Guidebooks

Airbnb guidebooks represent one of the easiest ways of impressing guests and providing them with a great experience when staying at your place.

#Airbnb guidebooks show-off your knowledge of the local area, reinforce your credibility as a host 'in-the-know', increase bookings and maximize your nightly rate from guests looking to stay in great spots with reliable hosts. Click To Tweet

The key to building a virtuous cycle of increased bookings is through receiving positive reviews. And there’s no quicker shortcut to receiving positive reviews than providing your guests with a guidebook of your local area since communication, location and value represent half of the review criteria that a host is assessed against: Guidebooks demonstrate a communicative host, living in a great location, providing valued guest experiences.

Finally, the beauty of an Airbnb guidebook is that you’ll get your mileage from this small investment by reusing it with all future guests, despite only needing to build it once – a big return from a small investment. As a low-cost, time-minimal investment, building an Airbnb Guidebook truly represents the ‘low-hanging-fruit’ of your Airbnb success.

There are many places you could include in your Airbnb guidebook. Recommended places to include in your guidebook fall into the following categories:

Food Scene

Your favorite restaurants, cafes and coffee shops, bakeries, desert shops and street markets

Drinks and Nightlife

Where you like to hang out at night. They include nightclubs, bars, music venues, breweries, wineries, karaoke and casinos

Sightseeing

Must-see iconic sights in your city. These can be places of interest, special neighborhoods or famous streets

Arts and Culture

Where you go to get a feel for local history and culture. They include museums, the theatre, symphony halls, art galleries, schools, universities and libraries

Parks and Nature

Spots to go to be around nature. They include places like local and national parks, hiking trails and beaches

Shopping

Any unique or local shops around you. This typically includes shopping malls, clothing stores, bookstores, markets or any other shops of appeal or interest

Essentials

Places for everyday errands or basic needs. These include grocery and convenience stores, doctors or hospitals, gyms, dry cleaners and laundry, and beauty and spa spots

Entertainment and Activities

Where you go for fun. This includes movie theatres, amusement parks, aquariums and zoos, arcades, tours, classes, sport stadiums and other local sport and recreation

Getting Around

This includes places like public transport hubs, car rental spots, places to rent bikes and parking lots

Fast Food Restaurants

Sometimes a guest just wants something to eat that’s quick, simple and comes with no surprises. It won’t be their best meal, but it also won’t be their worst. It comes cheap and everyone knows what to expect. Fast food restaurants often help guests feel comfortable in new surroundings by providing them with something they’re already familiar with from back home.

Your Local Favorite Restaurants

These are your favorite go-to places to get served up with a local dish or some personal comfort food. They’re the kind of place frequented by locals ‘in-the-know’ about where to grab a good bite to eat. You’re also likely to be familiar with the best dishes on the menu. Make sure to share these insider tips!

Iconic Restaurants

These are restaurants that have developed a cult following over the years. They have woven themselves into the fabric of the local area and often reflect the flavor of the neighborhood or community too.

Coffee Spots Near Public Transport

Guests are frequently on-the-go and tend to get around by public transport. Many guests will package-up their morning coffee routine with setting off on their daily adventures. It makes sense to include coffee spot recommendations close to public transport hubs like train stations or bus terminals.

The Bar-With-a-View

There’s nothing more awesome than visiting a bar that overlooks the skyline of the city you’re visiting. Rooftop bars with a view are great for this. Obviously, not every city has one, but try recommend a bar that commands the attention of the city you live in.

The Local Bar

Think of these places as your local ‘Cheers Bar’… where everybody knows your name. Drinks are commonly cheaper, staff friendlier, and no dress shirts or leather shoes required for entry.

The Swanky “It” Bar

These are commonly bars that have only recently opened and have greatest appeal to younger guests wanting to be ‘in-the-know’. Hosts have an opportunity to show-off their knowledge of the local area by offering insider tips unlikely to be found in guidebooks printed less recently than within the year.

Historical Places

These are places that have become tourist attractions for having been around for many decades, if not centuries. Religious sites, ancient ruins, castles and the like are common examples. They are commonly listed in travel guidebooks, and appeal to cultural purist travelers that often spend a lifetime traveling the globe to cross these sort of places off their bucket-list.

Novelty Attractions

These are one-of-a-kind places that are unique landmarks unlikely to be found anywhere else. They are often quirky, different or the kind of thing that doesn’t fit neatly into any travel guidebook category. They make for interesting stories, and typically even better pictures.

Famous Schools, Universities and Libraries

Live nearby an ivy-league university or close to a school attended by a famous celebrity? Maybe there’s an impressive sandstone library building in relative proximity to your place built many centuries ago? Guests will appreciate the opportunity to simply take a walk past these institutions to feel like they’ve added a small boost of prestige to their trips.

Parks

Live nearby an ivy-league university or close to a school attended by a famous celebrity? Maybe there’s an impressive sandstone library building in relative proximity to your place built many centuries ago? Guests will appreciate the opportunity to simply take a walk past these institutions to feel like they’ve added a small boost of prestige to their trips.

Playgrounds

Local councils often invest small fortunes in building playground structures that represent ‘kiddie-heaven’. Playgrounds are a great way for parents to get out of the house, entertain the kids, and do so all for free. List any playgrounds close to your place – especially if your home attracts a lot of families.

Natural Beauty Spots

These include places like popular beaches, hiking trails or national parks. They are often drawcards for visiting the city and the kind of places guests love boasting about having visited.

Shopping Malls

These represent handy one-stop-shops for guests looking to ‘batch process’ their shopping and eliminate the need to jump all over town to find what they need. Everything from department stores through to local and global brands can typically be found here.

Notable Stores

Sometimes there’s a store that’s been around since before the neighborhood was even a neighborhood, like an old bookstore or antique shop still run by its original owner. Other times, a popular TV show or movie may have put a particular store on the map.

Convenience Stores

Sometimes guests just needs a few basic items like bread, milk and cereal. They’ll often pick these up on their way home from daily activities, and appreciate not needing to carry these items more than a few blocks. Tell guests about the local convenience store, 24-hour gas station or local ‘corner store’.

Delicatessens

Typically serving up fine foods or gourmet produce, these establishments allow guests to purchase things like cured meats, pickled vegetables, dips, breads and olives. Many of these ‘luxury’ items are not available in standard supermarkets, so mentioning them in your guidebook will elevate the stature of your listing.

Grocery Stores

Guests staying for an extended duration may want to stock up on groceries to last them the duration of their stay. Point them in the direction of the closest grocery store to enable doing a big shop at good prices for everything they’re going to want and need.

Pharmacies

The last thing guests want to do when feeling under the weather and away from home is trek out in search of a local pharmacy. Telling guests where they’re able to pick up cold and flu medicine by walking only to the end of the block will win you brownie points should they run into the dreaded sniffles.

Phone and Electronics Repair Stores

You’d be amazed at how often electrical devices die while on the road. The only thing more frustrating than having a broken device is not being able to do anything about it. Guests will appreciate being able to fix their laptop, tablet or phone if necessary.

Movie Theaters

As a popular and reliable form of entertainment, listing your local cinema will ensure that guests have a near fail-proof option of something to do if and when they’re looking to get out of the house. Movies appeal to guests of all types and ages, making them a must for any guidebook looking to provide attractions of broad appeal.

Comedy Clubs

Always a crowd-pleaser for guests looking for something to do, comedy clubs typically provide a fun night out at a reasonable price. They tend to be a form of entertainment that guests don’t typically do in their own home cities, but are excited to do when visiting somewhere else.

Bowling Alleys

Maybe not something guests want to do every day, but knowing where the local bowling alley is can be a great piece of information for parents to keep up their sleeves for entertaining the kids on a rainy day. Mentioning the local bowling alley is a reliable, kid-friendly attraction guaranteed to eliminate a parent’s headache when forced to find ways to keep the kids happy and entertained.

Once here, hosts can add to their guidebook by typing the name of the place they wish to include within the relevant guidebook category.

Airbnb will automatically retrieve the official name of the place you wish to add, which you then select.

Airbnb will also use Google Maps to automatically pull the address and a map of the spot you want to list…