Blog
Notes on hosting, guest experience, and what we ship.
- Guest experience
The WiFi Password Was Never the Problem
Guests message about WiFi even when the password is written down somewhere in the unit. The password isn't the issue. Where it lives, what it's written on, and whether a phone camera can actually read it are the issue.
Elon Zito · Sep 29, 2026
- Guidebook craft
Break the Arrival Into Steps, Not Sentences
Most arrival instructions are written like an essay. A tired guest at night doesn't read essays — they read one line, look up, act, then need the next line. Here's how to write instructions as a sequence instead of a paragraph.
Elon Zito · Sep 22, 2026
- Product notes
Shipped: Place Cards That Help You Decide
Recommendations used to be a name and a sentence. They now carry opening hours, walking distance, a photo strip and a pin on a shared map — because those are the four things a guest is actually deciding on.
Elon Zito · Sep 16, 2026
- Product notes
Shipped: A QR Sheet for the Door, and a PDF That Prints
Two paper releases, which is an odd thing for a digital product to ship. Why the printed sheet stopped more questions than any software feature, and what the print layout had to get right.
Elon Zito · Aug 25, 2026
- Guidebook craft
Written for a Phone, in the Dark, at 12 Percent Battery
Guest information is read under the worst conditions of any document you will write. Fourteen decisions — line length, contrast, tap targets, headings, what to put in the first screen — that make it survive them.
Elon Zito · Jul 14, 2026
- Product notes
Shipped: Ask the Guidebook, and Twelve Languages
Two releases that both answer the same question — how a guest gets an answer at midnight without waking you. What each does, what each deliberately refuses to do, and where they fall short.
Elon Zito · Jun 2, 2026
- Hosting tips
Five Messages Per Stay, and What Goes in Each
A message schedule that covers a three-night stay: what to send a week out, the night before, on arrival morning, midway, and the evening before departure — with the full text of each.
Elon Zito · Apr 21, 2026
- Local guides
The Rainy Day Section Nobody Writes
Every destination has bad weather and almost no guidebook plans for it. How to build a wet-afternoon list that works for the group sizes you actually host — and why it earns disproportionate goodwill.
Elon Zito · Mar 10, 2026
- Guidebook craft
Audit Your Guidebook in Thirty Minutes
Eighteen checks, run in order, on the guidebook you already have. Most hosts find four or five things wrong, and at least one of them has been wrong for a year.
Elon Zito · Jan 27, 2026
- Guidebook craft
Check-Out Without the Chore List
Long departure lists lower your ratings and save your cleaner about six minutes. What to actually ask for, what to stop asking for, and the message that gets the keys back on time.
Elon Zito · Nov 18, 2025
- Guidebook craft
Document the Quirks, Not the Obvious
Nobody needs your instructions for the kettle. They need the thing you have stopped noticing — the door that sticks, the shower dial, the oven in Celsius. How to find your own blind spots.
Elon Zito · Sep 30, 2025
- Hosting tips
Parking Instructions Worth Reading
Parking causes more first-hour stress than check-in does, and most hosts give it one line. What to write for a driveway, a permit zone, a shared garage, and a street where nothing is guaranteed.
Elon Zito · Jul 22, 2025
- Hosting tips
The WiFi Section, Done Properly
The most-read forty words in your guidebook. Why guests still ask despite the card on the counter, what to write instead, and a network setup that removes the question entirely.
Elon Zito · May 8, 2025
- Local guides
How to Choose Which Places to Send Guests To
A filter for building a recommendation list: the walking-distance rule, the five slots that cover most stays, why the best restaurant in town is often the wrong answer, and how to handle places you have not tried.
Elon Zito · Feb 25, 2025
- Local guides
Recommendations That Sound Like a Person
Guests can tell within one sentence whether you have been somewhere. Six rewrites showing the difference, and the four-part sentence that carries everything a guest needs to decide.
Elon Zito · Jan 14, 2025
- Hosting tips
Creating the Ultimate Airbnb Welcome Book with TouchGuides
Creating a comprehensive and interactive digital welcome book with TouchGuides significantly enhances the Airbnb guest experience by providing essential information, local recommendations, etc.
Elon Zito · Dec 29, 2024
- Hosting tips
Reading a Bad Review Properly
A four-star review with one sentence of criticism is a free consultancy report. How to extract the actual defect, how to reply in public, and the two categories of complaint worth ignoring.
Elon Zito · Sep 4, 2024
- Hosting tips
The Turnover Checklist That Survives Contact With a Real Cleaner
Same-day turnovers fail in the same four places every time. A checklist built around those, a photo protocol that settles disputes in one message, and the restock numbers that stopped my Sunday emergencies.
Elon Zito · May 16, 2024
- Hosting tips
Stopping Noise Complaints Before the Neighbour Calls
Noise is the complaint that escalates fastest and damages the most. A practical sequence: what to screen for, what to install, what to write, and exactly what to say when the call comes anyway.
Elon Zito · Jan 30, 2024
- Guidebook craft
What Guests Ask at 11pm
A year of after-hours guest messages, sorted. Eight questions account for most of them, and every one can be answered in advance by something you write once.
Elon Zito · Oct 10, 2023
- Guidebook craft
House Rules Guests Actually Follow
Long rule lists get skimmed and ignored. Short ones with a stated reason get followed. Twelve rewritten rules, and the pattern behind why the second version works.
Elon Zito · Jun 27, 2023
- Guidebook craft
A Check-In Message, Annotated Line by Line
One real check-in message, taken apart sentence by sentence — what each line is doing, which ones can be cut, and the three additions that stopped almost all of my arrival-day questions.
Elon Zito · Mar 2, 2023
- Hosting tips
The Door Code Is Never the Problem
Nine out of ten lockbox failures have nothing to do with the lock. They are typing errors, timing errors, or a guest standing at the wrong door. Here is what to write so the code works the first time.
Elon Zito · Dec 13, 2022
- Hosting tips
Maximizing Your Airbnb Earnings: A Guide for Hosts
In the ever-evolving landscape of short-term rentals, standing out as an Airbnb host is paramount for maximizing earnings. From competitive pricing strategies to the visual allure of your listing and the overall guest experience, every detail counts.
Elon Zito · Nov 7, 2022
