Question to hosts: It’s Friday and your guests have just checked out of your rental. The next guests aren’t arriving until check in time on Sunday. When do you get the space ready for the guest?

Do you do it on Friday afternoon and get the job out of the way? Is Saturday better?

For many reasons, it would be much better for your guests, and therefore for you as a host, to prepare the rental on Sunday, finishing about an hour before the guests arrive. Why on earth would that be?

  • FRESHER ATMOSPHERE – rooms, suites, apartments (and of course, the yurts, treehouses, castles and cottages that you can find at sites such as Airbnb) can soon lose their freshness and smell musty and unloved. Yes, even within a day or two., depending on where you’re located. I imagine that you air the area well when you’re in there preparing the space. Let your guests enjoy that freshness too
  • FRESH-SMELLING TOWELS AND BEDDING – I like to add the bedding and the towels to the guest apartment fresh from the outdoor washing line (in good weather) or direct from the drier (if it’s a rainy day). That’s when fabrics smell their very best.
  • LONGER-LASTING FLOWERS/SNACKS –  your rental doesn’t have to be a luxury one to enjoy the benefits of fresh foliage (cut from your garden if you have a budget listing) and arrival snacks for your guests (a small bowl of apples on the table costs very little but seems so thoughtful). Add these to your rental too early and they freshness will have waned by the time your guests arrive
  • CLEAN-SMELLING BATHROOM – even if you prefer to use perfume-free cleaning products that don’t contain harsh chemicals (I prefer them) then it might be that you use something a bit tougher in the bathroom for the sake of hygiene and the health of your guests. And that’s a good thing for your guests to smell when they first enter the rental.  The smell dissipates quickly though so bathroom cleaning needs to be done shortly before the guest arrives
  • A DUST_FREE ZONE – many hosts complain (as do many householders) that dust can settle on surfaces in next to no time. The rental will need a thorough dusting very shortly before the guest checks in. If you’re dusting, bear in mind that that very action causes some of the dust to fly up into the air – only to settle back onto your surfaces a short while later.
  • SINKS AND DRAINS – these can easily become a bit pongy. I suspect that it’s due to the pool of water that’s trapped in the U bend? I’m not sure but nevertheless, they can harbour lingering smells which become evident after a couple of days of not being used

Every rental is different and your problems regarding freshness may be different and some of the examples above may not be relevant – but perhaps you have issues that are particular to your own premises.

Of course, there are many cleaning tasks that you can start on the Friday afternoon (to get back to our example above) and some are strongly recommended but nevertheless, the main bulk of the preparation of your rental should, without doubt, be done on the day your guests arrive.

ARTICLE BY:

Jackie

Jackie

JJ is originally from the UK and has lived in South Florida since 1994. She is the founder and editor of JAQUO Magazine. You can connect with her using the social media icons below.

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