Housekeeping for Holiday Homes: What Owners and Airbnb Hosts Need to Know
Nothing holds greater sway over a guest’s satisfaction quite like the state of your holiday home’s housekeeping. Capable of both enhancing or jeopardising the entire guest experience, a clean home lays the foundation for every 5-star stay.
With top notch cleaning, there is often a premium price for housekeepers attached in return.
Cost is not the only conundrum which comes to mind when considering housekeeping for your holiday home. Communication, welcome packs, cleaning consumables and cleaning fees are all factors you as an owner need to think about.
As such, a large part of our Full Management Service, is dedicated to ensuring effective housekeeping, maintaining the highest cleaning standards with maximised profitability for owners – no small feat!
Tailoring Housekeeping Solutions to Your Property
When considering housekeeping for your holiday let, it’s essential to tailor your approach based on the unique characteristics of your property. Rather than adhering strictly to the notion of “you get what you pay for,” a more nuanced perspective acknowledges that different properties have different needs.
For smaller properties, where margins may be tighter, low-cost housekeeping options can be a practical choice. These properties often have lower turnover and simpler cleaning requirements, making budget-friendly solutions more suitable. However, even in these cases, reliability and consistency remain paramount. A dependable housekeeping service ensures that your guests consistently enjoy a clean and welcoming environment.
Conversely, larger properties with bigger margins may benefit from investing in a premium housekeeping service. These properties often accommodate more guests, have larger common areas, and may require more intricate cleaning tasks. Opting for a higher standard of cleaning not only enhances guest satisfaction but also safeguards your property’s reputation and long-term success.
By aligning your housekeeping strategy with the specific needs and dynamics of your property, you can optimise both cost-effectiveness and guest experience. Whether you choose a budget-friendly option for a smaller property or invest in premium services for a larger one, the key is to prioritise reliability, consistency, and the overall satisfaction of your guests.
Company V Individual
One might presume that a more sizeable company will always do a better job than a “one-man-band”. This is false. Some of the best housekeepers we work with are not huge companies, with industrial laundries and mass operations, but are instead individuals who run small family businesses. Both have their advantages, and the right decision for you and your property will be completely different to your competitor down the road.
Company
- Consistency: Regimented cleaning protocols, often lead to receiving the same-standard of clean every time.
- Reliability: Large cleaning companies rarely let you down. They have cover for staff in the event someone falls ill or has car trouble.
- Accountable: Large companies are often more accountable when it comes to reporting damages promptly or informing you of any issues.
- Equipment: Cleaning companies will sometimes have access to industrial or expensive equipment.
Individual
- Flexible: Often provides a more personalised and customised service tailored to the specific needs of your property.
- Cost Effective: Individuals offer lower rates, which is aided by the fact many are not required to be VAT registered.
- Communication: Clearer and direct communication, makes it easier to convey expectations and feedback.
- Scheduling: Individual cleaners are more likely to be able to complete a clean last-minute.
Communication
Even the most exceptional housekeeping team can’t work their magic if they’re unaware of crucial details like booking notifications or changes in key arrangements.
Here at Norfolk Holiday Properties, we’ve made a significant investment in sophisticated software that automates the communication process. This ensures that every nuance of a booking, whether it originates from our direct website or various Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), is promptly communicated with the designated housekeeping team for that specific property.
Knowing when a property will be occupied, the number of guests, and the duration of their stay is paramount for a housekeeping team to be able to do their job effectively. Without this the system breaks down, and you can quite quickly end up cleaning the property yourself late one Friday evening!
Going the extra mile
One recurring question we often receive is, “Should we provide a welcome pack?” While the answer varies from property to property, our general response is a resounding “YES!”
The age-old strategy employed by the hotel industry, featuring chocolates on pillows and towels artfully shaped like swans, speaks to the enduring power of added value. Welcome packs don’t need to be extravagant or costly, but they go a long way to crafting that flawless first impression, and, perhaps even more crucially, for etching lasting memories long after check-out.
Additionally, we also recommend that owners go the extra mile by providing cooking essentials (e.g., salt, pepper), tea and coffee, and, if feasible, even body wash and shampoo. These are not only cost-effective but play a pivotal role in making guests feel truly at home. Eliminating the need for guests to pack these everyday items not only alleviates their travel-related stresses but also ensures they can enjoy a comforting cuppa on arrival!
Should I charge a cleaning fee?
We take pride in our commitment to transparency, and one way we show this is by never charging a cleaning fee. While occasional requests for this fee may arise from new owners, we strongly believe that piling on multiple additional charges, including a cleaning fee, can be a significant turn-off for guests. We’ve all experienced the frustration of booking via a budget airline and what started as a £50 bargain, ends as a £200 flight with no guarantee of luggage or even a seat!
In the United States and across much of North America, large cleaning fees have become the norm, to the frustration of both guests and even Airbnb themselves – who have pointed out the conflict cleaning fees create relating to expectations at check-out.
We aim to provide a straightforward and hassle-free booking experience for our guests. We’ve witnessed how cleaning fees can act as a deterrent to making a reservation and how they can convolute both guest and host expectations. On that basis when a guest books with Norfolk Holiday Properties they know everything is included in the price they see at the start of the booking process!
There’s hundreds of potential complications when operating a holiday home, and without doubt, housekeeping is one of the most troublesome. Norfolk Holiday Properties is a trusted holiday property manager, and we are here to help you navigate the your journey into the world of short-term rentals. Give us a call on 01603 981390 or email us at owners@norfolkholidayproperties.co.uk.