Guide
A QR code guidebook for your vacation rental
Guests ask the same things at every stay: the WiFi password, when check-out is, how the heat works, where to get dinner. A printed binder answers them until something changes. A QR code on the kitchen counter can open a guidebook page instead, one you change from your phone between guests. This page covers what to put on it, how to keep it current, and what to leave off a page anyone with the link can open.
What guests need to know
A good guidebook answers the questions before they are asked:
- The WiFi: the network name and the password, typed exactly.
- Check-in and check-out: the times, and what to do on arriving and on leaving.
- Getting in and parking: how to find the door, and where the car goes.
- House rules: quiet hours, pets, smoking, how many people can stay.
- How things work: the thermostat, the TV, the coffee maker, the washer.
- Local tips: the places you would send a friend, and how to find them.
- Emergency contacts: who to call, and their numbers.
- Before you leave: the checkout list, so nobody has to guess.
Why a binder goes stale
A binder is right on the day you print it. Then the WiFi password changes, the lockbox gets a new code, the bakery you recommended closes for the winter. Each change means printing pages again and remembering to swap them, in every place you rent out.
A page behind a QR code is changed once, from your edit link, and the next guest who scans sees the new version. The printed code doesn't change: it points to us, and we send it on to your page. So the code on the counter, the fridge or the welcome sign can stay where it is through every change you make.
Two ways to do it with us
No guidebook online yet? A $99 code and hosted page, paid once, gives you a
guidebook page at an address such as helmqr.com/harbor-cottage, from our rental guidebook
template: a welcome note, the WiFi with a Copy button for the network name and the
password, check-in and check-out, getting in and parking, house rules, how things work,
local tips with a Map button each, emergency contacts with a button that calls them, and
the checkout list. Every section is optional, and one you leave blank doesn't appear on the
page. Already have a printed house manual? Choose "Start from a photo" on
the details step and photograph it: we read it into a draft, you check every line before
you publish, and it's included with every rental guidebook page, up to 5 photos read per
page. You edit the page yourself, whenever you like, with no extra charge while HelmQR
operates the service.
Move your page later and the old address forwards to the new one for 30 days, held for you; after that it stops working and someone else can use it.
Already have a guidebook page somewhere? A $19 code, paid once, points at it, and you can point it at a different page later. Change it whenever you like. No extra charge while HelmQR operates the service.
One payment. No monthly fee from us. It keeps working while we operate the service. Not a promise the service runs indefinitely.
See the example rental guidebook → · Get a code and a hosted page for $99 · Get your QR code for $19
The same page can also be shown in up to 5 other languages, translated automatically from English: you choose them, read each translation and correct it, and none appears until you approve it. And if you want the code on a sign as well, the Guidebook bundle is the page with a 7 x 5 in acrylic table sign that carries its code, for $119.
Comparing it with a monthly plan
You don't need our word for the comparison, only your own statement. If you pay a monthly fee for a guidebook today, multiply it by twelve: that is what one year of it costs you. A guidebook page with us is $99, paid once, and a $19 code is enough if your guidebook already lives somewhere else.
A door code on a public page
A guidebook page is public unless you lock it: anyone with its address or its QR code can open it, and a code on a counter can be photographed by anyone who stays. So decide before you publish what the page should say about getting in. If we spot a door or lockbox code where your page says how to check in, check out, get in or park, and the page has no password, your edit page says so, next to the way to add one.
- Lock the page. From your edit link you can lock the page with a password for its visitors: only guests you give the password to can open it, and you still edit with your private link. Send the password with the booking message.
- Or keep the code off the page. Send the lockbox or door code to each guest directly, and change it between stays.
- Leave off what is yours. Your own home address, a personal email or the alarm code have no place on a page you hand to strangers.
Where to put the code
Somewhere a guest looks when they arrive: on the kitchen counter, the fridge, or the inside of the front door. Print it at least 1 inch across and keep the white border around it. You get PNG, SVG and print-ready PDF files of your code.
Every code also comes with ready-to-print signs made from it: a table tent, a counter card and a window sign. Print them yourself, or take the file to any print shop. The sign builder on your edit page shows how wide the code prints on each one and the distance it scans from.
Scan a printed proof with your own phone before you frame it.
Questions
What if I change the WiFi password?
Edit the page and the next guest who scans sees the new password. The printed code stays as it is. One exception: a WiFi code set to join the network directly has the password printed inside its squares, so changing the password means new files and a reprint.
Do guests need an app to scan it?
No. A phone's own camera reads the code and opens the page in the browser.
Can one code cover two rentals?
A code opens one page. For two places, give each its own page, so each guest sees only the house they are staying in.
Is there a monthly fee?
No. It is one payment, $19 or $99.
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