Nowadays, guests expect their short-term rental properties to be squeaky clean. They want to feel extra safe, and they’re much more likely to leave a good review if their rented spaces are spotless.
Plus, as a host you want to make sure they have the best possible experience, right?
That’s why it’s essential to invest the time, energy and money into keeping your properties as clean as can be. Here are our Airbnb host cleaning tips for ensuring your properties are kept spick and span – and to help you enhance the guest experience, time after time.
- Create a vacation rental house cleaning checklist
A checkbox maintenance and rental house cleaning list will help you do a top-notch job, and make the process easier. Your list should include:
- Disinfecting and sanitizing all high-touch surfaces, like doorknobs, light switches, appliances (refrigerator, oven, toaster), electronic devices, and any remote controls and tabletops.
- Prioritizing high-traffic areas like bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens.
- Vacuuming floors and soft furniture.
- Laundering sheets, towels, and other linens.
- Dusting, including in hard-to-reach areas like ceiling corners and windowsills.
- Getting rid of hair, especially in beds, plug holes and sinks.
- Checking that safety equipment, like smoke alarms, are working.
Pro tip: Use each guest turnover to ensure cleaning supplies are topped up.
- Tidy, tidy, tidy
It isn’t just about fresh towels and sparkling bathroom taps. The space each new guest steps into needs to be completely free of the previous guests – and their stuff. During each turnover, check for any possessions that have been left behind, including under the bed and in drawers. And check the refrigerator – there’s nothing worse as a new guest than discovering a half-used bottle of milk.
Top tip: Avoid having too many decorations and personal items in your property – a minimal space can be more welcoming to guests, plus it will be easier to clean.
- Be mindful of outdoor areas
If guests are lucky enough to have access to a balcony, patio, or garden, make sure this area is as clean as the interior. Sweep up old leaves, stay on top of weeds, and ensure any outdoor furniture is in good condition. Even if guests don’t end up using the area, it will still make a good (or bad) impression.
- Deep cleaning is your friend
Alongside your regular Airbnb cleaning list, deep cleaning and other maintenance jobs are essential for keeping your property looking (and feeling) its best. Consider tasks like:
- Changing air filters
- Cleaning out drains and gutters
- Shampooing carpets
- Defrosting the freezer
- Cleaning doors, windows, and lights
Top tip: Be sure to schedule deep cleaning and maintenance jobs on your house cleaning checklist with plenty of time between guests.
- Streamline your cleaning operations
We get it. Timings can be tight between stays, and cleaning jobs can feel overwhelming. If you use short-term rental cleaners for Airbnb hosts, make sure each person is assigned a specific task, especially during high season. Having dedicated team members for, say, bathrooms and kitchens, and others for beds and linens, will mean each property is serviced quicker and more effectively.
Top tip: If you work by yourself, consider the jobs – like laundry and dishwashing – that you can get underway while you do other things.
- Use a cleaning management tool
Digitizing your short-term rental cleaning tasks can make your life a whole lot easier. Guesty integrations like Properly enable you to automatically schedule your vacation rentals’ list of cleaning jobs and related tasks in one place – and send out reminders to you and your team to help you stay on top of each turnover. These time-saving features can be used to:
- Create team calendars – everyone can access them at once.
- Create step-by-step instructions so you don’t miss any details.
- Create internal records and reports, allowing you to verify with guests that you stick to strict cleaning schedules.
- Offer mid-stay cleaning as an additional service
Some guests like a property to be cleaned halfway through their stay. If they request this, remember to charge an additional fee. Responding to specific guest requirements is a great way to make them feel heard and elevate the overall experience – hopefully boosting the review they write at the end.
Support your super clean business with Guesty
As a host, taking on a new cleaning and maintenance protocol can seem daunting. But with Guesty by your side, you can centralize your cleaning operations and keep everything else you need in one place. Use our platform to manage your listings on multiple travel booking sites including Airbnb and Booking.com, achieving more visibility and more bookings without more work or more team members required.