Your First Check-In: A Walkthrough That Prevents Half the Messages

Most check-in messages aren't problems. They're gaps, small things the flat never told the guest, so the guest asked you instead.

Last updated: October 1, 2026

Half the messages a guest sends in the first hour aren't complaints. They're questions the flat should've answered on its own — where the bin bags live, which key opens the back door, how the shower dial moves. A walkthrough from the guest's side of the door finds those gaps while you're still standing there to close them.

Key Takeaways

• Most check-in messages aren't problems. They're gaps in what the flat told the guest, and they cost you the same minutes either way.
• Walk the property as a guest, not as the owner. Start at the street, not at the sofa, and follow the path a stranger actually takes.
• The five minutes before arrival set the tone. Lights, temperature, code, keys and staging do more than any typed welcome.
• Say four things inside, then stop. Water, wifi, rubbish and quiet are the four a guest asks about first.
• Ask two questions before you leave. Both surface gaps while you're still in the flat to fix them.

Walk it as a guest, not as the owner

The owner's walk starts at the sofa. The guest's walk starts at the street, in the dark, holding a phone and a suitcase.

Begin where they'll begin. Stand on the pavement and look for the number on the building. If you can't find it in ten seconds, neither can they. Then follow the path you expect them to take: the gate, the entrance, the lift or the stairs, the corridor, the door. At each step, ask what a stranger would've had to guess.

Guessing is where messages come from. A guest who can't tell which of three keys opens the front door won't stand in the corridor working it out. They'll message you instead, at eleven at night. The same happens with the tap that needs a quarter turn before it runs hot, and the balcony door with two locks.

Take notes as you walk, not afterwards. Write down every point where you had to stop and think, because that's the spot a guest will stop and type.

Then do the walk again at the hour your next guest will arrive. A hallway you cross in daylight looks obvious. At nine at night, with a suitcase, it's a puzzle. That second pass is where you find the switch hidden behind the coat rack.

You'll finish with a list of gaps. Some you close with a label, some with one sentence in the arrival message, a few by moving something. None of them need to be elegant. They need to be obvious on the first attempt.

The five minutes before the door opens

Between the message that says they've landed and the key turning in the lock, you've got a short window. It's the cheapest five minutes in the whole stay, and most hosts spend it checking their phone.

Use it on the flat. Walk in and switch on the lights you expect the guest to reach for first — entrance, corridor, kitchen. A dark flat reads as a cold one, even when the heating's been running all day.

Set the temperature where you'd want it after six hours of travelling, not where you keep it for an empty property. Guests feel a room before they read a word about it.

Test the entry yourself. Type the code, open the door, close it again — twice. A code you set last month and never re-typed is a code you're guessing about, and a failed entry is the one problem you can't fix by message.

Put the keys where you said they'd be. If your arrival note promises a hook beside the door, the hook has to be empty and the key has to be hanging on it. Small mismatches between what you promised and what the guest finds cost you trust at the exact moment you need it.

Then look at the flat the way a guest will: towels visible, beds made, bin empty, no cleaner's supplies left in the bathroom. Staging isn't decoration. It's the difference between a guest who settles in and one who starts texting questions.

None of this takes long. Done in the right order, it takes the five minutes you've already got — which is exactly when you need them.

What to say in the first five minutes inside

A long welcome speech doesn't land. Guests are tired, they're holding bags, and they'll remember about a third of what you tell them at the doorway. So say less, and pick the four things they ask about most.

Water. Which tap runs hot, how long it takes, and whether the shower needs the dial turned past a click. Every property has one quirk here, and it's the most common first-night question there is.

Wifi. Say the network name out loud, point at the card, and mention where a spare copy lives. Don't spell the password unless they ask.

Rubbish. Which bin is which, and where the bags are kept. Recycling rules differ between buildings, so answer it now.

Quiet. When the building expects quiet, and what counts — doors, music, shoes on a wooden floor. One sentence is enough. Give it plainly and without apology, because a rule stated as a fact is easier to follow than a rule stated as a favour.

Then stop. Keep going and you'll spend ten minutes on the washing machine, and they'll still message you about it tomorrow. Anything more detailed belongs in writing, where they can read it when they need it.

That's the other half of the routine. When a guest does message you in the first hour, and one will, you want that message to land in one place instead of three. The LOCALSBNB inbox connects to Airbnb only, so your Airbnb conversations stay in a single thread rather than being spread across apps you check at different times.

If you greet them in person, leave first. A host who hovers makes guests feel watched. Hand over the flat, answer the four, and let them unpack.

The two questions to ask before you leave

Before you walk out, ask two questions. They take twenty seconds each and they replace an evening of messages.

Is anything missing that you'd expect to find? Not "is everything fine" — that gets a polite yes. Ask about something specific and the guest will look. A missing corkscrew, a hairdryer with the wrong plug, a bin without a lid: those get noticed in the first hour and mentioned in the third.

Is there anything you'd want in writing? This one does the quiet work. A guest who's told you they'd like the wifi password in a message will read that message twice. A guest who heard it at the door will guess. It also tells you what your arrival note is missing, in their words rather than yours.

Write both answers down. After three check-ins you'll notice the same two items appearing, and that's your signal to fix the flat rather than keep answering the question.

This is also where a routine beats good intentions. If you record the check-in at localsbnb.com, the software puts the guest and the dates in front of you first, and nothing runs until you approve it. That's deliberate. Check-in, check-out, extensions and room moves are actions you confirm, and they apply to overseas properties; China properties stay read-only. You stay the one who decides, and you get a record of what you decided and when.

Keep the whole walkthrough to one page. A checklist you'll actually run beats a manual you won't. Run it for your first few arrivals, then keep it for the ones you're least sure about.

The gaps get smaller each time. The messages won't stop entirely, and they shouldn't. A guest who asks nothing is usually a guest who's guessing.

FAQ

How do I stop guests asking the same question every time?

Fix the flat, not the reply. When the same question arrives twice, it's telling you something in the property is unclear — a switch, a label, a cabinet. Change the thing, and the question retires itself. Writing a better answer only helps until the next guest.

Should I meet guests in person or send a code?

Both work, and the walkthrough changes shape rather than disappearing. In person, you cover the four things in five minutes and ask your two questions at the door. With a code, everything you'd have said needs to be somewhere they'll find it at nine at night, in the order they'll want it.

What if the guest arrives late at night?

Run the same five minutes, just later, and make the lights do more of the work. A lit entrance and a warm flat carry a late arrival further than any message. Keep your own phone on until they're inside, then let them settle without a follow-up call.

A check-in walkthrough isn't a script you perform. It's fifteen minutes of attention at the point where a stranger meets your property for the first time, and it pays back in the quiet week that follows. Start at the street, say four things, ask two, and put the record where you'll find it — that's what keeps a first stay from turning into a message thread. Properties that use localsbnb.com keep the booking, the calendar and the check-in note beside each other, so the next arrival takes minutes to prepare instead of an afternoon.

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This article is general guidance for hosts and isn't legal, tax or platform policy advice. Arrival routines, local rules and platform terms differ by place and change over time; check the current terms of each platform you use and the requirements that apply where the property sits.