This article is courtesy of MaidThis Cleaning. MaidThis is a California-based cleaning service specializing in vacation rental cleaning and currently servicing greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Bay Area. Nationwide vacation rental cleaning franchise opportunities now available at MaidThis Franchise.
Becoming a vacation rental host on a site like Airbnb is a great way to supplement your income and connect with travelers from around the globe.
However, vacation rental hosts are held to very high standards of service and quality. This pressure can be felt from their guests and the companies they use to rent out their properties.
According to Airbnb, cleanliness is one of the major standards hosts are required to meet. Also, hosts who consistently receive low cleanliness scores may be subject to penalties.
But meticulously changing linens, wiping counters, scrubbing bathroom tiles, and sweeping floors between every guest booking can be both mentally and physically draining.
Not to mention, keeping a clean and tidy rental property is only ONE part of your duties as a host.
Fortunately, there are several ways to automate your Airbnb cleaning. This will effectively take some of the load off your shoulders.
After all…wouldn’t it be nice to be able to sit back and relax while someone else takes care of tidying up your vacation rental property between bookings?
Here are 5 easy ways to automate your Airbnb cleaning.
1. Hire a professional Airbnb cleaning company between guest bookings
Guests on Airbnb will hold hosts to the same high standards of cleanliness as full-service hotels. They don’t want to trade down.
Meeting these rigorous hospitality standards can be incredibly difficult because you don’t have access to the same full-time housekeeping crews that hotels do.
However, hosts can bring in a professional Airbnb cleaning company to scrub their rental properties from top to bottom between guest bookings.
Essentially they will be taking care of the ENTIRE turnover cleaning process…they are your cleaning army!
Your Airbnb cleaning crew should take care of a number of services, including:
- Making the beds.
- Cleaning and putting away the dishes.
- Sweeping and mopping floors.
- Vacuuming carpets and rugs.
- Cleaning toilets, bathtubs, and showers.
- Taking out the trash.
- Wiping countertops, door handles, and light switches.
- Checking for damages and reporting low inventory.
These professional Airbnb cleaning services will ensure your guests feel comfortable while renting out your space without requiring you to lift a finger.
2. Schedule periodic DEEP cleanings.
Although cleaning your vacation rental between guest check-outs will keep your property looking fresh and tidy most of the time, it’s important to schedule periodic deep cleanings of your unit, too.
This type of deep cleaning isn’t required all the time but is necessary several times per year.
You’ve heard of spring cleaning right? Same things, but do these deep cleans at least twice per year.
When hiring a short-term rental cleaning company, ask about their ability to handle more in-depth cleanings in addition to their basic cleaning services. If they can’t do it, then you will have to!
It’s best to have the same company do both regular and deep cleans because the crew will already be familiar with your property and any unique requirements you may have.
Deep cleaning services that you should think about including:
- Wiping baseboards.
- Cleaning inside & under the oven and fridge.
- Shampooing carpets.
- Cleaning inside any cabinets.
- Any specialized cleaning of your bathrooms or appliances.
- Cleaning closets corners.
3. Keep tabs on toiletries and supplies.
Keeping your rental unit adequately stocked with toiletries and other supplies is an important part of ensuring guest satisfaction (and in turn, ensuring positive reviews and ratings).
It’s easy to slip up and forget to replace supplies like paper towels and toilet paper, and you can bet your guests will certainly take notice!
A guest without toilet paper is NOT going to be happy.
It’s worth hiring a vacation rental cleaning company who will take the time to do a quick inspection of all your property’s supplies.
After they have taken inventory, they can notify you of anything that needs to be replenished before the next guest checks in.
Automating this simple (yet crucial!) step allows you to be proactive about ensuring your guests’ satisfaction, all without requiring you to add another step to your to-do list.
4. Get notified of any damages.
Unfortunately, dealing with damages is something that many hosts have to deal with from time to time…it’s just part of the job.
It’s never fun to have to inspect for and correct damages, but an even bigger problem is failing to notice them in the first place!
If you miss the damage during turnover you two risks:
- Allowing the damage to spread or become worse, or
- Receiving negative reviews from future guests who were inconvenienced by the damage.
Some cleaning crews may be able to look out for and notify you of any damages, helping you to achieve peace of mind by knowing that potential damages won’t go unnoticed.
Better yet, some companies will even photograph damages for you, ensuring that you have adequate documentation for reimbursement when making a claim.
Airbnb Pro Tip: I highly suggest you make sure your cleaners snap pictures between EVERY guest. A walk through video that highlights all the rooms is great as well. You want this evidence because you/your cleaner may not notice the damage right away, or maybe a claim is made that you didn’t expect. It’s better to have this evidence rather than WISH you had it!
5. Schedule cleanings and submit payments instantly online.
As an Airbnb host, you’ve got enough on your plate with managing guest bookings and providing a positive guest experience.
Stopping by another store or picking up the phone every time you need to schedule a cleaning can eat up a lot of the time you could be spending on your guests.
Free up more of your valuable time by opting for an Airbnb cleaning company who allows you to schedule all of your upcoming turnover cleanings, send messages and share notes, re-schedule cleanings, and submit payments with just a few clicks in an online platform.
There are a number of ways for you to save time and avoid headaches when it comes to managing your Airbnb…and automating your cleaning is one of them.
By doing some research and finding the RIGHT company for your Airbnb turnovers and cleanings, you’re surely going to have a lot fewer headaches.
With a quick Yelp or Google search in your area, you can easily find a professional Airbnb cleaning service. If you’re in California, check out MaidThis!.
This article is courtesy of MaidThis Cleaning. MaidThis is a California-based cleaning service specializing in vacation rental cleaning and currently servicing greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Bay Area. Nationwide vacation rental cleaning franchise opportunities now available at MaidThis Franchise.
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How do I become an air b and b cleaner myself???? Seeking properties in the Bristol area regular weekly daily
Kyle, Airbnb hosts are ALWAYS looking for reliable local cleaners. I’d start with joining local host meetups or Facebook groups and then pitch your service offering there. Even if someone has a primary cleaner, you can pitch yourself as a reliable backup. But be sure to set up a calendar that all your clients can access that is updated so they can easily see your availability and won’t risk double booking you with someone else.
Can you give me a ballpark idea of how much is usually charged for cleaning? Thanks
It’s very market, listing type, and stay duration specific. 1-bed listings in downtown LA for a 2 night stay will charge something very different from 3-bed cabins in Lake Tahoe for a 7-night stay. Best way to start determining how much you should charge for cleaning is to look at what the current similar listings in your market are charging.
Can you tell me where to find current similar listings in my market area.
You can search on Airbnb directly–just filter by property type, # of rooms, beds, and other amenities for your market. That’s the easiest way. To get a full picture, you’d need to get a market report from data providers like AirDNA.
The average cleaning fee is $60 per booking. With larger listings and hosts who hire a part-time/full-time cleaner, the average cleaning fee is $100 per booking. Hope this helps you in some way.
I own my own cleaning business and I am trying to see how to go about listing my services for local Airbnb host here in my home town. How can I reach out to these people?
Try Turnoverbnb.com to looking for clients in you’re area.
I am in Northeast Philadelphia in the Somerton area. I am looking for a turnover service.
How can I become a air b and b cleaner? I have my own cleaning service in Tulsa Oklahoma.
I have my own cleaning business in the Maryland and DC area, how can I go about getting properties in this area for AIRBNB
Thank you. The above tips definitely makes it easy to manage the property. However, Can you provide tell me more how we can enrich the guest experience with us to get more reviews?
Thank you for this article. I almost always do a deep cleaning between guests. It would be grand to find a trusted Airbnb cleaning service and cohost to manage the property while I’m on vacation.
Where are you located?
Pls help me, how will i increase our sales or srevices, I have a cleaning company but no prospect
I do my own cleaning and speaking of automation, I suggest investing in a Roomba vacuum. Seriously cuts down on time.
This article was spot on! We recently started a house cleaning service. You hit on some key points that are essential for vacation rental owners to understand. Having a reliable cleaning service that can get the job done time and time again is a viable resource for a business owner in the house rental niche.
I relied on only good comments unfortunately. Our host was nice and let’s us know she was available. And only 3 minutes away. We didn’t arrive until 8 pm. So we really just dropped ours bags and where in bed. The next morning I found the house Very dirty 😞. I’m talking grease on on the stove nasty microwave and nasty kitchen drain. I cleaned home for 5 years myself, this bothered me. I left it cleaner for her.
I will be staying in hotels from now now.
Yeah that totally makes sense. One bad experience and you give up entirely on staying in Airbnb’s.
I own my own cleaning business and I am trying to see how to go about listing my services for local Airbnb host here in my home town. How can I reach out to these people?
Whatever you do, do NOT spam hosts through Airbnb. Try to find local meetup and FB groups to join and then broadcast your services there.
I beg to differ on this.. don’t spam but sell yourself.. I have had my cleaning biz for 16 years and at the beginning got a contract running a cottage resort for 5 years.. this was before Airbnb.. vrbo etc.. a tasteful email is just fine
try to find some local groups of hosts on Facebook to offer your services. you can also ask in any local group of expats, they might be interested. good luck!
As a host, I eventually stopped because with a 11 am checkout, and 3 pm check-in, there were times where I only had an hour or two to come home from my day job (thankfully I’m a freelancer), swap out sheets and linens, give the bathroom and kitchen a quick once-over, then vacuum as needed. As the article said, that takes a toll when you’re trying to please some guests who want Four Seasons luxury on a Motel 6 budget.
Unfortunately, with some guests grading harsher than others, I got burned out doing everything myself. So, if I could find a reasonable and reliable cleaning crew to take care of everything, I’ll gladly go back to hosting.
I would definitely check out turnoverbnb.com. This is what they specialize in. I’m not sure how far their reach is as of yet, but I have been doing some research and am definitely interested in implementing it. Also, for people who own cleaning companies, they should definitely look into getting on the platform to be able to connect with hosts who are looking for help with their vacation rentals
Those are great advice! especially to plan some deep cleans once in a while!
Thank you for sharing deep insights. Your tips and links are really helpful in a good way.
How do I hire Airbnb cleaning service for my cottage in Pointe au Baril in Ontario?
I am looking for turnover services for my two listings in Somerton, Philadelphia (Northeast). I have had a tough time finding someone. I went to turnover.com and nothing. I have two bedrooms and a shared bath both separate listings. They are constantly booked but the Airbnb management and or cleaning services I have reached out only want entire property listings.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I would like to clean holiday let’s air BnB chalets. Any tips on how I can get to do this? I live in Folkestone. Thanks