by Osprey Holiday Cottages
Cleaning your holiday let is a really important part of the bookings process, not only for guest experience, but for owners too. Get it right and the guests will book again, get it wrong and the guests’ dissatisfaction will shine through in their review.
This guide is written to help you, as an owner, choose whether to clean the property yourself or let Osprey Holiday Cottages manage it. It also lets you know everything you need to make your changeover day as easy as possible.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, our advice may change without notice so make sure you keep up-to-date. Remember, if you’re not sure on anything or need general help and advice – please get in touch with us.
When your guest leaves your property, you will need to decide how you will clean your property. You can do to do this yourself or you can get a professional cleaner in to do this, either through or us or someone you choose.
You also need to remember the bed linen. We much prefer white, plain linen as it looks like it was provided especially for guests. It’s also easier to clean and replace in the event of wear & tear, and stops the guests feeling like they’re sleeping in someone else’s bed.
We would recommend if you are going to clean for yourself, that you make sure you have twice as much bed linen as you need for changeover days. This will stop you having to rush quite so much to get ready for the next guest check in.
Remember, cleanliness is one of the most important parts of the guest experience. The attention to detail here will have a massive impact on your guests and keep them coming back.
A majority of holiday lets provide towels and you should seriously consider it. We would always recommend plain, white towels here too, providing one bath towel and one hand towel per guest.
Owners need to remember to provide a bath mat per bathroom, per stay and at least two tea towels. Again, don’t forget to double up on these for ease at changeover day. You can find a list of all the cleaning essentials you’ll need later in this guide.
It is important to remember that you don’t need to provide towels, so if you’re concerned about anything – you can choose not to. We can tell guests that they need to bring their own, however we would expect this to impact on reviews. The guests are looking for a home-from-home and aren’t looking to bring everything they might need with them.
We can offer a few different services for cleaning, and owners can pick what is right for them.
If you choose our managed cleaning service, our cleaners will clean after every guest booking. This usually takes place the day they vacate the property. If you’ve come to stay in your own home as an owner, we can also offer a reduced service so you can enjoy your time. After all, it’s still your property.
As professional cleaners, the teams we use operate to the latest guidance concerning Coronavirus. They also operate to our Enhanced Cleaning protocols, and owners can view these by logging in to your account. You can also request copies by email or post – contact us for more information.
Our team can also provide bed linen and towels. This includes duvets, sheets and pillow cases, even mattress protectors. These would be supplied in hotel industry-standard white Egyptian cotton, but if you have any special requests let us know.
As standard, our team provides towels and bath mats too. This includes one hand and one towel per guest, as well as two tea towels per property – all to hotel standards too.
Our teams offer one-off or scheduled deep cleaning sessions for holiday properties. These are perfect for out-of-season or for properties with intense booking schedules.
For each booking, we recommend a minimum range of essentials to be left at the property. They should be ready for each new set of guests. For personal protective equipment, check the owner’s Enhanced Cleaning protocol booklet for an up-to-date list.
Under no circumstances should you leave bleach or caustic cleaning agents for guests to use.
We supply cleaning packs for guests and owners, just let us know and we’ll add it to your booking.
If you have any questions or are ready to sign up with Osprey Holiday Cottages, get in touch with us. Our Owners Team can provide expert support and will proactively contact you in the event of any changes.
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