary if you host one simple space, use only one booking channel, and already answer guest questions easily. It can also be the wrong move if nobody will keep it updated. A stale digital manual is just a newer version of an old binder.

How to start simply

1. 1
   Write the arrival section first.
2. 2
   Add the five questions guests ask most often.
3. 3
   Separate public content from private content.
4. 4
   Add photos only where they reduce confusion.
5. 5
   Add services only when fulfillment and availability are clear.

Build it in the full editor for free

StayPerk lets you take this outline into the real manual editor without an account. Enter the property details, complete any core or custom sections, add photos or short videos, and compare the Mobile and Letter previews while the private draft saves in your browser. You can also start in a free host workspace if you want the property attached to you from the beginning.

• Build a free digital guest manual 

  Use the full editor, save progress in your browser, and follow the private-draft-to-publishing path step by step.

• Contact StayPerk 

  Reach the StayPerk team with launch, partnership, or product questions.