Coaching Your Cleaning Crew: Tips for Fast and Thorough Turnover Days in Short-Term Rental Properties

Your rental has sparkling-clean walls, floors, and countertops. Everything looks so clean that guests could eat off of every surface! There’s just one glaring problem: the cleaning process took way longer than it should have. 

Vacation rental cleaning shouldn’t take more than a few hours at most. You don’t want to keep your guests waiting and risk bad reviews. If you have a regular cleaning crew, you’ll be able to tell if they are spending too long on high turnover days and should correct this moving forward. It’s easy to rack up hourly costs if your cleaners spend too long turning over the rental. 

If you have these struggles with your rental property, we have some turnover cleaning tips for you. These tips for guest turnover will ensure more efficient vacation rental cleaning so your guests can check in on time. 

What Is Turnover Cleaning? Prepping Your Rental for the Next Guests

Vacation rental turnover cleaning is all about preparing the space for the next guests. Since each set of guests is staying somewhere brand-new, the last thing they want is visible reminders of past guests. From crumbs to dirty dishes to unmade beds, it’s essential to get rid of all the evidence of past guests. 

Typically check out is 10 AM and check in is by 4 PM the same day. This leaves a mere six hours for your crew to clean all the homes that you manage, assuming all of your properties are booked, of course. So a turnover day is cleaning after one guest and preparing for the next.

Guest Safety: Avoiding Health Hazards 

The turnover process also ensures the health and safety of each guest. You never know what allergies, hazards, or seemingly innocent dangers past guests could expose future guests to. That’s why vacation rental turnover cleaning is so important and must be done thoroughly. 

Short-Term Rental Cleaning Tips

There are a few strategies your cleaning staff can use to get things done quickly and effectively. They shouldn’t take any shortcuts that sacrifice the quality and cleanliness of your rental. During the fast-paced turnover period, it’s important for cleaning crews to maximize every minute. Pass these turnover cleaning tips along to your crew to make the most out of every turnover period. 

Enforce Morning Check-Out Times

Your guests should check out by the posted time on your rental agreement. Typically check out time is 10 AM. This gives your cleaning crew plenty of time to work their magic on the property before a new guest checks in, which is normally by 4 PM. Enforce these check-out times with late check-out fees. 

Provide Specific Cleaning Instructions

As a property manager, you are responsible for creating a clean, safe space for guests. Vacation rental turnover cleaning starts with you. Make sure your cleaning crew has a succinct, specific cleaning checklist for each room in your rental. 

Go beyond general instructions such as “vacuum.” This leaves room for misinterpretation. Instead, specify which rooms need to be vacuumed and how thoroughly. You can write something like, “Vacuum all exposed carpeted areas in each bedroom.” 

Always Inspect After Cleaning is Complete

Your guests are in an unfamiliar place, and they expect to be comfortable during their entire stay. They will certainly have an eye for detail, so your cleaning staff should as well. This really boils down to finding the best short-term rental cleaning services near you. Search for a team with good references and plenty of positive reviews. Make sure they are detail-oriented, thorough, and efficient all at the same time. 

After you review and share feedback with your cleaning team, this will give clear expectations for the next clean, and will save you headaches down the road with disgruntled guests.

Why Deep Cleaning Is Essential in Short-Term Rentals

Deep cleans are a different type of cleaning and go beyond the quick surface cleans of a turnover day. They involve appliance checks, mattress checks, wall and window cleaning, window blind and curtain cleaning and much more. Most property managers require deep cleans for each of their rentals after prime seasons have ended. Deep cleans are an important step in offsetting the wear and tear for heavily booked rentals and work in conjunction with preventative maintenance checks. They are also essential to note any furniture or other accessories in the home that need to be replaced before a new booking season begins.

Open Communication and Quality Management

When you hire a short-term rental cleaning crew, the most important thing you bring to the table as the owner is open communication. You must be able to speak up for the services your rental needs. If you have a crew you’ve never used before, it’s best to send in your cleaning inspector after they are done to check their work.

As the property owner and manager, your needs may change over time. Keep your cleaning staff updated on any new information they need for successful and fast turnover. 

Provide feedback, whether positive or negative, to your crew on a regular basis. They need to know what they’ve done well and what they can improve on for the next guest turnover. 

Unlock the Secrets to Efficient Cleaning and Guest Turnover 

Use these turnover cleaning tips to ensure your guests have positive experiences checking into your rental. Make guests’ vacations special and boost your reputation by offering a thoroughly and efficiently cleaned space for every guest!