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Since we opened our Airbnb 15 months ago, I’ve been doing all the cleaning myself, which can be 6-10 cleans a month. I’d say 75% are same day turnovers. Our home is 2 bedrooms/1 bath.
Our plan was that I would clean for the first year and then we’d hire a cleaner to takeover. This is proving to be more challenging than I thought for reasons that probably belong in a different thread.
My question for those who clean their own off-site property:
do you have a back-up cleaner if you want to travel or do you just block your calendar?
what is your plan if you have an emergency and you can’t clean on a particular day?
We have been doing our own cleaning for five years. 400+ guests. We start by involving the guest in the process. We have checkout instructions that ask a guest to pull off the sheets, gather towels and put them in the washing machine. A washing pod is provide for them to start the washing. We have had only 2 guests that didn’t do anything. We have had the opposite where a few times the blankets, and placemats ended up in the wash.
We feel this is in part because we meet each guest when they checkin. We have done this by Zoom for a few guests. We do not charge a cleaning fee but never mention that when we meet them. We do block off quite a few days in a year. We LOVE our returning guests. We don’t need to meet them and we can let them know that if the cabin is blocked they should contact us. We can unblock the schedule for them. We have about 10-15% returning guests.
Other tools. We have a good robot vacuum that we can start remotely. The cabin is laid out in a way to help the robot clean. We always have duplicates of sheets and towels in case time is short. We’re experts at fast swap and clean at home.
Our methods definitely won’t work for everybody. We are remote workers and semi-retired. We enjoy interacting with our guests. We have a pre planned starting script for when we meet folks.
I used to have a cleaner but after the pandemic I found it hard to have a consistent cleaner. In my area, the cleaners were charging more than what I could charge and would not work with my check in and check out times.
It works out much better just cleaning the place to my specifications and not having to check other people’s work.
When I travel I block the dates but this for me is two-fold. I have a pet sitter who stays in my airbnb but also, I used to have a co-host and she is my backup if there is an emergency but it just seemed easier to block the dates. I usually plan my travel during my slow season so I’m not really losing too much money.
Our two apartments are smaller - both are one bedroom. Most stays are under four days but as we have two places, there are turnovers on most days. (The most work is when I have two same-day turnovers on the same morning).
I have a backup but I would refer to him as a ‘preparation person’. Getting our apartments ready is so much more than cleaning.
I never block the calendar and I’ve never had an emergency that prevented the flow of the business.
After time, you’ll find that you get a lot more organised when it comes to planning your time around meet-and-greet, house tours and rental prep. Be very efficient with your time and plan ahead, preparing for all eventualities.
I don’t have an off-site property, I’m a homeshare host and do my own cleaning.
I think host-cleaning is definitely something that hosts can burn out on, which is why I have a three night minimum.
If you can find a reliable and thorough cleaner, I’d say by all means go for it. You’d want to test them out for awhile before leaving them to clean if you were out of town or incapacitated,or just didn’t feel like cleaning yourself.
Everyone is different, but I use one night prep time block between bookings, as I would hate to have to rush in to do same day turnovers. (Same day turnovers also means there can be issues if guests lollygag about and don’t check out on time).
I found it interesting that when Covid cleaning protocols were in place, many hosts started blocking one night between bookings, and then decided to stick with that even when such intensive cleaning was no longer required, asthey realized how much less stressful it was.
Of course those decisions are influenced by how much hosts rely on the income or how they weigh the value of less stress against $.
I have one woman to help me clean. I used to do it myself but I have MS and sometimes the cleaning leaves me exhausted. I work with her to make sure it is all done to the best standards. She is excellent, but I am so particular and always check the work - make sure the toilet lids are down and the base of the toilet cleaned, all beds and towels are folded and turned down in a certain way. Once in a while I find paper towel lint in the tubs. This is why I do an inspection before guests arrive. The STR is in another state, it is our retirement home in south Texas. If we know that getting to the house will be impossible certain times of the year, we just block those dates. Hope this helps.
Thanks all! Even with everyone’s situation being a little different, it helps to hear your process. And to know that I’m not alone in how particular I am in how it’s done. And yes, it’s so much more than just cleaning.
I’m also a little concerned that I’ve painted myself into a corner with how particular I am about certain things and the little extras. But I believe it’s all those things that make the stay comfortable and stand out.
My husband has been hopeful that we could get a cleaner that will only clean some of the time and then also be backup for vacations or emergencies. But not only have the quotes been more than I can cover financially, no-one wants to only do some of the cleans. It’s all or nothing.
I guess in the event of a true emergency (like traveling out of state for an ailing parent or being involved in an accident), I could always cancel the reservation(s) and deal with the ramifications afterwards…
Not sure who you’ve gotten quotes from, I assume professional cleaners?
If you have fairly close neighbors where you live, another option for finding an “as needed” cleaner might be a neighbor. Maybe a retired person or someone who works from home. They might be happy to have some extra income and be flexible as to just filling in if you need help, and also be more reasonable in terms of price.
My husband and I clean our rental and if we have travel plans, we block the calendar. We don’t do same day turns. We block two days between reservations so if one of us is sick, then the one person cleaning has extra time to clean.
