Guest Welcome Message: Template and House Manual Checklist

A good welcome message for short-term rental guests tells them how to get in, how to get online and the few rules that matter, in that order, and then stops. Everything else, from the coffee machine to the best bakery nearby, belongs in a house manual guests can look up when they need it. Below is a complete welcome template, followed by a house manual checklist and two ways to turn your welcome into a short audio message in your guests' languages.

Fynqcast has no affiliation with any rental platform. The advice applies to any short-term rental.

What should a guest welcome message include?

Think about the guest's first hour: standing at the door with a suitcase, tired, possibly in a language that isn't theirs. Write for that moment.

1. A short hello, with your name.
2. How to get in: address, door or gate, lockbox or keypad code (sent at the right time, not weeks in advance), which floor, which door.
3. Wi-Fi: network name and password, written exactly.
4. Three to five house rules that actually matter: quiet hours, trash, smoking, extra guests.
5. Checkout time and the one or two things you ask guests to do before leaving.
6. How to reach you, and what to do in an emergency.
7. One or two local tips, to make it feel personal.

Leave out anything they won't need in the first hour. That's what the house manual is for.

Guest welcome message template

Copy this and replace the brackets. It's written for a city apartment; adjust as needed.

Hi [Guest Name], and welcome. I'm [Your Name], and I'm glad you're staying at [Property Name]. Getting in. The building is at [address]. The front door code is [code]. Take the elevator to the [number] floor; the apartment is the [color] door on the [left/right]. Your key is in the lockbox next to the door, code [code]. Wi-Fi. Network: [network name]. Password: [password]. The router is on the shelf by the TV if you need to restart it. A few house rules. Please keep things quiet after [time]; the walls are thin and the neighbors are early risers. No smoking inside or on the balcony. Trash and recycling go in the bins in the courtyard, collected on [days]. Checkout is at [time]. Before you go, please start the dishwasher, leave the keys in the lockbox and close the windows. Need anything? Message me here or call [phone number]. If it's an emergency, call [local emergency number] first, then let me know. My tips. [Bakery name] around the corner opens at 7 and has the best [pastry]. For a quiet walk, [park name] is ten minutes away. The house manual has everything else, from the heating to the nearest pharmacy. Have a wonderful stay. [Your Name]

Keep the codes and Wi-Fi password in writing, even if you also send audio. Guests will want to copy them, and spoken numbers are easy to mishear.

What goes in a short-term rental house manual?

Some short-term rental platforms let you attach a house manual to your listing; you can also share it as a PDF or leave a printed copy in the home. Wherever you keep it, a good manual covers:

Arrival and access

• [ ] Parking: where, how much, permits
• [ ] Public transit from the airport or station
• [ ] Building entry and lockbox instructions, with a photo
• [ ] What to do if the code doesn't work

Inside the home

• [ ] Wi-Fi details and how to restart the router
• [ ] Heating and air conditioning: thermostat, remote, sensible settings
• [ ] Hot water: how long it takes, any quirks
• [ ] Kitchen appliances: stove, oven, coffee machine, dishwasher
• [ ] TV and streaming: which remote, which inputs, whether guests can log in
• [ ] Washer and dryer, with detergent location
• [ ] Where to find spare towels, linens, blankets, toilet paper

Rules and safety

• [ ] Full house rules
• [ ] Location of the fire extinguisher, first-aid kit and main shutoffs
• [ ] Emergency numbers and the address written out, for calling a taxi or ambulance
• [ ] Nearest hospital and late-night pharmacy

Trash and recycling

• [ ] What goes where, and collection days

Checkout

• [ ] Time, tasks, where the keys go

Local guide

• [ ] Groceries, bakery, pharmacy
• [ ] Two or three restaurants you'd actually send a friend to
• [ ] One thing to do on a rainy day

Why add an audio version?

Keep the written message no matter what; a short audio welcome adds to it. Guests can listen while carrying bags or riding in from the airport, a voice feels more personal than a block of text, and guests from abroad can hear it in their own language.

The trick is keeping it short. Two minutes is plenty: the hello, how to get in, the most important rule, checkout, and a local tip. Leave codes and passwords out of the audio and point to the written message for those.

How do you turn your welcome into audio with Fynqcast?

You can go one of two ways, depending on your plan and what you need.

A shareable link, through the podcast section. Paste your welcome text, choose one voice and the Casual tone, and the AI turns it into a script. Edit the script in the preview until it says exactly what you want; it may otherwise rephrase or add an intro. When it's ready, copy the public listening link and send it to guests on WhatsApp or Telegram, or through the platform's messaging. Guests receive a link, not a WhatsApp voice message. If you'd like a QR code for a printed card in the apartment, any external QR generator can point to that link.

Word-for-word audio and translation, on the FYNQ Studio or Publisher plan. Both include functions for professional content, among them tourist and hospitality guides and translation. Your text is read exactly as written. If you use "Create with AI" instead, the Advanced level also lets you list the stops of a route in order (for example, a walk from the building to the old town). You can also translate your welcome and generate it in another language. These functions give you an MP3 file to download and SRT subtitles. They don't create a public listening link or add background music, so you'd send or host the file yourself.

Fynqcast generates audio in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Have a native speaker read any translated version before you send it to guests, especially house rules.

Want guests to hear your own voice? A clone of your voice works in the podcast section on the Podcaster and Publisher plans, and on FYNQ Studio and Publisher also in the word-for-word and translation functions. You set it up once, with an identity check and consent, and choose then which languages it may speak, so authorize every language you plan to welcome guests in. The identity check is open only to adults with an ID issued in the EU, so hosts whose only ID is American, British, Canadian or from another non-EU country can't clone for now and can use a stock voice instead. Each cloned-voice file begins with a brief spoken note in the language of the audio; in English it says "Voice cloned with AI."

How should you write the audio script?

• Open with the property name, so guests know they've got the right message.
• Say directions the way you'd say them walking someone in: "When you come out of the elevator, turn left."
• Keep each sentence to one instruction.
• End by pointing to the written message and the house manual.

To see which plan covers which route, check the pricing page. Shaping a script from your own notes is covered in another article on this blog. How to Make an AI Podcast From Your Notes