What to put in a welcome book for a cabin

A city apartment needs a short welcome book. A cabin needs a slightly longer one, because more of the house works differently from what a guest has at home. There is often no cell signal to message you, the nearest shop closes early, and the thing that goes wrong is more likely to be the wood stove than the coffee machine. Write for a guest arriving after dark, tired, with no bars.

By Halivs · Updated October 23, 2026

The last mile, before anything else

Map apps are good until the final turn, then they are not. Describe the end of the route in landmarks: the mailbox, the gate, the fork where you keep left. Say whether the road needs four-wheel drive in winter and where to park if the drive is icy. Include the gate or lockbox code here, and send the same page as a photo before arrival, because the guest will be reading it in the car.

Water, septic, and power

If the cabin is on a well, say whether the tap water is fine to drink. If it is on a septic system, say plainly what cannot be flushed, and put a small sign in the bathroom too. Guests from town have never had to think about it. If power cuts happen, say where the flashlights are, where the breaker panel is, and whether there is a generator a guest may use. If they should not touch it, say that instead.

How do you explain the heat and wood stove?

This is the page that needs the most care. Explain how the heat works: baseboard, propane, heat pump, or wood. For a stove or fireplace, give the steps in order: open the damper, how to light it, which wood to burn and where it is stacked, and how to close it down at night. Ashes go in the metal bucket with a lid, outside and away from the house, never in a paper bag or the trash. Never leave a fire unattended. If local fire restrictions apply in summer, say where to check them. Point to the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and the extinguisher by location.

Wildlife and trash

In bear or raccoon country, trash is a safety rule, not a chore. Say where the bins are, how they lock, and that nothing with food in it stays outside overnight, including grills and coolers. If guests should keep car windows closed or avoid leaving food on the porch, write it down. Nobody minds a rule that keeps animals away from the door.

No signal, and the emergency page

Put the WiFi details on a card by the door as well as in the book, since for some guests it will be their only connection. If there is a landline, say so. Then give the cabin’s full street address in large type, the way you would read it to a dispatcher, plus the nearest hospital and the nearest open-late pharmacy with their drive times. Rural addresses are easy to get wrong under stress. Do not make anyone search for it.

Local, briefly

Three or four places are enough: groceries, with their closing time; a place to eat; one walk or swim you would recommend to a friend; and the nearest fuel. Note anything seasonal. The lake café that is closed in winter is the one a guest drives forty minutes to find.

Checkout at a cabin

Add the cabin-specific steps to the usual checkout list: fire out and damper closed, hot tub cover on and locked, thermostat at the setting that keeps the pipes from freezing, porch light off, trash locked. Keep the list short enough to fit on the fridge. The full welcome book can carry the detail.