Which local spots should you recommend to your guests?

Because they're often what guests remember about their stay. Back home, people rarely talk about the mattress or the coffee machine. They talk about the little restaurant they'd never have found on their own, the walk their host suggested, the café where "even the locals go".

A kindness that costs nothing to repeat

New bedding or a renovated bathroom costs money every time. A good selection of places, once written, can be shared with the next guest for free. It's one of the few gestures with a high perceived value and almost no cost.

What your places say about you

Recommending a place shows that you know the area you welcome people to, not just that you look after a property. Guests notice, and this kind of detail often comes up in the comments they leave after a stay.

The selection still has to stay accurate. A list that's three years old loses its value as fast as it gained it: the real challenge isn't having places, it's keeping them alive.

The ones that answer the questions guests actually ask you: where to eat, where to get a coffee, what to do, and where to find the basics if they need them. The rest depends on who you host.

The essentials

• Restaurants: ideally for different moments, a quick lunch, a dinner, a Sunday brunch.
• Cafés and bakeries: the first thing people look for in the morning, especially in a rental.
• Walks and sights: an outdoor outing, a cultural visit, an idea for a rainy day.

The practical places people forget

These are the places we don't think to write down because they seem obvious, yet guests look for them first: the supermarket open on Sundays, the pharmacy, the station or bus stop, the EV charger, the car park. A "Practical" category saves a lot of messages.

Depending on your guests

A family doesn't look for the same things as a couple or a business traveller. Think about who you host most often, and flag what suits children, what needs a booking and what is wheelchair accessible.

For a first selection, check that you have:

• two or three restaurants, for different moments;
• a café or bakery within walking distance;
• two or three walks or sights, including one for a rainy day;
• the supermarket, the pharmacy and the nearest public transport;
• for each place, a line saying why you recommend it.

To prepare this list, start from our free local recommendations template, ready to copy into a document or spreadsheet.

Fewer than you'd think: two or three per category is enough for a stay of a few nights. A list of twenty restaurants doesn't help anyone choose; it makes guests do the sorting you were supposed to do for them.

Why quantity works against you

A recommendation's job is to decide. Faced with fifteen options and no ranking, guests pick one at random, or close the guide and open a map app. A short selection shows you've done that work for them.

Rules of thumb by category

When to include more

For stays of a week or longer, a slightly wider selection keeps guests from running out of ideas after three days. Even then, keep a clear order: your favourites first, the rest after. In HerePicks, the "Recommended" marker is there to make your favourites stand out in a longer list.

By asking around, then trying places before you recommend them. If you've just taken over a property or moved to the area, you don't know the best places yet, and that's fine: a selection is built over time.

Ask rather than search alone

Shopkeepers, neighbours and the regulars at the corner café know the area better than any online ranking. A chat with the baker or the bar owner turns up places you won't find by searching the internet. Your regional tourist office also knows the markets and seasonal events.

Try before you recommend

A recommended place should be one you've tried. Give yourself a few weeks to test two or three places per category before settling on your selection, and note what you liked: that's what will feed your descriptions.

Be wary of online ratings

A high rating doesn't tell you whether a place suits your guests: a family with young children, a couple looking for quiet, a tight budget. Weigh reviews against your own judgement, or against someone who knows the area well.

Start with three or four places you're sure of and add more as you discover them. A short, sincere selection beats a complete but lukewarm list.

With a line saying why you recommend it, and the practical details guests will need on the spot. That line is what sets your selection apart from a map search.

The line that makes the difference

"Nice restaurant" says nothing. "Their fig tart is worth the trip, ask for a table on the terrace" makes people want to go and helps them decide. Talk about exactly what you like: a dish, a view, an atmosphere, a time of day.

The practical details

• The distance or travel time from your property.
• Whether booking is needed, and how far ahead.
• The price range, to avoid bad surprises.
• What suits children or people with reduced mobility.
• Closing days, if they're unusual.

Example: an empty entry, a useful entry

In HerePicks, that tip has its own field ("A note from your host") and is highlighted on the place's page; the address, photo and travel times are filled in automatically. The page on local recommendations shows what a place card looks like.

By writing the selection once, then sharing it through a link that never changes. "So, what would you recommend for tonight?" comes up with every arrival, almost word for word; answering it carefully twenty times a month gets tiring, even when you enjoy it.

Write the answer once and for all

The risk with repetition is rushing the answer, or brushing it off with "there are lots of good places around here". Prepare your selection once instead, with your real places and your own words: every guest gets the same careful answer, even on a busy evening.

A link rather than a message to dig up

A long text or email works until someone has to find it again, out in the street, three days later. A permanent link, sent before arrival and available at any time, solves that. If nobody is on site when guests arrive, our guide to self check-in explains how to include it in your welcome message. And if you're weighing up a PDF, a Google Maps list or a message, our comparison of PDF, Google Maps, WhatsApp or QR code goes through each option.

The QR code on site

Inside the property, a QR code on the bedside table or near the entrance opens the same guide. Where to put it, and what to write next to it so people scan it, is covered in our guide to the welcome QR code.

Yes, but without starting from scratch: a quick review at each change of season is enough. An ice-cream parlour in the middle of winter or a sledging run in July is a recommendation that disappoints, and a guest who finds a closed door remembers it more than all your other places.

What really changes

• Seasonal businesses, open only part of the year.
• Outdoor activities, which depend on the weather and the snow.
• Opening hours, often reduced outside the high season.

The Swiss example: the lake in summer, the mountains in winter

By a lake in summer, you recommend swimming, boat trips and terraces; by November, some of those places close and it's time for fondue and museums. In the mountains, the alpine hut café only opens in the warm season, and winter brings other needs: ski hire, lift times, the sledging run. The same guide can work all year if you hide what's closed and show it again at the right time.

The change-of-season checklist

• Hide what closes for the season.
• Check the opening hours of places that shorten them.
• Add one or two seasonal ideas: a market, an event, an activity.
• Reread your lines: "sunny terrace" doesn't mean much in January.

In HerePicks, any place can be hidden without being deleted: it comes back with one click the following year, description intact.