How to Get Cleaning and Inspections Right at Your Airbnb
Once the guest has checked out (hopefully at the designated time!) it’s time for your cleaners to clean the property and to check for any issues. During the clean it’s important that the cleaners follow any checklists to ensure that they are conducting a quality clean every time. As cleaners become familiar with the property they may try to stop using checklists, but it’s important to make sure they complete them for every clean.
As many owners do not live in close proximity to their holiday rentals you can encourage your guests to be your quality control team. You may wish to have a statement in your Guest Guidebook and also at your property stating:
‘We aim for the highest standards of cleanliness and customer service. If anything isn’t to your satisfaction or any items are missing (no matter how small) please contact us on <Mobile #> or <email address> as soon as you can after check-in.’
As an owner there are few things more frustrating than receiving a guest complaint after the guest has checked out. Encourage them to speak up so that you can rectify any issues immediately.
Stocking Up
It’s also really important to ensure that your guests have access to all of the consumable items advertised, including items that your cleaners will replenish at each clean, such as toilet paper, hand soap, dishwasher powder, cleaning cloths, etc. Whilst these things might seem trivial, imagine a guest arriving late at night after a long drive and finding no toilet paper at your property, or stacking the dishwasher only to find that they’ll have to drive to the supermarket 15 minutes away to buy dishwasher tablets.
An owner says …
We often found that when we stayed as guests in our own properties we would turn up to find the house beyond sparkling as the cleaners knew that we were staying! Now, to check on the quality of our cleaners we regularly create bookings under a pseudonym so that our cleaners do not know that we are checking in. This allows us to monitor the standard that guests receive rather than the standard that our cleaners provide us.
Ensure that your cleaners clean and inspect the property on the day of check-out so that you are not losing revenue by having blocks in your calendar.
If any issues are found the cleaners should always take photos and supply these to you as evidence that you can show the guest straight away. It is worth also advising guests to check the property on arrival and take photos of any damage using a time stamped phone app.
It is a myth that guests will frequently cause damage to your property. The fact is that significant guest damage is rare.
One way to encourage good behaviour is by having a set of terms and conditions (rental agreement) that the guest signs. This encourages them to look after the property.
