The pillar of Airbnb’s community standards is reliability, and thus, Airbnb mandates that hosts be responsible for making sure their properties are both habitable and clean. However, it can be exhausting and time-consuming to carry out extensive cleaning after each and every guest. You’re also responsible for optimising your property online, managing guest bookings, communicating with current and potential guests, and dealing with any issues that appear.

All of these duties can quickly overwhelm you, so wouldn’t it be great if you could somehow lighten the burden? Well, you’re in luck, because Pass the Keys is here to provide some ways for you to reduce the hassle of cleaning and maintaining your property.

DIY Cleaning

For those of you who prefer to clean your property yourself, there are some tips and tricks to make it easier and more efficient. Under your house rules, you should make certain you clearly delineate what you expect your guests to do in terms of cleaning up after themselves (i.e. tidy up after themselves, leave rubbish in the bins). Also, be sure to consider whether you will allow pets into your home. While you may receive more bookings, it is much harder to clean up after a guest with pets than one without. Before you begin hosting, you should take time to identify the types of guests you want staying at your property.

You can also charge a cleaning fee to help compensate you for your time or to cover the cost of a cleaning service. It is useful to note that some hosts prefer to roll the cost of cleaning into their nightly fees. The downside to this however is that hosts often claim that guests tend to be messier when they pay a cleaning fee, as they most likely have a mindset of “I paid a cleaning fee, so they should clean this up”. As with anything, feel free to play around and test these out to see which you prefer.

Hiring an Individual Cleaner

A way to automate the cleaning process is to hire a professional cleaner. These individuals will ensure your property is clean and ready for your next guest. This one-on-one relationship will also allow you to train your cleaner so they are aware of the standards you expect from them. However, the personalised nature of this partnership is a double-edged sword. If your cleaner is sick or cannot make it to work, you will have to clean the property yourself or find a last-minute replacement. This can be especially stressful if you have another guest coming in soon after. You should also bear in mind that there is no way to ensure the safety of your property if you are hiring a private home cleaner, since most of them aren’t required to undergo background checks or sign up for insurance before working.

Hiring a Professional Airbnb Cleaning Service

Professional Airbnb cleaning services carry all the benefits of individual cleaners with few of the negatives. You will have a dependable and reliable team of cleaners to make sure your property is in the best shape possible before your next guests arrival, as these cleaners specialise in Airbnb properties.

These professional cleaning companies are also fully insured, so you don’t have to worry about any potential accidents happening within your property. In exchange for all these benefits, you will most likely have to pay a higher fee. Furthermore, because you are working with a professional Airbnb cleaning company, you are subject to their policies and availability. As a result, you may not have the same team of cleaners come to your property each time, and you might have to constantly double-check their work to make sure it’s up to your standards.

Working with a Property Management Company

If you’re like most hosts, you probably have a full-time job and a lot of other duties beyond those required of you by Airbnb. Sometimes, even with the burden of cleaning lightened, you may still feel overwhelmed by the hassle of short-letting your property on Airbnb. If so, property management companies such as Pass the Keys are here to help. We offer a fully-managed service and take care of everything from start to finish so you can sit back and relax.

Our team of professional cleaners offers hotel standard cleaning. We will spot any day-to-day maintenance that is needed and even take care of it on your behalf to offer you a truly hassle-free experience. We will also take professional pictures of your property so you can check in virtually to make sure everything is going according to plan. Unlike professional cleaners or Airbnb cleaning services, we fully manage your property and only charge a percentage of your earnings, so you can guarantee that you’ll be making optimum profit from your property.

If you are interested in seeing how our team of industry experts could help maximise your property's rental income, feel free to give us a call at +44 20 8050 2818.