A guest lands at 11pm. Their flight was delayed three hours. They're tired, they don't speak the local language, and they're standing in front of your building staring at a keypad. Then they text you: "Hi, how do I get in?"

You wrote the instructions. They're right there in the listing. But they didn't read them, or they read them and got confused at step four. A good self check-in instructions template fixes this. Not by adding more words, but by being specific, visual, and impossible to misread at midnight on a phone screen.

Here's the exact template I use, plus a filled-in example and the troubleshooting block that cut my late-night check-in texts to almost zero.

The self check-in instructions template

Copy this, fill the brackets, attach photos to the steps that need them. Send it the morning of arrival, not three days early when nobody reads it.

Address: [Full address, with the unit/floor number spelled out]
Arrival window: Check-in from [3:00pm]. If you arrive earlier, [message and I'll see if the place is ready].
Step 1 - Find the building: [Blue door, number 14, between the bakery and the pharmacy. Photo below.]
Step 2 - The lockbox / keypad: [Located to the right of the door, at waist height. Photo below.]
Step 3 - The code: [4–8–2–1, then press the key symbol.]
Step 4 - Inside: [Take the stairs to floor 2. Apartment is the door on your left marked B.]
Step 5 - You're in: [Wifi name and password are on the fridge. Heating instructions are in your guidebook.]
If something goes wrong: [Call or WhatsApp me on +XX XXX. If I don't pick up within 5 minutes, the backup key is in the lockbox by the bin store, code 9–9–1–1.]

That's the whole thing. Eight lines a guest can scan in fifteen seconds.

What should self check-in instructions include?

Self check-in instructions should include the exact address, the arrival time, a step-by-step entry sequence with the access code, photos of the door and lockbox, and a troubleshooting line with your phone number and a backup access method. Keep it to one screen so a tired guest can follow it on their phone.

The part most hosts skip is the backup. You'll be asleep, or in a dead zone, or your phone will be on silent. A second way in (a neighbour, a key safe by the bins, a building concierge) saves the booking and the review.

Why photos beat words at every step

"The lockbox is on the wall near the entrance." Which wall? Which entrance? Is it the silver box or the grey one next to the gas meter?

Take photos in daylight, then take the same photos at night with your phone flash. Half your guests arrive after dark. A photo of the keypad lit up at 10pm is worth more than a paragraph. Mark the code entry direction with an arrow if your keypad is one of those finicky ones that needs a clear button first.

One host I know in Lisbon had a recurring problem: guests kept trying the building's main intercom instead of her door. She added one photo with a red circle around the right buzzer. The confused messages stopped that week.

How do I write self check-in instructions guests will actually follow?

Lead with the address and arrival time. Don't bury it under a welcome paragraph.
Number every physical action. Find building, find box, enter code, climb stairs, open door. One verb per step.
Put the code on its own line. Spaced out, big, with the exact press sequence.
Attach a photo to any step a stranger could get wrong.
End with a troubleshooting line and a backup.
Send it the morning of arrival. Repeat-send the code 30 minutes before their window if you can.

I go deeper on the psychology of this in how to write self check-in instructions your guests will actually follow, but the short version is: every word you add is a word that competes with the code for attention.

A filled-in example

Here's how the template looks for a real two-bedroom flat. Names and codes changed.

Address: 14 Rue des Lilas, Apartment B, 2nd floor, 75011 Paris.
Arrival window: Check-in from 3:00pm. Arriving earlier? Message me and I'll check if it's ready.
Step 1: Look for the blue door at number 14, between Boulangerie Marie and the green pharmacy. (Photo)
Step 2: To the right of the door at waist height there's a black keypad. (Photo, day and night)
Step 3: Enter 4 8 2 1 then press the bell symbol. The door clicks. Push it within 5 seconds.
Step 4: Take the stairs to floor 2 (no lift). Apartment B is on your left, marked with a brass B.
Step 5: Key is in the bowl by the door. Wifi: LilasB / password lilas2024. Everything else is in your guidebook.
If stuck: WhatsApp me on +33 6 12 34 56 78. No answer in 5 min? Spare key in the silver lockbox by the bins, code 9 9 1 1.

Notice the "push it within 5 seconds" line. That came from a real failure. Three guests in a row thought the lock was broken because the door re-locks fast. One sentence fixed it.

Where these instructions should actually live

Pasting this into the Airbnb message thread works, but messages get buried under "what time is checkout" and emoji. The version that holds up is a digital guidebook with a dedicated check-in page, linked from your arrival message and pinned somewhere a guest can find it again at the door.

The advantage is the photos sit next to the steps, the page loads on any phone, and you can translate it. A German guest arriving at a Spanish flat shouldn't be running your instructions through a translation app on the pavement. With a multilingual guidebook the page just shows up in their language. GuestIntro does this automatically, which is the main reason I moved my own off the message thread.

The troubleshooting block earns its keep

Plan for the three things that actually break: the code doesn't work, the guest can't find the building, the guest arrives before the place is ready.

For the code, tell them the most common mistake ("make sure you press the bell symbol after, not before"). For the building, give a landmark, not just a number. For early arrivals, set the expectation in writing so you're not negotiating bag storage by text at 9am.

And test your own instructions. Hand them to a friend who's never been, and watch them try to get in. You'll find the gap in about ninety seconds.

Self check-in is the first thing a guest experiences. Get it boringly smooth and the rest of the stay starts on the right foot. If you're setting up a new place, work through everything you need before your first Airbnb guest arrives first so the door is the easy part.