Self check-in: how to welcome guests well with nobody on site

It's a welcome with nobody handing over the keys: guests arrive when it suits them, get in with a key box, a door code or a smart lock, and find the information they need on their own.

No round-the-clock reception doesn't mean no welcome. Everything a host would say on arrival simply has to be thought through in advance rather than explained on the spot. It's the norm in holiday rentals (see the holiday rental welcome book), and a common solution in small hotels and B&Bs for late arrivals.

Self check-in doesn't suit everyone: some guests, uneasy with codes or arriving from very far away, appreciate meeting someone. Offering a call or a meeting on request, where possible, reassures them without weighing down your organisation.

Three things: access instructions, a way to reach you, and a link to the rest of the information. If one is missing, that's the one that earns you a call at 11 pm.

• Access: the exact address, visual landmarks (door, floor, colour of the key box), the code and how to use it.
• A contact: a number to reach you if something goes wrong, with the hours you answer.
• The guide: a link to everything else (wifi, equipment, favourite places), available at any time.

Walk the route yourself, from the street to the door, as if you didn't know the place. A photo of the entrance or the key box prevents a lot of hesitation, especially at night. And plan a fallback if the code doesn't work: a second box, a neighbour, a concierge service.

The arrival time and how to get in, a personal word, and a single link to everything else. It's the first real contact with your property: it deserves better than an administrative copy-paste.

A template to adapt

The mistake to avoid: trying to say everything

A ten-paragraph message with the wifi, the recommendations and the house rules gets read once, then lost in the inbox. Two days later, the guest can't find the gate code any more. The message should reassure and make people look forward to their stay; the link does the rest, and stays valid throughout.

The right moment

Send the access instructions the day before or the morning of arrival, not a week ahead: they'll be at the top of the conversation when the guest needs them. A first, shorter message can go out at booking to say hello and announce what's coming.

Through clarity. A guest who knows where to go, which code to enter and where to find the rest doesn't feel left to fend for themselves, even at 11 pm in an unfamiliar place. What matters isn't physical presence, it's the absence of doubt.

• Instructions in the order they'll experience them, from the street to the door.
• Photos of the tricky landmarks: entrance, key box, fuse box.
• A reachable contact, with clear hours.
• A short welcome note inside, or a message shortly after the expected arrival time to check everything's fine.

That last point counts more than it seems: a simple "Arrived safely?" shows there's someone behind the key box, without imposing your presence.

With a guide that takes over from the absent host: the practical information, and above all your recommendations, everything they'd have been told in person at a reception desk.

Having no staff shouldn't mean less information, just a different format. A QR code in the property opens the same guide as the link received before arrival; our guide to the welcome QR code explains where to put it. For the content, start with the local spots to recommend: it's what guests will look at most once they've settled in.

A word on scope: HerePicks only covers local recommendations. Door codes, wifi and how the appliances work stay in your usual tools, your arrival message or a card in the property.

The essentials, on a small, clearly visible card, even if everything is in the online guide: a phone can run out of battery, a signal can drop, and guests must still be able to manage.

• The wifi name and password.
• Your number, and the emergency number.
• The check-out time and what to do with the keys.
• Your guide's QR code, with a line saying what it contains.

For the rest, prefer short instructions in the right place to a folder: a label by the coffee machine, another by the fuse box. Guests find the information where they need it.

With instructions as clear as those for arrival, sent the day before departure. A vague departure leaves a confused last memory, when it only takes a few lines.

• The check-out time, and whether a later departure is possible.
• Where to leave the keys, or how to close the key box.
• What you really expect: dishes, bins, windows, heating.
• Where to leave luggage while waiting for a train, if you know of a solution.

A short thank-you message after departure ends the stay on a personal note. It's also the right moment to ask for a review, without pushing: our guide to five-star reviews has a template.

By making at least the access, the practical information and your recommendations available in their language. With nobody there to explain, a misunderstood instruction means a late-night call or a door that stays shut.

What it changes for the guest

Understanding the code, the check-out time or why you recommend a restaurant straight away, rather than guessing with a translation app, changes the way a stay begins. Translation isn't just politeness: a guest who has to translate everything is more likely to miss an important detail.

Translating without spending hours on it

Write short, simple sentences: they translate better, by hand or automatically. For your access instructions, prepare at least one proofread English version. For your recommendations, HerePicks automatically translates your text into English, French, German and Italian, and each guest sees the guide in their phone's language.

The Swiss case

In Switzerland, the same property can host German, French and Italian speakers in the same week, on top of visitors from all over the world. A multilingual welcome there is often a necessity rather than a bonus. HerePicks is designed in Switzerland with that reality in mind: see the digital welcome book in Switzerland.