Why changeovers make or break your reviews
Cleanliness is the review category guests notice first and forgive least. A single hair in the shower or a smear on the mirror can turn a five-star stay into a four, and in a market as crowded as Brighton that difference shows in your search position.
The answer is a written checklist that is the same every time, whoever does the clean, plus a few spare minutes in the schedule for the unexpected.
The changeover checklist
- Arrive and check: photograph the property as you find it and note any damage, breakages or missing items for the host
- Strip and start laundry: all beds, towels, bath mats and tea towels, even if they look unused
- Kitchen: dishes washed and put away, inside the fridge and microwave, hob, worktops, sink and bins
- Bathroom: toilet, shower, screen, tiles, taps and mirror cleaned and polished, with hair removed from plugholes
- Dust and polish: surfaces, remote controls, switches, door handles and bedside tables
- Make up the beds to the host’s presentation standard and lay out fresh towels
- Floors: vacuum throughout, then mop hard floors last on the way out
- Restock: loo roll, hand soap, shower gel, washing-up liquid, bin bags, tea, coffee and any welcome items
- Final walk-round: windows closed, heating set, lights off, keys back in the key safe, and an “after” photo of each room sent to the host
Linen: keep three sets per bed
Run three full sets of linen and towels per bed: one on the bed, one in the wash and one spare. It means a back-to-back changeover never waits on a tumble dryer, and you have cover for stains.
Plan for Brighton’s busiest weekends
Demand peaks around the Brighton Marathon in April, the Brighton Festival and Fringe in May, Pride in early August and every sunny bank holiday weekend. Same-day turnarounds stack up, and the city centre fills with traffic and parking restrictions.
Book your cleaners for those dates as soon as the bookings come in, allow extra time for parking, and leave restock supplies in the property so nobody has to shop on the day.
Deep clean between seasons
Even with perfect changeovers, a short-let needs a deeper clean a few times a year: inside the oven and cupboards, behind furniture, mattresses and carpets. Spring and the quiet weeks after the summer are the best time.
We run changeovers across Brighton, Hove and the coast. See Airbnb & short-let cleaning.
