What a good welcome message actually does
A welcome message is not decoration. The good ones do three jobs at once: they confirm the guest is in the right place, they remove the one question they were about to ask, and they say how to reach you if something goes wrong.
Everything else is tone.
Twenty openers you can adapt
Warm and short
- "Welcome! Everything you need is in this guide — start with the arrival section."
- "You made it. Here's how to get in, and where to find the coffee."
- "Hi, and welcome. If anything is unclear, the answer is probably two taps away."
For late or difficult arrivals
- "Arriving late? The entrance is lit until midnight, and the code is in the arrival section."
- "Travelling with luggage? There's a lift on the left of the lobby."
For families
- "Welcome, all of you. The cot is in the second bedroom cupboard."
For longer stays
- "Settle in — the washing machine instructions are under 'Devices'."
...and thirteen more variations along the same lines: the pattern matters more than the wording.
The mistake almost everyone makes
Writing the message once, for a generic guest, and never touching it again. The message that works in February for a couple on a city break is not the one that works in August for a family of five. Two or three variants, reused, beat one perfect paragraph.
Once you have them, the question becomes where they live — which is the same problem as house rules.