A successful holiday let will naturally achieve higher occupancy, attracting 30 or 40 bookings in the calendar year. To support this, and ensure a problem-free stay for guests, it is very important to have a reliable and professional system of ensuring the property is cleaned and ready for the next arrival.

The changeover between bookings typically includes:

• The cleaning of the property throughout including the kitchen, bathrooms, floors and surfaces and dusting.
• Changing the bedding and taking the used bedding away to be laundered. Other items to be laundered include tea towels and towels where provided.
• An inventory check to ensure all items are still present and working in the property after a guest stay and ready for the incoming guests.
• Facilities check, such as all the lights are working, batteries in the remote control work for the TV, etc.
• Any maintenance to outside areas such as cleaning windows, patio areas and garden areas can be completed without disturbing guests.
• Leaving a welcome pack and visitor information for the incoming guests such as milk, coffee and tea.

The most popular changeover date for self-catering tends to be on a Saturday where accommodation providers offer week-long holidays to arrive on that date. Some properties have a changeover date of Thursday, Friday or Sunday, while others are more flexible around the start and arrival dates which requires a changeover service to be conducted on any day of the week.

The implication of limiting changeover dates is that sourcing a cleaner can be harder, especially in popular tourist destinations where they are in demand.

However the importance of the cleaning and changeover should not be underestimated as it can have a serious impact on success of a holiday let. The first impression of a badly maintained entrance area, or unclean bathrooms or kitchens will not only lead to complaints, but will also affect repeat bookings.

So it is important to have a system of changeovers and cleaning which is reliable, pays good attention to detail and is affordable is key to running a successful and stress-free holiday let.