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I thought the same & now I’m thinking NO back to back rentals summer 2021. The extremely virulent & more highly contagious South African Covid variant has been found in SOuth Carolina.
Too many people are opting to not get vaccinated; or will receive the vaccine later. Vaccinations may help against the variants but I’m not sure. The common flu has over 250 variants & the flu vaccine only protects for approximately 25. If you happen to contract one of the non-covered variants, you can catch the flu.
Hosting in south west Spain has been difficult this past year or so; full lock downs with closure of all STR, perimeter confinements, crazy infection rate and so on. Fortunately, we had a decent July, an excellent August/September and this month is actually our best ever January!
Out of our two apartments, one was consistently booked ahead of the other, which is unusual. Looking forward bar one, all of our 2021 bookings are for this apartment.
After reading some comments here, I’m beginning to wonder if a review we received at the end of July may have had an influence.
A rough translation (It is in Spanish) is “By the way… the owners respect all precautions against Covid”.
Our response to a booking message also highlights the fact that the apartment will have been vacant for a minimum of twenty four hours, prior to arrival, and gives a quick run down of the precautions we take. A fair few have responded, in a positive manner, to that message.
Who know… maybe the bed just looks more comfortable!
I’m blocking 3 days after each stay. I don’t clean and have a primary cleaner and a back up cleaner. In the fall my primary cleaner had a commitment and my backup cleaner hurt her back. I had to step in and clean myself, which took me about 3x as long as it takes them. I would be very concerned about you getting sick or injured and not being able to turn over the unit within 4 hours.
I would recommend that you have a third set of linens in reserve. That will give you a bit of leeway w/ the laundry and if one set is stained or ruined you’re in less of a bind to replace them.
As a guest, I also would never stay at a home that was occupied by another guest the same day. I think the 3 day quiet period is very attractive to my guests and I only have that option w/ Airbnb, not VRBO. In August I had a VRBO booking quickly followed by an Airbnb booking ending the day previous to the VRBO booking. I contacted the 2nd guest to let them know there was only 1 full day in between stays. They were traveling w/ grandparents and opted to cancel; they did not feel safe w/ only one day in between.
I’ve been renting a 1-bedroom (+ a double sofa-bed) of 43m2 and a studio of 30m2 since mid-June 2017. I used to have four hours in between check-out (11am) and check-in (3pm). I cleaned everything inside out and I ironed all the bed linen. But I removed all the used linen and towels and washed them at home as I have a south-facing terrasse, (except for the big thick welcome rug 170cm x 70cm and the few pairs of Crocs that I always wash in the rental and hang dry on the balcony and then in the basement to finish. I don’t like to transport dirty rugs). I had to do everything really fast and non-stop to get the apartments ready by 3pm. My apartments are so small when compared to yours which is almost 150m2!! I can totally understand how stressed out you must be when you’re cleaning up your big 3-bedroom.
A year after, I decided to wash everything on the spot because, otherwise, I can’t get the laundry expenses (water and electricity) deducted from the rental revenue. That’s when I changed the check-out to 10am and the check-in to 4pm. But I let guests drop off their bags (from 10.30am onwards) in the apartments, pick-up the keys, use the toilette, have a small information session on the apartment, public transport, shopping, places to go and to eat, things to see… Then they can come back anytime they wish from 16.30pm onwards. If they have a late train, late flight or a late ferry (to Corsica or Sardaigne), they are free to store their bags in our basement. I pass them the key of the basement and they can come back any time they wish to pick their bags up. They just need to drop the basement key in my letterbox. This works for me and my guests. So far so good, no complaints.
Covid or not, winter or summer, rainy or sunny, the first thing I do when I enter the apartment is to open wide all the windows and turn off the aircon or heat.
In theory, yes, for the one bedroom which is far from my place. The studio is on the ground floor of our house, I go in to open the windows, turn on both fans switch off the heat or aircon, start the laundry and return there for cleaning up after the first cycle of the laundry. Both apartments are ventilated for at least 8 hours between 2 guests.
I don’t worry that much about aerosol transmission not because I’m masked but because both apartments have a permanent mecanical ventilation which ventilates non-stop even when the windows are closed. There is an air supply unit integrated in each window and an air extraction unit in the bathroom and the kitchen. The ventilation can’t be turned off by guests in the one-bedroom. But in the studio, guests can choose to turn it off at night as the strong extraction makes noises. They are asked to leave it on for the rest of time.
It is low season here from Novembre to March and due to the total lockdown in Novembre, the interdiction of eating in restaurants, the curfew at 6pm and the interdiction of short-term rental during the winter holidays, there are few reservations and very few same day check-ins.
I leave a minimum of 3 days between bookings. When the guest departs, I go in (with mask on) and open the windows for 24 hours.
Our Northern California cabin is 1200 sf, pet friendly, 3 levels, lots of windows and sliders, bbq, outdoor furniture, outdoor shower, laundry room, dog yard etc. Everything - and I do mean everything - is laundered. Every single kitchen item is washed (per Airbnb’s protocol - and guests consistently put away dishes or pots and pans with food or grease on them). It’s a high maintenance rental - 30 hour clean time.
I used to try to get it all done in 2 days. Tried a couple of back-to-back bookings (with house keeper assistance). Not worth the physical and mental stress (because most housekeepers I’ve tried just don’t have an eye for detail). My husband helps with the windows and outside maintenance.
The cabin rents for $150/night. Most guests bring 1-2 dogs. At this point the revenue covers utilities, taxes, insurance, and operating costs. The real profit will be made when we’ve completed all the renovations and sell it in a couple of years.
My check in and out times are the same as yours. However, my place is a one bed one bath 900sf loft. Even so, I have to hustle to get it done in 4 hours. Having said that, I have almost never had to as my place is mostly a weekend getaway type destination. I haven’t been hosting during COVID as my grown kids have been using the space as a way to get out of the city safely. I have decided that once we reopen I will be blocking off all Tuesdays and Wednesdays going forward. It has been really nice knowing it was empty and available for a personal little retreat. Plus most of the restaurants and tourist spots are closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, especially during the winter. I’m liking the idea of a couple of days between bookings.
maybe the bed just looks more comfortable!