Turnover cleaning of a holiday rental happens in a tight window: the guest leaves at ten, the next one arrives at three. In those hours the apartment must not only become clean, it must look the way it did for the first guest, with complete furnishings and no trace of the previous occupant. This article describes the process, provides a room-by-room checklist and shows how to prove the cleaning to owners and guests without a hundred photos per changeover.

What turnover cleaning of a holiday rental means

Turnover cleaning, changeover cleaning, end-of-stay cleaning: all mean cleaning after one guest departs and before the next arrives. It differs from two other types of cleaning:

  • Interim cleaning during longer stays, usually once a week, with linen change and bathroom.
  • Deep cleaning before and after the season, with exterior windows, mattresses, upholstery, cupboard interiors and descaling of appliances.

The guest usually pays for turnover cleaning as a flat fee. It is carried out by the operator, a cleaning company or a caretaker service that looks after several apartments. In all cases the same standard applies: ready to let, as for the first guest.

Process: from check-out to check-in

The process is similar for every apartment. Defining it once saves time at every changeover and avoids forgotten items.

  1. The job is created. The check-out is in the booking calendar. It becomes the cleaning task with apartment, time window and responsible person. In LiteLog the booking calendar reads occupancy from Airbnb, Booking.com or Hospitable and creates one task per check-out.
  2. Visual check before cleaning. A short walk through all rooms: photograph damage, secure lost property, note missing items. Anything not documented now can no longer be attributed to a guest later.
  3. Airing and laundry. Open the windows, strip the beds, collect towels and bed linen, gather rubbish from all rooms.
  4. Cleaning room by room. The order bedroom, living area, kitchen, bathroom has proven itself. Within a room: dry before wet, top before bottom, floor last.
  5. Check and restock furnishings. Count crockery, restock consumables, remote controls and Wi-Fi note back in place.
  6. Acceptance and proof. Complete the checklist, report defects with a photo, mandatory photos as specified by the operator.
  7. Reset access. Keys into the box, change the key box or smart lock code, close windows, heating back to default.

Turnover cleaning checklist per room

The following checklist covers a typical holiday apartment with bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area. With several bathrooms or bedrooms the respective block repeats: Bathroom 1, Bathroom 2, Bedroom 3.

Before you start

  • Walk through all rooms, photograph damage, secure lost property
  • Open windows, set heating or air conditioning to the default value
  • Collect and separate rubbish from all rooms

Bedroom

  • Strip beds, check mattress protector for stains, make up with fresh linen
  • Wardrobes and drawers empty, the agreed number of hangers
  • Dust bedside tables, lamps, window sills and headboard
  • Mirrors and glass surfaces streak-free
  • Vacuum and mop the floor, including under the bed

Bathroom

  • Toilet inside and out, seat, lid, brush and holder
  • Shower or bath, taps, shower glass or curtain, drain free of hair
  • Basin, mirror, shelves, tiles in the splash zone
  • Replace all towels, fresh bath mat
  • Consumables: at least two toilet rolls, soap, bin liners
  • Mop the floor, check ventilation, close the window

Kitchen

  • Empty and wipe out the fridge, check the freezer compartment
  • Hob, oven, microwave and coffee machine inside and out, crumb tray, filter
  • Empty the dishwasher, clean the filter, count crockery and cutlery against the inventory list
  • Worktops, fronts, sink and tap
  • Restock: washing-up liquid, sponge, bin liners, coffee and tea to the operator's standard
  • Empty and clean the bin, insert a new liner

Living area

  • Sofa: shake out cushions, check under the seat cushions
  • Dust table, shelves and TV, check remote controls, replace batteries if needed
  • Wi-Fi note, house rules and information folder in place
  • Decoration and furnishings complete according to the inventory list
  • Vacuum and mop the floor

Balcony, terrace and entrance

  • Sweep the floor, wipe furniture, empty ashtrays
  • Check entrance area, doormat, key box or smart lock

Finally

  • Close windows, lights off, heating or air conditioning to default
  • Visual check of all rooms, mandatory photos as specified
  • Report defects with a photo so that they become a task for the caretaker
  • Complete the task in the app

In the LiteLog app the checklist is stored per apartment, with the rooms that actually exist.

Proof: photo only for defects

The owner of a holiday rental never sees the cleaning. They see the next guest's review. So they expect proof that every apartment was fully cleaned after every changeover. Cleaning teams often respond with photos of everything, and that is exactly what makes the proof worthless: nobody looks at a hundred pictures per changeover, and they hide the one defect that matters.

Usable proof follows three rules:

  • Checklist instead of photo album. Every ticked item automatically carries timestamp and recording person. That proves the item was handled, without a photo.
  • Photo only for defects. A scratch in the parquet, a missing cup, a stain on the mattress: that gets photographed and briefly described. In LiteLog the defect becomes a task for the caretaker, with photo and deadline.
  • Few mandatory photos. The operator defines which one to three points per apartment are always photographed, such as the made bed and the finished bathroom. These photos are the evidence for the guest in case of a complaint.

The report per apartment emerges from this recording by itself. The owner views it in the customer access, without anyone sending emails with attachments. For longer stays and in furnished apartments the handover protocol is added: condition per room at check-in and check-out, the guest's signature on the device, and the comparison shows which defects are new.

Planning turnover cleaning: from booking calendar to task

With one apartment, a glance at the calendar is enough. With ten or thirty apartments across several platforms it is not. Then cleaning tasks are best created directly from the bookings:

  • The booking calendar in LiteLog reads the iCal calendar from Airbnb, Booking.com or Hospitable per property.
  • For every check-out a cleaning task is created automatically with apartment and time window until the next check-in.
  • The cleaner sees the day's tasks in the app, works through the checklist and reports defects with a photo. This works offline too, for example in the basement or with poor reception.
  • Recurring caretaker work, from the weekly check of the grounds to the yearly maintenance, runs alongside as recurring tasks.

Operator, cleaning team and caretaker know at any time which apartment becomes free today, who cleans it and whether it is done.

Conclusion

Good turnover cleaning is not a matter of cleaning alone but of the process: visual check before the start, checklist per room, furnishings according to inventory, defects with photo and proof that does without a flood of photos. How LiteLog brings cleaning, caretaker and handover together for holiday rentals and serviced apartments is shown on the holiday rentals industry page.