Touchstay Review: The Digital Guidebook
by azulomo | 3 min read
When Guest Information Becomes Part of the Experience
Touchstay Review: The Digital Guidebook That Brings Calm Back to Hosting
There was a time when a printed welcome book on the coffee table felt like the height of good hosting. Laminated pages. Plastic sleeves. Maybe a lovingly typed list of restaurant recommendations that was already three seasons out of date.
Fast-forward to today, and guest behaviour has changed completely.
Guests arrive late. They travel light. They skim, not read. They expect answers now, not after searching through emails or flipping through a binder that’s seen better days. And as hosts, we’ve quietly absorbed the weight of that shift ~ more messages, more clarifications, more explaining, more repeating.
This is exactly where digital guidebooks stepped in. Not as a trend. Not as “tech for tech’s sake”. But as a practical response to how guests actually behave now.
And among all the options out there, Touchstay has become one of the most thoughtfully designed versions of this idea.
Touchstay turns guest information into a calm, confident experience, quietly doing the explaining so you don’t have to…
Here’s the thing we don’t talk about enough: A guidebook isn’t just about information. It’s about confidence.
Confident guests move through a space differently.
They arrive calmer.
They settle in faster.
They explore more.
They complain less.
A good digital guidebook quietly says:
“You’re in good hands. Everything you need is right here.”
Touchstay understands this beautifully. It doesn’t try to replace you as a host. It simply carries your voice, your care, and your clarity into the moments when you’re not physically there.
What Touchstay Actually Is (Without the Tech Speak)
Touchstay is a mobile-friendly digital guidebook that lives on your guest’s phone. No apps to download. No accounts to create. No PDFs buried in inboxes.
You share a link or a QR code and your guests have instant access to:
Arrival and check-in guidance
Wi-Fi and house essentials
How things work in your home
Local places you genuinely recommend
Safety information and FAQs
Gentle reminders and feedback prompts
It’s simple. But it’s deceptively powerful.
Why Touchstay Feels So Aligned With Calm Hosting
Inside The Slow Living Hosting Masterclass™, we talk a lot about designing away friction.
Not adding more effort. Not being “on” all the time. But thinking ahead so future you doesn’t have to jump in constantly. Touchstay is exactly that kind of tool.
You invest time once, thoughtfully. You design clarity intentionally. And then you stop repeating yourself forever. It’s not flashy productivity. It’s quiet operational relief.
The Beauty Is in the Structure
One of the most underrated aspects of Touchstay is how it encourages you to structure your guest information properly.
Instead of dumping everything into one long document, you create clear sections that mirror how guests actually experience a stay:
Before arrival
Arrival day
During the stay
Local exploration
Departure
This seems obvious, but it’s surprisingly rare. And guests feel the difference immediately. They don’t feel like they’re “reading rules”. They feel guided…
Branding That Feels Like Hospitality, Not Corporate Software
Touchstay lets you brand your guidebook with your colours, imagery, and tone of voice. This matters more than most hosts realise. A beautifully branded guidebook subtly reinforces:
Care
Professionalism
Trust
Quality
It tells guests, without saying it directly, that this host has thought things through. And yes, guests notice. Many hosts mention that their guidebook itself gets commented on in reviews ~ not because it’s flashy, but because it’s helpful and easy to use.
Updates Without the Mental Load
Here’s one of those features you don’t appreciate until you need it. Restaurant closes. Bin collection changes. Wi-Fi router gets replaced… With Touchstay, you update the guide once and it’s instantly live for everyone, including guests already staying.
No reprinting. No resending. No “oh, I forgot to tell them”.
It’s a small thing that removes a surprising amount of background stress.
Less Messaging, Better Hosting Energy
This is where Touchstay really earns its place.
Hosts consistently report:
Fewer repetitive questions
Fewer arrival-day messages
Fewer “sorry to bother you…” texts
And when guests do message, it’s usually for something meaningful, not logistical basics. That shift changes how hosting feels. You stop reacting and start responding intentionally.
Feedback That Feels Natural, Not Awkward
Touchstay allows you to collect feedback directly through the guidebook. Not in a pushy way. Not in a “please review us now” way. Just a gentle invitation to share how things are going. For hosts, this is gold. You can spot small issues early, adjust where needed, and refine the experience over time. It’s learning built into the stay itself.
Integrations That Quietly Support You
Touchstay integrates with many booking platforms and property management systems, meaning guest details and reservations can sync automatically. For single-property hosts, this is convenient. For multi-property hosts, it’s sanity-saving.
Less manual work. Fewer mistakes. More consistency.
Again, very azulomo in spirit ~ tech that supports you quietly, not noisily.
A Note on “It’s Just a Guidebook”
You’ll occasionally hear someone say, “Isn’t Touchstay just a digital guidebook?” And yes. That’s exactly what it is. But in the same way that a well-designed home is “just a house”. The value isn’t in the category. It’s in the execution.
A thoughtfully built Touchstay guidebook becomes:
Your silent co-host
Your guest confidence builder
Your message-reduction system
Your brand extension
And that’s why hosts who use it well rarely go back.
How Touchstay Fits Into the Bigger azulomo Picture
Inside The Slow Living Hosting Masterclass™, we talk a lot about systems, but not in the usual way. Not dashboards for the sake of dashboards. Not tools piled on top of tools.
We focus on creating hosting systems that:
Protect your energy, so hosting doesn’t quietly exhaust you
Improve guest experience, without constant intervention
Scale calmly, whether you host one home or several
Support revenue, without pressure, upselling fatigue, or overwhelm
Touchstay sits very naturally within that framework. It isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing something once, properly, and letting that effort work for you over time. You design your guest guidance intentionally. You clarify the moments that usually cause confusion. You reduce the need for repeated explanations. And then you step back.
This is exactly the kind of operational calm we teach in the masterclass ~ where thoughtful setup replaces constant reaction, and clarity becomes part of the experience itself.
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Digital Guidebooks as a Form of Quiet Freedom
There’s a misconception that guidebooks are about control. Rules. Instructions. Managing behaviour. In reality, the best digital guidebooks do the opposite. They create freedom.
Freedom for guests to:
Explore confidently
Navigate the space without hesitation
Feel looked after without feeling monitored
Freedom for hosts to:
Stop repeating themselves
Be present without being constantly available
Trust that the basics are covered
Freedom for stays to:
Unfold with ease
Feel calm and intentional
Flow without unnecessary interruptions
Touchstay understands this balance better than most. It doesn’t try to impress with noise or complexity. It doesn’t push itself into the foreground. It simply works, quietly and reliably, in the background of a well-designed stay.
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Final Thoughts
Great hospitality rarely announces itself. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t rush. It doesn’t over-explain.
It anticipates. It guides. It supports. Touchstay is one of those rare hospitality tools that understands this instinctively. It carries your voice, your care, and your clarity into the guest experience, without asking you to be everywhere at once.
And honestly? That’s exactly how the best hospitality always feels.
