When guests arrive at a vacation rental, they want to find clean accommodations that are well-stocked and sanitary. Otherwise, they’ll be prone to leaving negative reviews.

The best way to avoid this is to prioritize cleanliness as a top priority for your property management team. Even if you have an in-house cleaning team, it’s a good idea to prepare checklists and communicate expectations.

Cost

Whether you’re running a vacation rental business or just renting your own property for a short period of time, it’s important to keep track of the costs associated with maintaining your home. These include cleaning fees, repairs and maintenance, and other expenses such as marketing and bookings.

The price for cleaning a vacation rental can vary depending on the amount of guests you have, how much wear and tear it receives, and how long the property is available to rent. Some hosts charge a flat fee, while others add an additional fee to the price of the reservation.

If you decide to charge a cleaning fee, make sure it’s competitive with other hosts in the area. This will help ensure you’re not pricing yourself out of the market or losing potential guests due to high fees.

One of the easiest ways to get an idea of what a fair rate should be for vacation rental cleaning is to compare rates between local competitors. This way, you can be sure to charge the appropriate amount to cover all of the necessary costs.

Another option is to hire professional cleaners who specialize in vacation rental cleaning. These experts know exactly how to clean a vacation rental, so they can get the job done quickly and thoroughly. They also use better equipment and cleaners than maids and housekeepers do.

Having a cleaner does cost more than hiring someone in-house, but it can save you both time and money in the long run. It can help you keep your business running smoothly and increase your profits by attracting more guests.

If you’re looking for a reliable and reputable service, you can find many options online. For example, Airtasker is an Australian community platform that matches owners with freelancers who want to clean their properties for a certain price.

It’s also possible to hire a professional vacation rental management company that can handle everything from cleaning to reservations and account management. This can be a huge time-saver, especially if you’re working with multiple properties. They can also take care of your marketing and reservations, which means you have more time to focus on other areas of your business.

Guests’ Expectations

When guests pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to stay at your vacation rental, they expect a high standard of cleanliness. If you’re not able to meet this standard, they will be disappointed and may even cancel their booking.

Cleaning your vacation rental before a guest arrives is the best way to ensure they have an excellent experience. It also gives you a chance to make sure everything is ready for them to use, whether they’re coming to stay for a night or a few weeks.

A clean home means a positive first impression, which will lead to great reviews and future bookings. It also gives your housekeeping team the peace of mind to focus on the important aspects of your property.

If you’re running a property management business, you need to have scalable and repeatable systems in place for all your properties. One of these systems is a vacation rental cleaning checklist, which can be shared between your in-house and outsourced cleaners.

Using a digital vacation rental cleaning checklist can help you to ensure that all your cleaners are on the same page with regards to vacation rental cleanliness, even during rapid turnover periods or when you’re operating under sold-out high-season volumes. It can also make communication with your maintenance team easier.

In addition to a detailed checklist, you can also set up reminders for your housekeeping teams to deep-clean specific areas of the property during the rental period. This will help them get the most out of their cleaning time, and ensure that they leave your vacation rental looking its absolute best.

The kitchen is another key area that needs to be well-maintained during a vacation rental stay. A clean kitchen makes it easy for your guests to prepare food and enjoy the space as much as possible.

Make it simple for your guests to keep the kitchen clean by restocking all of the essentials and providing a list of items that need to be replaced. This can include appliances, countertops, towels, and anything else that’s important for the kitchen to be well-maintained and clean.

Contracts

A good vacation rental cleaning contract is a legal agreement between the cleaning company and short-term property owners. It outlines all the services that the cleaner will provide in exchange for payment and protects both parties from potential misunderstandings.

Having informal agreements can make sense for hosts who manage a few units or small vacation rentals, but these types of contracts become essential as vacation rental businesses grow and scaling becomes more difficult. They’re also a great way to establish a strong working relationship with your preferred cleaning company.

It should describe how frequently the vacation rental will be cleaned as well as what kinds of cleaning are expected from the company. This will help you determine what kind of scheduling arrangement is best for your property and ensure that your vacation rental stays looking great and guests are satisfied with the results.

The agreement should also specify any fees the cleaning company will charge you for extras, such as quick turnarounds or last-minute requests. This will ensure that you won’t be charged additional fees if your requests aren’t met in time and prevents any potential disputes.

Another important section of the contract should include how the cleaning company is expected to communicate any changes to the schedule or emergency calls that come up. This section should also outline how long they’ll take to respond to requests and how much notice they need before taking on these tasks.

Finally, the contract should detail how a dispute will be resolved, if one is ever required. It should include how long the host has to give written notice, the reasons for such a request, and what will happen to any pending payments.

If your vacation rental is being managed by a property management company, you may also want to include a clause about subcontracting the cleaning services, which can save the hosts a lot of time and money. This is especially beneficial if they only need a specific type of cleaning.

This section should detail all the essentials that a cleaning company will need to provide, including their contact information and business details. This makes it easier for them to get in touch with you if they need any information or to let you know when they’re ready to clean your rental.

Safety

As an owner, your utmost priority is to ensure your vacation rental is safe and secure for guests. This means following the proper cleaning guidelines to make sure your property is free from germs.

This is especially important now as we are in the middle of an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), which requires taking additional precautions to protect yourself and others. In addition to cleaning and inspection checklists, hosts or managers should also communicate their heightened standards of hygiene and provide guests with tips on how to stay healthy.

The Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals (VRHP) and the Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA) have issued a list of enhanced cleaning guidelines that are being implemented by their members worldwide in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. These include proper use of personal protective equipment and the correct use of cleaning agents, products and equipment.

These guidelines are available to download, in English and Spanish. They cover all aspects of proper usage of PPE, what cleaning agents, products and equipment should be used, as well as how to disinfect hard surfaces, soft surfaces and linens and beddings.

It is very important to make sure that all cleaning staff are properly trained in the proper use of these guidelines. They must have the proper training and equipment to safely clean vacation rentals and maintain a high standard of cleanliness.

They must use disposable gloves and shoe covers when cleaning, disinfecting or sanitizing the properties to avoid spreading germs. They should wash their hands frequently with soap and water and sanitize their hands using alcohol-based hand sanitizers before entering or leaving the property.

In addition to the above, the vacation rental managers should communicate with their guests about the heightened measures they are taking to clean and disinfect their properties. They can either do this through a poster, leaflet or short message.

Alternatively, they can use a rental property checklist to keep track of the details of their cleaning and maintenance processes. This will take the stress out of their daily operations and ensure that their properties are in good condition for guests to enjoy.