Everything You Need Before Your First Airbnb Guest Arrives

Your first Airbnb guest is booked. The confirmation just hit your inbox. And now your brain is doing that thing where it generates forty questions simultaneously — do I have enough towels? What about parking? Should I leave a welcome note? What if they can't get in?

This is the checklist I wish someone had given me before my first guest arrived. Not a "how to start an Airbnb business" guide — you've already done that part. This is the practical, room-by-room, system-by-system list of everything that needs to be ready before a real human walks through your door and expects a place that works.

The Quick-Reference Checklist

If you want the full version, keep reading. If you want the at-a-glance version you can screenshot and tick off as you go, here it is:

That covers about 90% of what matters. The rest of this article is the why and how behind each item.

Safety First (Because Everything Else Is Irrelevant Without It)

You can have the fluffiest towels and the best coffee machine on the market. None of it matters if a smoke detector battery is dead.

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in every sleeping area and on every level of the property. Test them yourself — press the button and confirm the alarm actually sounds. Don't assume they work because the light blinks. Airbnb requires hosts to declare whether they have working detectors, and guests notice when they don't.

A fire extinguisher mounted somewhere accessible. Under the kitchen sink or near the front door are the two most common spots. Check the pressure gauge — if the needle is in the red zone, replace it.

A first aid kit in a labelled drawer or cabinet. Nothing fancy. Plasters, antiseptic wipes, painkillers, tweezers, and a bandage. Guests rarely need them, but the one time someone cuts their hand chopping onions at 10pm, you want it there.

An emergency information card posted somewhere visible — the back of the front door or the fridge. Include: your phone number, local emergency number, nearest hospital address, and the property address itself. Guests in an emergency often can't remember the address of a place they arrived at six hours ago.

If your property has a pool, hot tub, fireplace, wood burner, or any other feature that carries risk, add specific safety instructions for that feature. A laminated card near the feature itself works better than burying it in a welcome booklet nobody reads past page two.

Bedroom: Where Reviews Are Won or Lost

The single most-mentioned word in five-star Airbnb reviews is "comfortable." And what guests mean by that, almost every time, is the bed.

Mattress quality matters more than mattress price. A mid-range mattress with a good topper outperforms a cheap mattress every time. If your budget is tight, spend it on the topper, not the frame.

Two pillows per guest, minimum. People are particular about pillows in a way they're not about almost anything else. Some want firm, some want flat. Two pillows gives them options without requiring you to stock a pillow library.

Two sets of sheets per bed. One on, one clean and stored nearby. Your cleaner needs to strip and remake beds between guests, and waiting for a wash cycle in the middle of a turnover is a problem you can avoid entirely by having spare sets ready.

Blackout curtains or blinds. This is non-negotiable if your property faces a street or gets morning sun. Guests who sleep badly leave worse reviews — even if every other part of the stay was perfect. A £30 set of blackout curtains has more impact on your rating than a £300 coffee machine.

A spare blanket folded at the foot of the bed or in the wardrobe. Temperature preferences vary wildly. Let guests solve it themselves rather than messaging you at midnight asking if there's an extra duvet somewhere.

Bathroom: Stock It Like You'd Want to Find It

Imagine arriving at a rental after a long journey. You want a shower. You walk into the bathroom and there's no shampoo, one thin towel, and an empty toilet roll holder. That's the review that writes itself — and it's a bad one.

Two towels per guest plus hand towels and a bath mat. White towels photograph well and bleach easily, which is why most hosts use them. But any colour works as long as they're consistent and not threadbare.

Soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Refillable dispensers mounted on the wall are the most cost-effective option long-term, and they look better than a collection of half-used mini bottles. Whichever you choose, make sure they're full before every check-in.

Toilet paper. At least two rolls out, with spares clearly visible under the sink or on a shelf. Running out of toilet paper is the kind of small failure that guests find disproportionately annoying — and disproportionately likely to mention in a review.

A hairdryer. More guests expect one than you'd think, and the ones who forget theirs will be grateful. A wall-mounted one saves counter space.

Kitchen: Enough to Cook a Real Meal

Guests who book an Airbnb over a hotel often do it specifically because of the kitchen. A bare-bones kitchen with two forks and a dented saucepan sends the message that you didn't think about them.

Cookware: A large and small saucepan, a frying pan, a baking tray. Enough to make a pasta dinner or a cooked breakfast.

Plates, bowls, glasses, and mugs for at least double your guest capacity. If your property sleeps four, set out eight of everything. Things break. Guests bring friends for dinner. And nobody wants to wash a plate before they can use one.

Cutlery — same rule. Double capacity. Include a sharp kitchen knife, a chopping board, a tin opener, a bottle opener, and a corkscrew. The corkscrew gets used more than you expect.

A coffee maker and a kettle. Coffee in the morning is not a luxury — for most guests, it's a requirement. Stock ground coffee, tea bags, sugar, and milk (or a note saying where the nearest shop is). Some hosts leave a small welcome pack with these basics plus oil, salt, and pepper. That level of thought shows up in reviews.

Cleaning supplies within reach. Dish soap, a sponge, a tea towel, bin bags. Guests who cook will clean up if you make it easy. If the dish soap is hidden in a cupboard above the fridge, they won't bother looking.

The Communication Stack

Here's what separates a nervous first-time host from one who looks like they've done this a hundred times: the guest never has to ask a question you should have already answered.

Before arrival, send a welcome message. Confirm the booking, share your contact details, and ask about their arrival time. Keep it warm but short. This message does two things — it sets a friendly tone, and it gives you logistics you need (like whether they're arriving at 3pm or midnight).

Share your check-in instructions the day before arrival. Not at booking. Not at check-in. The day before. That's when the guest is actually thinking about the practical details of getting to your property. If you include check-in instructions in the booking confirmation, they'll read them, forget them, and message you from the taxi asking how to get in.

Step-by-step directions, photos of the entrance, lockbox codes or key collection details — put it all in one message. If your check-in process involves more than three steps, simplify the process before you simplify the message.

Post your house rules somewhere visible in the property. Not just in the Airbnb listing — inside the actual property. A framed set of rules on the wall or a printed card on the kitchen counter. Keep them to 6-8 rules maximum. Noise, smoking, shoes, guests, checkout time — the things that actually protect your property. Nobody reads a 20-point list.

WiFi details need to be impossible to miss. Print the network name and password on a card and put it in the living room, the bedroom, and near the router. This is the single most asked question by Airbnb guests worldwide. Answering it before they ask saves you both time.

Schedule your checkout instructions for the evening before departure. Not the morning of. Not at check-in. The evening before, around 6-7pm, so they can plan their morning. Keep it to five items or fewer — lock up, keys, rubbish, towels, dishwasher. Your cleaner handles the rest.

Build a Guidebook (Your Future Self Will Thank You)

Every question a guest asks is a question you'll answer again for the next guest. And the next. And the one after that.

A digital guidebook solves this permanently. One link that contains everything: check-in instructions, house rules, WiFi, appliance instructions, local recommendations, parking details, checkout process. The guest opens it on their phone and finds what they need without messaging you.

Build your guidebook before your first guest arrives, and every guest after that benefits from it. Include a section on how to operate anything that isn't obvious — the heating system, the oven, the smart TV, the washing machine. If you've ever had to explain to someone how to use a European washing machine via text message at 9pm, you understand why this matters.

Your guidebook is also where you put your local recommendations. Restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, the nearest pharmacy, public transport. Guests trust host recommendations over Google reviews because you actually live near the property. That trust builds the kind of experience that earns five-star reviews.

A house manual — whether digital, printed, or both — turns a one-time effort into a permanent guest experience upgrade. Tools like GuestIntro let you create a digital guidebook with local recommendations, house rules, check-in instructions, and everything else in one link. Build it once. Send it to every guest.

Systems: The Stuff That Breaks When You Wing It

The property is stocked. The communication is ready. Now make sure the operational side doesn't fall apart on day one.

Test your key handoff. Whatever method you use — lockbox, smart lock, key safe, in-person handover — test it yourself. Stand outside your own front door and follow your own check-in instructions. If anything is confusing, fix it now. A guest standing outside your property at 11pm unable to get in is the fastest route to a one-star review.

Book your cleaner for after checkout. Not "I'll figure it out." Booked. Confirmed. With a backup plan if they cancel. Your cleaning checklist should be written out and shared with your cleaner before the first guest checks out. If you're cleaning the property yourself, a written checklist still matters — you'll miss things without one.

If you don't have a checklist yet, GuestIntro's free cleaning checklist generator builds one based on your property's rooms and features. Takes two minutes.

List your emergency contacts. A plumber, an electrician, a locksmith. You probably won't need them for your first guest. But you will need them eventually, and "eventually" always happens at 10pm on a Sunday. Having those numbers saved before you need them is the difference between a solved problem and a panicked search.

Set up your review request. After the guest checks out, you want to request a review. Most hosts forget to do this manually and lose reviews because of it. Write a short, warm message — thank them for staying, mention something specific about their booking, and ask if they'd leave a review. Schedule it for the day after checkout. Reviews are the currency that makes everything else in this checklist compound over time. A strong review profile is the foundation of becoming a Superhost.

Do a Test Stay

Before your first paying guest arrives, spend a night in your own property. This is the step most guides mention and most hosts skip — because sleeping in your own rental feels silly. It isn't.

Lie in the bed. Is it actually comfortable, or did you just assume it was? Take a shower. Is the water pressure decent? Is the hot water reliable? Try to cook breakfast. Can you find everything? Is the kitchen laid out in a way that makes sense to someone who's never been there before?

Walk through your own check-in process from the street. Can you find the property easily? Is the lockbox visible? Does the key work smoothly? Now try it in the dark. Because half your guests will arrive after sunset.

Check the WiFi in every room. Not just the living room — the bedroom, the bathroom, the outdoor area if you have one. A WiFi dead spot in the bedroom is the kind of thing you'd never discover without actually being there.

Write down everything that felt off. Fix it. Then you're ready.

After the First Guest: What Changes

Your first guest will teach you things no checklist can. They'll ask a question you didn't anticipate. They'll struggle with something you thought was obvious. They'll mention something in their review that surprises you — good or bad.

Update your guidebook after every piece of guest feedback. Add instructions for the thing that confused them. Remove the recommendation for the restaurant that closed. Your guidebook is a living document, not a finished product.

And once you've hosted a few guests through Airbnb and built up some reviews, start thinking about the long game. Those guests who loved your place? The ones who said they'd come back? Give them a way to book with you directly — without paying Airbnb's 15.5% commission a second time. A repeat guest doesn't need a platform to find you. They just need a link.

But that's a problem for later. Right now, your first guest is arriving soon. Run through this checklist, test everything once, and trust that you've covered the things that matter. The rest you'll learn by doing.