9pm, the heating will not come on
The out of hours phone rings. A guest cannot get the heating to come on. It turns out the boiler has a timer that needs overriding, which is explained on page 14 of the welcome folder, a folder that was last updated two owners' boilers ago. The next call is about which bin goes out on Thursday, and the one after that is about the Wi-Fi password, which was changed.
None of these are emergencies. All of them interrupt someone's evening.
Why mid-stay questions keep coming
The information guests need is specific to each property and changes over time: new boilers, new routers, changed bin days. Printed folders fall behind, and guests do not read long documents anyway. They want an answer to one question, now.
Your team knows the answers, or can find them, which is why guests call.
What the calls cost
Out of hours calls wear out your team. Guests who struggle with heating or hot water feel uncomfortable and mention it in reviews, even if the problem was a timer. Real faults get mixed in with how-do-I questions, so they are harder to spot.
The digital house guide we build
We build a guide per property that guests actually use, maintained in one place by your team.
- Property facts: heating, hot water, Wi-Fi, TV, appliances, log burner, bins, parking and local tips are recorded per property, with photos of controls.
- Access: guests open the guide from a link in their arrival message or a QR code in the property. No app to install.
- Assistant: guests type a question and an assistant built on a language model answers from that property's facts only, with the relevant photo. If the facts do not cover it, it says so and offers to contact your team.
- Step-by-step guides: short illustrated guides for the fiddly things, such as boiler overrides, log burner lighting and hot tub covers.
- Fault reporting: if the answer does not solve it, the guest can report a fault with photos, which goes to your maintenance workflow.
- Gaps report: questions the guide could not answer are listed for your team, so the facts improve over time.
| Guest asks | Guide answers with |
|---|---|
| How do I turn the heating on? | Steps and photo of the controls for that property |
| What is the Wi-Fi password? | Current details, updated by your team |
| Which bin goes out when? | Bin days and location for that property |
| The shower is cold | Hot water steps, then fault report if needed |
After the change
Guests find answers in seconds, on their phone, at any time. Calls to the out of hours line are more likely to be real problems. When a boiler or router changes, your team updates one entry and every future guest sees the right information. And the gaps report shows what guests want to know that you have not written down.
Does this sound familiar?
- Guests call during their stay about heating, Wi-Fi and appliances.
- Welcome folders are out of date.
- Out of hours calls are mostly how-do-I questions.
- Real faults get lost among simple questions.
- Reviews mention trouble with heating or hot water that was not a fault.