I quite enjoy preparing my Airbnb for the next guests, partly because I don’t mind cleaning or ironing. I can appreciate this isn’t the same for every host and that most hosts (including myself) don’t have the time to spend cleaning all day. Read below compiled tips for how to speed up your Airbnb turnover time in between bookings.
Most small time hosts don’t hire cleaners or use a management company so steaming through cleaning and preparation for your next guest as quickly as possible should be your main aim. Speeding up this turnover time will increase your profitability and keep the guests (and money!) rolling in.
Since I’ve been hosting, I’ve found ways to cut corners without compromising on cleanliness . This is particularly useful if you have a busy lifestyle outside of hosting on Airbnb if you accept back-to-back bookings – or if it’s a case of both!
Have a second set of linens & towels ready.
In my first few months of hosting, I used a single set of bed linen and towels. How the hell I did it when I look back now, I don’t know but there were many late night finishes when the flat would be cleaned and finished 11:45pm ready for a guest checking in the next day while I was at work.
I knew early on that I couldn’t keep it up and once I realised that Airbnb was going to be quite a lucrative and viable part time income for me, I invested in a second set of bed linen and towels.
This has reduced my turnover time dramatically. Now I no longer have to wash, dry and iron a full set of laundry right away for the next guest. I have a second set on hand (that I can quickly re-iron any large creases out of should I need to from the time it has been folded and stored) which I can then swap over in the property right away.
Quick cleans in-between bookings
Rather than doing complete top to bottom property cleans before each booking, making short, periodic cleans in-between bookings when you have quiet periods can help reduce the time you spend preparing a property for the next booking.
It sounds like a silly point to make but quickly dusting, wiping over skirting boards, cleaning blinds and wiping over counter tops in between bookings when you have a spare 20 minutes can really speed up your preparation time. This is particularly the case if you have a booking a few days after your last one.
By doing this, you’ll be able to focus of vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen ready for a guest. The weekly top up chores described above can be done weekly for a general cleanliness and upkeep.
Preparing cleaning products for each room before a booking.
I use a cleaning caddy which is just a plastic tub in divided sections and I divide up the cleaning products for each room into each portion. I can then quickly grab these and move them into each room as I go between each room.
Hiring a cleaner
Sounds like a no brainer but if you can afford it, hiring a cleaner – even if it’s just to cover an hour or two of cleaning can help free up more of your time to focus on the laundry or other aspects of maintaining your property.
The only big downside of a cleaner is that they may not be available for each individual booking, particularly if it’s last minute. However, you can still hire a cleaner to come weekly to carry out top up cleaning around your property which will help speed up your turnaround cleans when it comes to guest preparation the date or morning of the guests arrival.
Invest in a water spray bottle or steam-generator iron.
Believe me when I say, a stream generator iron will change your life in hospitality. These are just regular irons but with larger water tanks in the ironing unit that create more steam than an iron with a tank built in.
This will massively speed up your time when ironing laundry such as bed sheets. The price for these vary but if you can’t afford to invest in one, even purchasing a small spray water bottle can help with your ironing.
Spraying a fine mist of water over fabric will turn into steam once heated by the iron plate and in turn will smooth out creases under a high heat instantly.
You can also get ‘crease-releaser’ sprays to use when ironing which are more than worth the money.
Save pre-written guest messages and responses.
We as hosts spend far to long answering the same questions guests ask over and over again, whether that’s pre-booking or during a guests stay. Most of the time we’ve covered every answer in a guest manual which guests can often miss.
Airbnb allows you to save pre-written messages to send guests quick responses so it’s useful to spend a quick 5 minutes preparing ready to fire responses which will save you time in the long run.
As a new host, you’ll find that over a very short amount of time, you’ll fall into your own routine when it comes to turnaround time that will work for you. It’s always useful to assess whether anything you’re currently doing can be shortened to make the cleaning and preparing process even quicker. By doing so, you’ll spend less time working which means effectively, you’ll be being paid more per hour and save yourself some time in the process.
Removing clutter or extra furniture.
Sometimes we get used to the furniture or ornaments we obtain or inherit over the years. Moving furniture around or out of a room and into storage can make a huge difference.
Clutter or extra side units or tables are extra surfaces to clean. Removing these or cutting down on the amount of decoration means you can save time cleaning. Removing extra pieces of unnecessary furniture means you can clean more effectively and efficiently.
Sending polite checkout reminders
Nothing sets your turnover time back more than guests that don’t leave in a timely manner. It can be awkward to rush guests out of your property if they overstay, but sending a quick and automated email 45 minutes before their checkout time is just a polite way to remind the guest of the checkout time whilst thanking them for visiting. This is often enough notice for them to pack and get ready before they leave and draws their attention to the time without coming across as too pushy.
I find this helps cuts down on the amount of time I’ve arrived at the property with guests still inside which can lead to awkward guest interactions. It also gently reminds guests of the time and acts as a nice way to bring a booking neatly to a close.