I used to require that guests had ID, then a name, then a pulse. Now, a working credit card is fine.
Once they IB, I’ll figure out the rest.
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Definitely this.
Hosts are very pampered these days - I remember the days when we didn’t know a thing about the guests until they landed on the doorstep suitcase in hand. 
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This is a multilayered question. If I am going for business and staying in a traditional hotel, I rarely look at the ‘where to eat/local attractions’ book in the room because I think of it as 100% ads, and it doesn’t really tell me what’s so great about this place or that. I use Yelp! or a recommendation from a local to find my way to the best food and attractions.
If I am staying at an AirBnB, on the other hand, I definitely look at the house rules (partially because I am scoping out if there is anything good I can swipe for my own manual!) and depending on why I am traveling, if I am wondering about where to eat, I may take a look at the host’s manual and then confirm the recommendations with Yelp! (I have found the most wonderful hidden gems through Yelp!)
I am guessing you were asking this to see if you should bother with a detailed manual. After having a number of guests, I realized that many of them were coming to Vermont to check out the craft beer scene. Because I had done this with great success when we were innkeepers in Maine and my husband and I used to own a store that specialized in Vermont craft beers, I created a one day brewery loop trail on google maps that started and ended at our place, taking in about 6-7 breweries that we love. In fact, if they are doing the tour on a Saturday, I have the loop end up at one of my ‘hidden gem’ favorite breweries, just in time for live music and a great food truck on site (in the summer) and it’s about 25 minute drive back to our place.
In Maine, I did a hand written map but by doing it on google maps, I can share the link with them and they can have the map on their phone while driving around. (and I don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time).
hope this helps!
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My manual seems to get bigger and bigger. I just had to add a page “Can I smoke weed?” Even if decriminalized, use your brain about smoking in the park or on the sidewalk in a neighborhood full of little kids! (I say it much more nicely than that, of course.)
The problem is that Airbnb package want our experiences and properties to be the same - they train guests to expect that!
Reading is “friction”. It stops guests from committing to a booking. Airbnb ask hosts for paragraph of text on our properties, but show guests just the first two sentences! (unless they click “Read more…” - I expect most never do).
Take a hint from the experts: the more reading we demand from guests, the less likely they are to do it.
My strategy is:
- A personal-sounding “thank you for booking” email that tries to give guests the lowdown on parking, dogs, etc. - all the things that were in the listing but they might have skipped. So they can cancel early if something isn’t what they want.
- A 72hrs “see you soon!” email, again personal, again reiterating the things that are important.
- A laminated A4 note, with big type, placed on the counter so they’d have to pick it up to use the kitchen. Again with just the important things for someone who’s walked through the door - welcome, no smoking, here’s the internet password etc.
- Smaller laminated notes on how to use dishwasher (on the dishwasher), how to check out (back of the front door), how not to flood the bathroom (bathroom mirror) etc.
All the time, trying to give people the minimum amount of information just when they’re going to need it.
I think that makes for a better guest experience, so I don’t really believe in “house manuals”.
If I find myself eye-rolling that a guest missed something, at worst I’d reply politely with an excerpt from the email they didn’t read. But mostly I try to think “where should I better put that information so the would have seen it?” or “how could I make it obvious that question wouldn’t need to be asked?”.
I think it depends on the type of bookings you are getting. I tend to book from home, on a big screen. I also tend to book three months out or so. My places are booked from a year out in high season to an average of 4 months out. I don’t have a problem with people not reading. In most cases they’ve seen every picture and read every word including all the reviews.
If you get a booking for something in the next few days, there is a good chance that booking was made on a phone while they were in transit. If it’s a same day booking there is a very small chance it was made on a screen bigger than a phone. On the small screens it is not easy to get to and then read a big wall of text. Details that are obvious in a 8x10 inch picture are hard to see in a 3x4 inch picture. On my big screen I see an adorable cat on a rug. On my phone I see a rug.
I’m not sure how to fix the problem of booking off small devices. Perhaps making the title hit the most common issues: “Room in Cat lovers home”, “Guest cottage on non-smoking property”.