Holiday Let Cleaning and Maintenance - How to Make the Right Choice
Holiday Let Cleaning and Maintenance - How to Make the Right Choice
Then you hit upon the dilemma of how to organize the changeover cleans. Perhaps you are a veteran in the holiday let business but you are suspicious you are paying too much for your changeover cleans and you are now looking for a way to reduce your cleaning costs.
If you are new to the industry then you'll know all too well that there are a lot of decisions to make and your success depends very much on the decisions made during the planning process; from property and location choice, furnishing and the inventory, advertising, pricing, and to whether you manage the lettings yourself or have the property and lettings managed by a holiday home management company. If you decide to manage the lettings yourself then you'll need to arrange the changeover cleans, linen changes, welcome packs, key holding and periodic deep cleaning such as carpet cleaning. You need to find a company who can provide all the above, and carryout out their services to the highest of quality with total consistency, but you do not want to pay too much.
The first thought that crosses your mind is advertising in the local area for a self-employed cleaner. That should be cheap as you only need pay the going hourly rate and they can do the laundering themselves as well as stocking up on tea and coffee and the usual consumables like toilet rolls and washing up liquid. Consistency won't be a problem and they can also do the 'meet and greets', but have you thought about what you will do when your cleaner goes off sick, or decides to take a holiday in the middle of your busiest period? What if your cleaner tells you last minute that their washing machine has just packed up and they don't have a launderette in the area... guests are arriving in less than two hours! Even worse still, what to do when they get the hump and leave with the keys? Did you check that your insurance covered self-employed cleaners or that they themselves were properly insured? Did you make the necessary checks that your cleaner is actually self-employed or just trying to make a bit of money on the side? You are at risk of running into very dangerous territory with the law if you do not do what is required.
The alternative is to find a cleaning company who you can contract your changeover cleans out to. You find a company who do regular cleans in the area and contact them with your requirements, but as you are talking you realize that your needs go well beyond just 'cleaning'. In fact, you need a company who can do just about everything apart from getting the bookings in! Your average cleaning company won't have measures in place to handle 'meet and greets', especially out of hours and last minute arrangements, nor perhaps the preparation of welcome packs and they may not want to get involved in inventory checks or outsourcing emergency repairs maintenance such as blocked toilets, faulty boilers or broken windows. You really hadn't thought it could be so difficult.
When you finally find a cleaning company who can handle all of your requirements you nearly fall off your chair when you get the quotation. You were expecting the quote to come in at half the price; after all it is only cleaning... but is it? Cleanliness is one of the most important things to your guests and what forms their first impressions of the property, but it is also one of the most complained about issues in hotels and holiday homes. If a guest finds a property in anyway unclean; from dusty skirting boards, to smeary mirrors, greasy ovens, or stained sheets; the chances are they will never return and will warn others off your holiday home.
You are asking a company to look after your property and entrusting them to make sure that when they leave the property they are leaving it in an absolutely spotless condition, with all those little, but important touches that guests come to expect from their stay, as well as relying on that very same company to pick up the phone at all hours to arrange linen changes, plumbing repairs and other such emergency maintenance services. This all comes at a cost and suddenly you realize that you can't take shortcuts when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. You can't afford to make mistakes; you need to get this right first time, so it really is worth investing in a quality cleaning company for your holiday let cleaning services.
Laura is the co-owner of The Cleaning Services Group Ltd a UK basedCleaning Services Company, who provideHoliday Let Cleaning and Maintenance Services across the Country. Make Instant Hotel Reservations London Heart of South Africa Travel Advice - Avoiding Ear Pain When Flying on a Plane Maldives holidays 2011: Day trip recommendation Fabulous holidays in India Attractive tour packages of India Travel around the attractive destinations of India Check out the incredible holiday packages Explore the world with tour packages Have a mesmerizing Honeymoon with fabulous tour package Explore the travel tours of India Exotic tour packages India Seals Quarters Fight with Australia as Yuvraj Shines