Whether your Airbnb property is big or small, keeping it in top shape between guests is essential for running a successful vacation rental business. That means you, as a host, have a list of cleaning and maintenance tasks that must be completed efficiently and effectively after each stay before the next guests check in.
Quick and thorough vacation rental turnover cleaning is crucial to ensuring a positive guest experience, maintaining excellent reviews, attracting repeat bookings, and maximizing your revenue. So, in this blog post, we’ll share best practices to help you navigate Airbnb turnover cleaning as thoroughly and efficiently as possible and maintain high standards.
Vacation Rental Turnover Cleaning: How It Differs from Regular Cleaning
The turnover cleaning process begins when guests check out of a vacation rental property and is done within the limited time between checkout and check-in, which can be challenging. It also involves more tasks than regular house cleaning and requires more attention to detail to ensure the rental space is spotless and inviting.
The primary goal of vacation rental turnover cleaning is to prepare your property for the next guests and ensure they can have a pleasant stay. So, in addition to general cleaning tasks like dusting, vacuuming, mopping, wiping surfaces, and cleaning bathrooms and kitchens, you need to ensure that your property is sanitized and hazard-free.
When guests arrive at a vacation rental property, they expect it to be clean, well-maintained, and fully stocked with amenities. So, the turnover cleaning process also involves changing bed linens, restocking toiletries, and kitchen essentials, replacing towels, and checking that appliances are in working order. This way, you can ensure the next guests have everything they need for a comfortable stay.
Adhering to high standards will allow you to meet guests’ expectations and make them happy with their stay. Then, they will be more likely to give your excellent reviews, return next time, and recommend your property to their friends and family. It can help you get more bookings and grow a successful STR business.
Pro tip: You can scale faster if you automate repetitive daily tasks and improve operational efficiency using vacation rental software like Hospitable.
Your entire STR business in one convenient platform
Start today with a 14-day free trial.
Airbnb Turnover Cleaning: Best Practices
Airbnb turnover cleaning can be a challenging process, especially during peak seasons. With the limited time between checkout and check-in, you must ensure that the turnover cleaning process is efficient to prepare your property for the next guest. Here is what you can do to streamline your pre-arrival routine without compromising cleanliness or quality.
Create a detailed vacation rental turnover cleaning checklist
Whether you want to handle cleaning yourself or outsource it to professionals, it’s important to create a comprehensive checklist outlining all the tasks needed in each space, including outdoor areas. Then, it will be easier to meet guests’ standards of cleanliness and make the cleaning process more efficient.
Organize your cleaning checklist by room and include specific tasks for each area, such as vacuuming, mopping, dusting, sanitizing surfaces, and checking for damages. With a structured short-term rental cleaning checklist, ensuring nothing gets overlooked is much easier. It also helps maintain consistency from one Airbnb turnover cleaning to the next.
Short-Term Rental Cleaning Checklist
Stock up on supplies
If you want to succeed in your cleaning routine, ensure you have the necessary supply of cleaning products and equipment to get the job done. Create a cleaning caddy stocked with all the essentials to help avoid interruptions during the cleaning process.
Stock essential cleaning supplies like a multipurpose cleaner, a glass cleaner, microfiber cloths, disinfectant wipes, sponges, gloves, trash bags, paper towels, a powerful vacuum cleaner, and a mop. Consider using eco-friendly cleaning products that are better for the environment and are safer for your guests.
Hire a professional cleaning service
When it comes to turnover cleaning, going a DIY route only makes sense if you manage one or two listings, live locally, and can afford to spend your time to deep-clean your STR property at least once a week.
If you have a large property or manage multiple vacation rentals, the best solution for your turnover cleanings is to hire professional cleaners trained to do this job quickly and effectively. Professional vacation rental cleaners can handle all the aspects of preparing your rental property for the next guest and maintain the cleanliness standards, saving you time and effort.
Pro tip: Managing your cleaning team using vacation rental software like Hospitable will be easier. You just need to set rules, and our system will assign tasks to your team members automatically based on booking information.
Take your team management to the next level
Use vacation rental cleaning apps
Paying for professional cleaning services is worth it, as your Airbnb guests will enjoy a spotless home or apartment on arrival. Besides, some apps can help you quickly find experienced cleaning staff for your vacation rental property and easily track and manage the cleaning process.
Here are four vacation rental cleaning apps that have integrations with Hospitable. These software tools can help you find reliable local cleaners for your STR property and assign different tasks to specific providers. You’ll be able to track the progress of each cleaning job and pay for it. All these apps support uploading cleaning and inventory checklists and will send them to your contractors.
Breezeway allows vacation rental hosts to simplify their turnovers by automatically scheduling property tasks, including cleaning, maintenance, and inspection, and managing them from one dashboard. Hospitable users can connect their accounts with Breezeway to coordinate and communicate cleaning and maintenance at their properties.
Turno gives vacation rental hosts access to their online marketplace, where you can find vacation rental cleaners in your area and manage all your turnovers in one place. All Hospitable hosts can now get their Turno subscription for free as long as their Hospitable and Turno accounts are connected via the API.
ResortCleaning makes it easy to schedule jobs for cleaners and maintenance staff and track their progress as they complete tasks. Hospitable users can connect their accounts with ResortCleaning to sync property and reservation data and automatically schedule cleanings upon checkout.
Cleanster.com allows STR hosts and property managers to instantly book top-rated cleaners for their properties or seamlessly work with their existing cleaners with the help of AI. Hospitable hosts who integrate their accounts with Cleanster.com can use this app for free. When you get a reservation via a listing connected to a Hospitable property, Cleanster will automatically schedule a cleaning after checkout.
Final Thought
A smooth and consistent vacation rental turnover cleaning process isn’t just necessary for an exceptional guest experience. It’s crucial for the success of your short-term rental property. By prioritizing efficient turnover, using technology, and investing in professional cleaning services, you can enhance guest satisfaction and secure positive reviews that can help you win more bookings.
