An informative and personalised welcome handbook can really add to how comfortable a guest is in a space and how much they enjoy their stay. Our guests love exploring a new area, so alongside instructions on how to use the wood burner or where the recycling goes, the local tips and insider knowledge you can provide are the key to a good welcome pack. You might choose to create a PDF and email it to guests before they arrive, or only have a hard copy in the space, but we thoroughly recommend doing both, as some guests plan everything in advance and others make it up as they go along. For you hard copy version, plastic pockets for individual pages make for good Covid safety and avoid too much reprinting when details change.

Here are some things to consider including:

• An introduction to yourselves and any interesting history of the space
• A map of your land if it’s a large area with multiple spaces or sections that are out of bounds to guests
• Local recommendations, with a what and a why, for places to eat, drink and shop, activities for families and couples, and walks with detailed routes or highlighted OS maps
• Information on additional bookable activities - hampers, courses etc
• How the space is sustainable - power generation, eco products, anywhere to avoid onsite if land growing, any special things being done by owners as guardians of the land, etc.
• How things in the cabin work and where to find them – Wi-fi if applicable, thermostat, candles, wood burners, outdoor blankets, gas heaters, hot water systems, games, compost toilets, recycling bins and what to put where, anything that is hidden in a cupboard or drawer or might be non-standard in its usage
• How to … lay/ start a fire, use the wood-fired hot tub and, if not obvious, the oven and kitchen facilities, or any entertainment like speaker systems
• Short itineraries - You could put together ideas on how to spend the perfect couple of days in the area. Consider a few winter and a few summer itineraries if you’re open all year round
• Local & emergency phone numbers as well as your own, of course.