What should actually go on your Airbnb local recommendations list?

Many hosts' local guides are either missing entirely or are a wall of restaurant names that took an evening to write and nobody reads. The useful list is shorter than you'd think, and it starts with the boring stuff.

Start with the practical questions

The questions guests actually message about in the first 24 hours are rarely "where's the best restaurant in town?" They're:

• Where's the nearest supermarket, and is it open late?
• Is there a pharmacy nearby?
• Where can we get food tonight, without booking?
• Where's the nearest cash machine, petrol station or launderette?
• How do we get into town, and what does the bus cost?

Put these at the top. Each one needs a name, a walking or driving time and opening hours if they're unusual:

Groceries. Co-op on Station Road, 4 minutes' walk, open until 10pm every day. The bigger Tesco is a 5-minute drive.

That line will save more messages than any restaurant review.

Then add a short list of favourites

After the essentials, add the places you'd send a friend to. Keep each category to two or three picks:

• Breakfast or coffee. One quick, one sit-down.
• Dinner. A casual option, a nicer option, a takeaway.
• Pub or bar. Ideally one within walking distance.
• Something to do. A walk, a view, a market day or a local attraction.

Give one line on why: "Best fish and chips in town, eat on the harbour wall" is better than a name and a star rating. Guests are choosing based on your judgement, so tell them what you actually like about each place.

Add the local knowledge guests can't search for

This is the part a search engine can't give them:

• The beach car park that fills by 10am, and the one that doesn't.
• The restaurant that needs booking on weekends.
• The market that only runs on Thursdays.
• The shortcut through the park that takes ten minutes off the walk into town.

These are the details that show up in reviews as "the host's tips were brilliant".

Think about who's staying

Your guests aren't all the same. A family needs a playground, a supermarket with nappies and a restaurant that won't mind a toddler. A couple on a weekend away wants a nice dinner and a walk. A work traveller wants an early coffee and somewhere to eat alone without fuss.

You don't need separate lists. Just make sure each category has an option that suits the guests you actually get. If most of your bookings are families, put the family-friendly picks first.

Keep it current

Places close, change hands and move their hours. Check the list every few months, and quickly after any guest says "that café seems to have shut". An out-of-date recommendation is worse than none, because it sends a guest on a pointless walk.

If you print the list, date it at the bottom so you know when it was last checked.

Where to put it

A short printed page works well in the property, ideally in or next to your welcome book. Our local recommendations template gives you a layout with the categories above, and our welcome book template has space to slot it in.

If you'd rather keep everything digital, a link in your check-in message is fine, but put the five essentials in the message itself. Guests arriving at 9pm need the supermarket's opening hours, not a link to tap through. Our post on whether you need a digital guidebook covers the trade-offs in more detail.

Write it in your own voice

Don't copy the descriptions from review sites. Guests read your recommendations because they trust your local judgement. "We go here every Sunday" is more persuasive than any rating, and it makes the place feel like it belongs to someone.