Holiday Let Cleaning Advice | Happy Homes Cleaning Company Blog
So you’ve decided to venture into the self-catering holiday let business. Whether you use Airbnb, Sykes, holidaycottages.com or another service provider, they all make it clear that cleanliness is an incredibly important requirement.
Failing to rise to the expectations of customers and therefore receiving low ratings for cleanliness can cause your property penalties resulting is a poorly performing investment and a long journey to regain the trust of the market.
Every extra help you can get is well worth the attention. Happy Homes Cleaning Company are passionate about providing a market leading service and our customer satisfaction team have put together a useful list to ensure that your holiday let receives 5 stars reviews consistently.
Shop the smart way and always stay covered.
Shop in bulk for toiletries and other supplies and keep them at hand. You will pay less and always have all the miscellaneous items that your guests need, in abundance. Moreover, you will be less stressed when having to clean up. The comfort of knowing you won’t need to go shopping in the middle of the session because you just found out you’re running out of toilet paper is priceless.
Go for universal cleaning products
A multi-purpose cleaning product list is all you need, especially since you are cleaning your property frequently. It’s not like you’re dealing with hardened stains that won’t go away, you are doing maintenance cleaning and don’t need to obsess over different cleaning products for wood, stainless steel, glass, etc.
A large bottle from an undiluted, good quality cleaning product that you can later dilute to create a mix suitable for your specific needs will be enough. Then, you just fill in the spray bottle and start the tour of the house. Although, make sure it’s also non-toxic, so you can use it confidently in the kitchen!
Ensure you have a thorough work sheet and make sure you add every idea that pops into your head over time such as a customer welcome pack, instructions for operating open fires, access to free wifi or a request to complete the guest feedback log. It is not untypical to triple the length of a worksheet as you discover little intricacies over time.
Tip: Leave a bookcase with varied reading material and encourage guests to swap their finished books for those left by previous guests.
Arm yourself with a well-compartmented cleaning caddy
A small but well-compartmented, portable, cleaning caddy is all you need to carry around the cleaning essentials. It will save you time and spare you from spreading the cleaning utensils all around the property, just so you can have what to pick up when you’re done. If you have more than one room/property you need to clean, even better, the caddy will follow you everywhere you need to go.
Invest in a good vacuum cleaner
Dust is everywhere and when you need to clean it with a cloth, chances are you’ll want to skip certain surfaces. Instead of doing that, use a good vacuum cleaner attachment and easily remove those hard to reach cobwebs. Miele vacuums tends to be the best option for functionality and efficiency. You will pay a little more for a Miele than a middle of the road machine but we guarantee that the savings in time, effort and repair costs will more than justify the expense.
Know when to pay for help
Airbnb is well known for trying to bring the prices as low as possible. As a host, you’re always annoyed when being notified that guests have rented properties similar to yours for a few pounds less. And so, it only makes sense that you don’t want to spend even more from your earnings just to pay someone and handle the cleaning for you.
The problem is, however, that if you don’t do it right yourself, the bad ratings will start coming and that’s the worst that can happen for your business. Our suggestion is to handle the regular cleaning sessions yourself and schedule a deep cleaning with a professional cleaning service every once in a while. That way, you’ll benefit from:
- Specialised cleaning of bathroom and kitchen
- Cleaning and dusting off all inside cabinets
- Shampooing carpets or sofas
- Wiping skirtingboards
… and many other things that you don’t normally have the time to handle yourself, at least not in between every two reservations.
One more thing, though… Are you renting out more than one property?
Renting your property in the North East is a great way to make an extra income while having a full-time job? If that’s the case, consider outsourcing your Airbnb cleaning. You’ll focus on your career while your guests will enjoy a glowing home and leave you glowing reviews.