"Do you know a good restaurant nearby?" Your guests ask you that, often on the evening they arrive, sometimes during the stay. Answering it once, properly, in a local guide saves you from answering it fifty times by message. But which places should you include, how many, and how do you keep the guide from going stale the very next month?
This article draws on pages read for the occasion: the Airbnb Help Center (adding a guidebook to your listing and adding a house manual), the Airbnb Resource Center (create a guidebook to share your local tips, updated on 1 May 2024, and write a house manual) and the French national platform DATAtourisme. Which places to pick and how to sort them are our tips as hosts, not official rules: we flag it each time.
Last source check: 25 October 2026. Platform features change, check in your account.
Why does a local guide help your guests and you?
A local guide answers the most frequent question before it is asked. According to the Airbnb Resource Center, guests often ask for recommendations on where to eat, what to visit, where to shop or how to enjoy nature; a guidebook gathers all your suggestions in one place, easy to share and to update, which saves you time.
For you, it is also a way to show that you know the neighbourhood, without being there. Our article on what guests look for according to Booking gives the wider context of guest expectations.
Airbnb guidebook or local guide in the booklet: what is the difference?
The Airbnb guidebook is public and attached to your host account, whereas a welcome booklet is reserved for your guests. According to the Airbnb help page:
- you create the guidebook from "Listings", then "Arrival guide", then "Guidebooks", and you add places, neighbourhoods and tips about the city to it;
- hosts' guidebooks are public and anyone can access them on Airbnb; you can also share them outside the site or print them;
- they are attached to a host account, not to a listing, and co-hosts do not have access to new guidebooks;
- according to the Resource Center, guests find the guidebook on your listing, on your profile and in their "Trips" tab, and you can send a link as a quick reply when they ask for recommendations.
The Airbnb house manual is different: only guests with a confirmed reservation can access it. It is the place for the Wi-Fi, the heating and the house rules, not for your public addresses.
With Majordia, the booklet includes a "Local guide" tile (called "My good addresses" in the editor, for restaurants and favourite spots): you note your places there, and the guest opens them by scanning a QR code, with no app to install. The booklet works in 6 languages. Check which tiles are included in the plan you choose; the Essential (free, add-ons à la carte) offer is detailed on the pricing page. The point to remember: an empty local guide is worse than no guide at all. If you create the tile, fill it in.
How many places should you include, and which ones?
Ten well-chosen places are worth more than a list of fifty. Airbnb gives four core tips: keep it short and readable at a glance, saying what the place is and why to go; keep it personal, recommending only places you have enjoyed yourself; highlight what makes the difference (a restaurant's terrace, a shelf of local products); add a photo.
To organise your places, here is a structure we suggest, to adapt to your neighbourhood:
| Moment | Place to include (suggestion) | Why list it |
|---|---|---|
| Late arrival | A place still open in the evening or a convenience store | The guest arrives tired |
| Breakfast | A bakery or a café nearby | The most requested in the morning |
| Dinner | Two or three restaurants at different budgets | Saves you repeating the same advice |
| Groceries | A market or a local shop, with opening days | Useful for stays of several days |
| Outing | A walk, a sight, an activity | Gives a reason to stay |
| Rainy day | A museum, a café, a cinema | The plan B the guest will not find alone |
| Practical | Pharmacy, doctor, parking | Useful when needed |
Where can you find reliable, up-to-date information?
Check every place before publishing it: opening hours, closing days, season. To complement your own knowledge, two useful sources:
- The tourist office of your town, for sights and events.
- DATAtourisme, the national reference platform which, according to its website, aggregates and distributes tourism offer data from French territories. It is run by ADN Tourisme, the national federation of institutional tourism bodies, and relies on a network of more than 1,200 organisations. It is mostly a database for developers: for a host, the interest is knowing that official tourism data exists, fed by the tourism bodies of the territories.
Opening hours and closing days change faster than anything else: do not copy them without checking, and write something like "closed on Mondays in winter, check before you go" if you are not sure.
How do you stay honest in your recommendations?
Only recommend what you have tried, and say so plainly when you have an interest. Airbnb advises recommending only places you have personally enjoyed. If a shopkeeper pays you a commission or the place belongs to a relative, say so in one sentence: it is a choice of honesty that protects your guests' trust. It is not a platform rule, but a host's tip.
How do you keep the guide up to date?
Reread it at every change of season. Airbnb recommends it: reread the guide from time to time to add suggestions and check that the information is still accurate. A simple method: set a reminder in your calendar, in March and October for example, to check the places' opening hours and replace the ones that have closed. In your booklet, you edit the guide without reprinting anything, so the update is immediate for every guest. While you are at it, review your equipment list too: a recommended address assumes the listing itself is ready to host.
How do you adapt the guide for foreign guests?
Write the places in the guest's language, or at the very least a short explanatory sentence. A restaurant name does not help if the guest does not understand what is served there. Our article on the welcome booklet for foreign guests details the approach, and the one on scheduled welcome messages shows how to send the guide link at the right time, for example the day before arrival.
The essentials to remember
Information
- About ten tested places are worth more than fifty: short, personal, with a photo.
- The Airbnb guidebook is public and attached to your account; the house manual is only visible to guests with a confirmed reservation.
- Sort your places by moment: late arrival, breakfast, dinner, groceries, outing, rainy day, practical.
- Check opening hours and closures, and reread the guide every season.
- Put the guide in your welcome booklet, in the guest's language. Avoid an empty guide.
FAQ
How many places should a local guide include?
Airbnb sets no number: it advises keeping it short and readable. We suggest about ten places sorted by moment of the day, rather than a long list.
Is the Airbnb guidebook visible to everyone?
Yes: according to the Airbnb help page, hosts' guidebooks are public and accessible to everyone on Airbnb. The house manual, on the other hand, is only accessible to guests with a confirmed reservation.
Can I recommend a business I am close to?
Yes, but say so. Airbnb advises recommending only places you have personally enjoyed; flagging a link with the business is a choice of honesty, not a platform rule.
How do I check the opening hours of a restaurant or a site?
Call, check the business's website or the tourist office, and note what may change (weekly closing day, season). Do not copy old opening hours.
How often should I update the guide?
Airbnb recommends rereading it from time to time. We suggest a reminder at every change of season, checking the places and their opening hours.
Is a local guide in several languages useful?
Yes for foreign guests: one sentence in their language about what the place is helps them choose. The Majordia booklet exists in 6 languages.
A short, true and current guide
A good local guide is short, personal and up to date. Start with five places you really like, add more over the course of stays, then create your free welcome booklet in 6 languages, with no sign-up, to share them by QR code.
Image credits. Cover: photo "maps paper on table" by Annie Spratt, Unsplash, Unsplash licence. Photos in the text: "Fresh vegetables including cauliflower, broccoli, radishes, and onions on a market stall" by Shelley Pauls, Unsplash, and "A coffee and books by the window" by Todd Jiang, Unsplash, Unsplash licence.
