5 tips for holiday lets

Cleaning of serviced apartments and Airbnb apartments becomes extremely busy during the festival period in Edinburgh. We help many of our clients to maintain high turnover ratio with same day move -out and move -in cleans. This allows for full utilisation of property during the busy periods and reduces the idle time that the property is not available. Below is a short list of do’s and don’ts that help landlords and serviced apartments owners to get the most out of the holiday period.

1. Set your move out time at 10 or 11 am while your move in time at 3pm. This should be communicated well in your service agreement and pointed to prospective tenants. Put in place additional charge if no move out occurred by agreed time. As a rule of thumb the additional charge is £15 for every 10 minutes past the agreed move out time. In order for sufficient and appropriate cleaning procedure to be performed it is crucial that sufficient time is allocated. That is why move out and move in times should be observed with high focus.
2. Maintain calendar with move out and move in dates and share them with your cleaning team. It is very important to plan beforehand and that is why good, large calendar (wall planner would be ideal) is required to maintain the dates properly and minimising the mistakes of double booking etc. Furthermore, sharing the calendar with your cleaning team will allow for proper planning. Of course, there will be one odd job that will require emergency cleaning to be performed without any notice. But having that weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly plan allows for proper allocation of resources.
3. Adding value to your service by supplying single use coffees, teas, sugar (or sweetener) and dish soap (dishwasher tablets if dishwasher in the property) can be great way to boost your ratings and reputation at a very low cost. Before the holiday period make sure you stock up on the above supplies (MAKRO or Costco are great for that) and give the supplies to your cleaning team. Your cleaning team should leave the “welcome pack” on the kitchen table or worktop as part of the cleaning procedures. Usually 2-3 sachets of each per guest will suffice. If you want to go that extra mile, why not think about leaving a fruit bowl for your guests, or even handwritten “welcome” card. Simple and relatively cheap but will increase your review ratings over the longer period. Well worth the effort.
4. Offer loyalty cards or loyalty credits and early booking discounts – these can be a great way to ensure that your property is fully booked for the festival period. By offering loyalty cards you can get the same guests to stay in your accommodation year on year making your festival revenue more predictable. Early booking discounts can also be a great way to make the July – August time as revenue producing period as it could be. With early booking you could offer 50% cancellation policy. This would ensure that bookings are not cancelled as often.
5. Lastly, having a great cleaning team is crucial during the festival period. Perfect Cleaning Solutions works with number of landlords and business owners and help them maximise their earnings potential. We can take care of everything in the property, including cleaning, light repairs, move in welcome pack preparations or even managing your bookings for you. If you don’t have currently looking after your properties why not give us a call and see how we can help your business to grow.