Guest Book for a Holiday Rental: Quotes, Thank-You Messages and a Template for Guests and Hosts

By Daniel Schulz, residir GmbH · Last updated: 14 October 2026

Before leaving, guests write a few lines in the guest book of a holiday rental: a thank-you to the hosts, a memory from their holiday and, ideally, a tip for the next guests. Three to five honest sentences with one concrete detail make a stronger impression than a long poem. Hosts simply put out a nice book with a short welcome note and a pen.

We are currently fitting out a building with 54 apartments in Lehel and, in the process, thinking about what should be waiting on the table in each apartment. The guest book is part of that. In this guide you will find ideas for entries, our own example thank-you messages and quotes, a template for the introduction and tips for hosts. Information as of October 2026.

In this article:

• Why have a guest book in a holiday rental?
• What to write in it
• Thank-you messages: examples
• Quotes for the guest book
• Munich experiences as entry ideas
• Creating a guest book: tips for hosts
• Welcome note and template
• Paper, digital or online review
• Data protection
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked questions

Entry by	Length	What to include
Couple, weekend	2 to 4 sentences	Thanks, a favourite moment, first names and date
Family with children	4 to 6 sentences plus a drawing	Thanks, the children’s highlight, a child’s drawing or signature
Group or friends	half a page	Reason for the trip, a funny story, everyone’s names
Business trip	1 to 3 sentences	Brief thanks, a practical tip for colleagues
Long-stay guest	one page	Looking back on the weeks, favourite places in the neighbourhood

Why have a guest book in a holiday rental?

A guest book in a holiday rental is a book in which guests write something at the end of their stay. Unlike hotels, where hardly anyone puts out a book, it is a fixture in many holiday apartments. Many people remember the guest book in a seaside holiday cottage from their childhood; in city apartments it usually sits in the living room or next to the welcome folder.

For guests

For guests, the guest book is a small way to round off the holiday. Writing a few lines on the last evening lets you look back over the days once more. Many people read the previous entries on their first evening and find tips you will not see in any guidebook: the bakery with the best Brezn (pretzels), the quiet path down to the Isar, the beer garden without the tourist crowds.

For hosts

For hosts, an entry in the holiday rental guest book is feedback that is not published as a review. You find out what guests liked and what they missed, often in a different tone from an online review. That is why many providers of holiday apartments in Munich also put out a book, even when check-in has long been handled via a code and key safe and host and guest never meet in person.

Our author Daniel Schulz has looked after more than 80,000 guest stays over eight years of running serviced apartments. His experience: especially with contactless check-in, the book is often the only place where guests and hosts say something personal to each other.

Writing an entry in a holiday rental guest book: what to say

What do you write in a holiday rental guest book when nothing springs to mind? A simple four-step structure helps. You do not have to use all of them, but each one makes the entry more personal.

1. Greeting and thanks: one sentence to the hosts, by name if you know it.
2. A specific experience: the sunset from the balcony, the rainy day spent playing board games, your first dip in the Eisbach.
3. A tip for the next guests: a restaurant, a walk, a market, a bakery or a pointer about getting there.
4. Signature: first names or family name, where you are from, dates of your stay. Children are welcome to sign themselves.

Criticism does not belong in the book; tell the host directly instead. Every future guest reads the guest book, and a note about the squeaky wardrobe door helps nobody there. A quick email or phone call, on the other hand, usually gets it fixed straight away.

Guest book ideas for families and children

In a holiday rental guest book, children like nothing better than leaving pictures. They enjoy drawing their favourite moment, sticking in an entry ticket or writing their name in big letters. Parents add two sentences underneath so that later readers know what the drawing of an elephant has to do with the zoo.

More guest book ideas for a holiday rental: a little weather diary for the week, a list of the three best places in the neighbourhood, a recipe that turned out well in the kitchen, or a photo with a short caption. Guests who have rented the apartment for longer, for example furnished apartments in Munich for a work project, often write a longer review of their weeks there.

Thank-you messages for a holiday rental guest book: examples to adapt

A thank-you message in a holiday rental guest book does not have to be poetic. We wrote the following examples ourselves; you are welcome to use them and fill them with your own details. Replace the information in square brackets.

Short and warm

Thank you so much for your hospitality! We felt at home from the very first evening and would love to come back. [First names], [home town], [month year]

Thank you for a lovely holiday in this apartment. The kitchen in particular was a pleasant surprise: we ended up cooking for ourselves more often than planned. [First names]

Personal, with a tip for the next guests

Dear hosts, a week is too short for this city but just right for this apartment. Thank you for all the tips in the folder – the bakery round the corner was our first stop every morning. To the next guests: take an evening stroll along the Isar when the bridges are lit up. [First names, home town, date]

This was our third stay, and every time we are delighted by the same little things: fresh towels, sharp kitchen knives and the quiet bedroom facing the courtyard. Thank you, and see you next year! [Family, home town]

For families

Thank you for giving us so much space with two children. The cot was already set up, which saved our first evening. The children are desperate to come back, mainly because of the playground in the park. [Family, home town, date]

For business travellers

Three days at the trade fair, three quiet nights. Thank you for the fast Wi-Fi and the desk by the window. [Name, company optional]

Vielen Dank für einen ruhigen und angenehmen Aufenthalt. Die Küche und die Waschmaschine haben zwei Arbeitswochen fast wie zu Hause wirken lassen. [Name, Land]

A book with short entries is especially worthwhile in accommodation for teams. If you book workers’ accommodation in Munich for a building project, the guest book often holds tips from previous colleagues about parking, canteens or the nearest DIY store.

Quotes for a holiday rental guest book: short, funny, heartfelt

Anyone looking for a quote for a holiday rental guest book soon ends up with well-known sayings and poems. These are often protected by copyright and appear in plenty of books anyway. Your own lines with a detail from your holiday are more personal. Here are some examples we wrote ourselves.

Short quotes

• “We arrived as guests and left with one key fewer and a lot more memories.”
• “Four days, three showers, two beer gardens, one wish: to come back.”
• “Strong coffee, soft pillows, short walks. That’s all a holiday needs.”
• “We’re leaving the apartment clean and this book a little fuller.”

Funny guest book quotes about the holiday

A guest book for a holiday rental can be funny, too. Humour works best when it is based on something that really happened and that later guests will recognise.

• “We now know the way to the supermarket better than the way to our own.”
• “By the way, the remote control was under the sofa cushion all week. We found it on the last evening.”
• “We meant to go jogging every morning. The trainers are still packed in the suitcase; the Brezn are all gone.”
• “After ten hours on the building site, the washing machine was our best friend.”

Heartfelt quotes for saying goodbye

Lines that pick up on saying goodbye work well as a holiday rental guest book quote after your stay: “The suitcase is heavier than when we arrived, and so is the heart.” Or: “Thank you for a week when we never had to look at the clock.” Children often write the most honest sentences, such as: “The bunk bed was the best. And the ice cream.”

Munich experiences as entry ideas

If you are on holiday in Munich, you will usually have plenty to write about. Instead of a general sentence, simply name the place or experience that stuck in your mind the most. Later guests love reading entries like these as tips.

New Year and festivals

New Year produces a particularly large number of entries, as guests often spend the evening in the apartment. A sentence like “At midnight we were standing on the Maximilian Bridge, and by half past twelve we had walked back here” is worth its weight in gold to the next New Year’s Eve guests. Our guide to New Year’s Eve in Munich explains what you need to know about fireworks, no-firework zones and viewpoints.

It is similar with the Wiesn (Oktoberfest), the Spring Festival or the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market): a note about which tent still had seats at lunchtime, or which route to the Theresienwiese was least crowded, helps more than any praise.

Home cooking: Kaiserschmarrn, Obatzda and more

Many guests try their hand at a Bavarian dish in the holiday apartment and write about it. “Our first Kaiserschmarrn (shredded pancake) fell apart, the second was really good” is an entry that will make the next guest smile. You will find recipes for Obatzda (cheese spread), Kaiserschmarrn and Leberkäs with potato salad in our guide to Bavarian food.

The Isar, the neighbourhood and the weather

From Lehel, the Isar is just a few minutes’ walk away and the English Garden less than 20 minutes. Typical entries from this location mention a favourite spot by the river, the first swim of the summer or a walk in the snow. The weather is a rewarding topic too, especially when the Föhn wind brings the Alps seemingly right into the city for a day.

Creating a guest book for your holiday rental: tips for hosts

Creating a guest book for a holiday rental takes very little time. More important than an expensive book is that it looks inviting and guests know what to write in it.

• Format: A4 or A5, hardbound, with thick paper so felt-tip pens do not bleed through. Blank pages suit drawings, lined pages suit longer texts.
• First page: a short welcome note with the year you first started letting underneath.
• Prompts: three questions on the inside cover for inspiration, such as favourite place, best meal and a tip.
• Supplies: two pens, a few coloured pencils for children and, if you like, tape for photos or entry tickets.
• Location: clearly visible in the living area, not tucked away in a drawer.

The guest book is not the place for information about Wi-Fi, rubbish or check-out. That belongs in a separate information folder, often called a welcome book. Both can sit side by side but should be kept separate so the guest book stays personal. Our guide to the welcome book for a holiday rental shows what to include.

When a book is full, keep it and put out a new one. Many hosts put the old volumes on a shelf; regular guests enjoy leafing through them and finding their earlier entries.

Welcome note and template for the guest book

The introduction to a holiday rental guest book goes on the first page. It should be short, address guests directly and invite them to write. You are welcome to use and adapt the following guest book template text.

Welcome note: template

A warm welcome to [name of the apartment]!

We are delighted you are here. This book belongs to everyone who stays here. Write down what you enjoyed, what you got up to in [place] and what tip you would like to pass on to the next guests. Children are welcome to draw, and photos may be stuck in.

We look forward to every line. [Hosts’ first names]

A shorter version also works as a welcome note in a holiday rental guest book: “Welcome! We can’t wait to hear what you get up to here. Before you leave, how about a few lines for us and the next guests?” For international guests, add a version in German or another language.

Prompts as a guest book template

If you want a structured guest book template for your holiday rental, print the same fields on each double page: names, dates, reason for the trip, favourite place, best meal, a tip for the next guests and a free space. This helps guests who do not know what to do with a blank page. At the same time, pre-printed fields can quickly feel like a form; a happy medium is to put prompts on the first page only.

Paper, digital or online review?

A digital guest book for a holiday rental can be a tablet in the apartment, a page in a guest app or a QR code that leads to a form. The advantage: entries do not get lost and hosts read them straight away. The disadvantage: you lose the pleasure of leafing through other people’s handwriting, drawings and stuck-in tickets, and for many that is exactly what makes it special.

	Paper guest book	Digital guest book	Online review
Who reads it?	subsequent guests	hosts, and guests depending on the solution	everyone interested before booking
Effect	personal keepsake	quick feedback	influences bookings
Criticism	not really	possible, not public	public, with the host’s reply
Effort	book and pen	device or software	via the booking platform

An online review does not replace the guest book. It is aimed at future guests and helps decide bookings, whereas the guest book is aimed at the hosts and the guests who are already there. Many guests write in both, and that is a good thing.

Complaints about costs, deposits or cancellations have no place in the guest book. Clarify such matters directly with the host; our guide to holiday rental cancellation explains what applies if you need to cancel.

Data protection and the guest book

A guest book left out in the apartment is voluntary: guests decide for themselves whether to write in it and whether to give their full name, just first names or no name at all. Nor is it a registration form (Meldeschein). Since 1 January 2025, the registration requirement in accommodation establishments under Sections 29 and 30 of the Federal Registration Act (Bundesmeldegesetz) only applies to foreign guests; German guests no longer fill in a registration form.

Hosts who photograph entries and show them on their website or social media are processing personal data. Under the GDPR this requires a legal basis, which in practice means the guests’ consent; for photos of people, the right to one’s own image also applies. So only show entries without names, or ask first. This section is general information and not legal advice.

The same applies even more strictly to digital guest books: if a form stores names or email addresses, it needs a privacy notice, and the data should only be kept for as long as necessary.

Conclusion

A good entry in a holiday rental guest book needs only a thank-you, one specific experience and a tip for the next guests, and hosts make writing easy with a short welcome note and a few prompts – in a small city apartment just as much as in a boarding house in Munich with many apartments.

Frequently asked questions about the guest book in a holiday rental

What do you write in a holiday rental guest book?

An entry should include a thank-you to the hosts, one or two specific experiences from your holiday and a tip for the next guests, such as a restaurant or a walk. Finish with your first name or family name, where you are from and the dates of your stay. Three to five sentences are enough.

How do I say thank you for a lovely holiday in the guest book?

Be specific: mention what you liked, for example the well-equipped kitchen, the peaceful nights or a tip from the hosts. A sentence like “Thank you for a lovely holiday, we would love to come back” feels more personal when it follows a real detail.

What kind of quote suits a holiday rental guest book?

A guest book quote can be short, funny or heartfelt; what matters is that it fits your stay. Your own lines with a detail from the holiday, such as the rain on the second day or the beer garden round the corner, are more memorable than a well-known saying.

As a host, how do I create a guest book for my holiday rental?

Choose a sturdy book with blank or lined pages, write a short welcome note on the first page and leave a pen next to it. A few prompts and space for photos or children’s drawings make it easier for guests to write.

What goes in the introduction to a guest book?

The introduction welcomes guests, explains in two or three sentences what the book is for and invites them to write. Information about Wi-Fi, rubbish or check-out does not belong there but in the apartment’s welcome folder.

Does a guest book replace online reviews?

No, they serve different purposes. The guest book is personal and stays in the apartment; the online review on the booking platform informs future guests before they book. Many guests write in both; criticism is better addressed directly to the host or in the review.

As a host, may I publish guest book entries online?

Only with the guests’ consent if names, handwriting with names or photos of people can be seen. Ask first or only show entries without names; if in doubt, clarify the details with a data protection specialist.