Vrbo stays skew toward whole homes, family groups, and longer visits, and that
changes what the welcome book has to do. The person who booked read your listing; the
other six people in the van did not. For most of your guests, the book is not a reference,
it is the introduction.
Same spine, three extra sections
Start from the standard order in the
welcome book template: cover, wifi, check-in
and check-out, rules, how things work, parking, trash, local guide, important information.
Whole-home properties usually need three more:
Sleeping and capacity notes. Which sofa folds out, where the extra
linens and the air mattress live, which closet has the crib.
Property systems. Septic (what never gets flushed), well water,
propane, the sump pump, the lake pump: the systems city guests have never met and can
break by accident in a weekend.
Gear. What guests may use (kayaks, bikes, sleds, beach carts), where
it lives, and the rule that goes with it, such as life jackets by the back door in labeled
sizes.
Sample system notes
Septic: The house is on septic. Nothing goes in the toilets but the
paper by the toilets; the spare rolls in the closet are the right kind.
Well water: Safe to drink; it can run faintly mineral in taste. The
filter pitcher in the fridge is there if you prefer it.
Write for the whole group
Since most readers never saw the listing, the book carries the load: quiet hours, the
septic rule, and the wifi all have to be learnable from the counter. Two habits help.
Print two copies and leave them in different rooms, and put the three things that prevent
expensive accidents (septic, hot tub cover, parking) on the first page after wifi rather
than deep in the middle.
Longer stays, more how-to
A week-long stay uses the washer, the dishwasher, and the grill more than a weekend
does, so the how-things-work section earns
extra lines: where the vacuum lives, how the second fridge behaves, what day the boat
ramp gets busy. The free generator takes as many lines as you give it.