It Feels Like Summer
Summer is near and people can’t wait to go on vacation and enjoy the weather so that means you have to be prepared for some back to back booking action. We have some tips for you to have guests enjoy your rental and have your place clean before the next guest comes in.
Bedroom
It is important to have some pillow and mattress protectors to avoid stains from sweat (1 set is ok), especially in the upcoming warmer nights. The weather is getting hotter each year so you need to check if you have those items and if they are in good condition. You don’t want any yellow stains on any bed item.
Get ready to replace covers or buy them if you don’t have them.
Try buying at least two sets of sheets (minimum) to rotate them between washings, although we do recommend 3 to have 1 set being used, 1 as an extra and the 3rd one will be washing or drying since the bookings are back to back. Of course, that depends on how many bookings you plan to have.
If you have quilt or a comforter in your bed we recommend replacing it with a duvet and a duvet cover because it will be easier and faster to clean and a comforter can’t be cleaned as fast because of the size, that way your cleaning team can wash it each time the rental is being cleaned between bookings. Optimizing items for a faster cleaning each time, win-win right?
Restroom
With the same strategy as a bedroom, try having more sets than you need, in this case an extra set of towels, so you can follow the rule of at least 2 sets per person. If the towels you have look damaged, old, stained, go ahead and buy new ones because an old towel does not look good for a guest.
We suggest 3 sets of towels for the same reason as the sheets, to have one being used, one extra and one cleaning/drying between bookings. Plus having an extra set of towels comes in handy in case of a small accident or for those guests that just like to use a lot of towels.
Speaking of towels, you can ditch the thick ones or the very long towels, just having the light towels, like the Utopia brand, is enough because they are faster to dry than the other ones, and in summer, with the booking craze, every minute counts!
One item that gets forgotten most of the time is the bathroom mat. Bathrooms that have 1 bathroom mat but 3 people are showering in a day, it gets wet fast! And no guest likes to check-in and have a wet bath mat, try having an extra one if possible.
In General
If your budget allows it. Having a pro wax/buffer and deep clean the floors and/or having the carpets cleaned is a good idea before the season starts. Your vacation rental will look even better for your guests and cleaning after a check-out will maintain the floors and carpets looking like new. Plus for the people who like to walk barefoot in summer time and not feel dirt or something sticky is a huge plus.
It would be a good time to also clean all the sofas or upholstery in your vacation rental, if it’s possible, a professional cleaner would be best but if you don’t have the budget just making sure the sofa looks clean with a nice vacuuming is good.
Time to check the supplies. Make sure you have full stock of items like paper towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, soap, dish soap, etc. With back to back bookings it’s difficult to do restocking and clean the rental before the next guest arrives.
If you have a patio with a grill, make sure the propane tank is full or at least not empty and also an extra one won’t hurt because people like to enjoy the outdoors and grill many times a day, especially big families.
Kitchen
If your vacation rental can host 8 people, you must have 8 sets of plates, glasses, forks, etc., but since accidents happen and a plate can break, we recommend having at least 2 spare items of plates, bowls and anything else that can be broken. A safe bet in case something goes wrong.
Same goes for the extra set of kitchen towels, some guests do their dishes or sometimes they clean a spill with the towels, having extra ones is a nice touch.
Laundry
For the laundry room we recommend checking that your washer and dryer are functioning properly. If your cleaning team does the washing/drying in your rental, it’s best to check if they are drying correctly or washing completely.
As a tip, buying wool dryer balls helps in drying faster, we do recommend them.
For your laundry supplies, you want to have stain removers (Oxyclean, Zout, Tide, Shout) and bleach for your white towels.
These tips will help you be prepared for the upcoming high season of bookings (hopefully!), if you’re having trouble getting bookings, we have tips here. If you need help with cleaning your rentals, contact us so we can help.