A clean and tidy home is vital to making your BnB guests feel comfortable. Your home needs to feel like they are the first people to stay there..
First Impression
Make your rooms shine
Don't just dust. You will need to clean surfaces, door handles, etc to enable the room is clean and hygienic.
The bathroom is the perfect place to make shine. Remove the limescale from the bath, shower door, shower hose and head, and make the taps sparkle.
Clean the small details
Dust items and all the edges and corners in the rooms your guests use, including picture frames, fans, lamps, light bulbs, artificial plants and curtain rails. Clean any smudges off glass, windows and mirrors.
Check, check, check
Check drawers, wardrobes and under bed that nothing has been left and there’s no rubbish.
If you provide a sofa bed remember to open it out and check it’s clean.
If you provide extra bedding, pillows, towels etc in a wardrobe, check they haven't been used and put back without you knowing, in order to wash them.
Hair can get everywhere! Check on carpets, any caught on sheets (even after washing).
Provide clean bedding and towels
Providing clean bedding and towels is an absolute must and may sound obvious but there are hosts who have been known to keep the same bedding and towels out for their next guests 😲
You will need to decide, depending on their length of stay, how often you will change their towels and bedding. I provide 3 towels per person, partly to offer different size towels but also so if they have more than one shower a day they have another dry towel to use.
Check the bedsheets and towels immediately after a guest has stayed. If there are any marks you need to try to remove them as soon as possible to try to prevent them becoming permanent. Bedsheets are one of the things I have to replace the most.
Smell clean
Clever decoration
Quite often painted walls can get marks and if you try to scrub the mark off it takes the paint too. Instead, paint the walls with wipeable kitchen or bathroom paint.
Use washable things and wipeable surfaces so anything can be cleaned.
Choose rugs and bath mats that can be washed. I bought a nice fluffy rug that can't fit in the washing machine and unfortunately my first guest to use it dropped a blue sticky drink on it. I have also found that those with a rubber backing disintegrate fairly quickly so try to find ones without the backing and put a separate layer of gripping underneath.
Choose scratch proof surfaces, or put coverings on to prevent scratches. I put a table runner on the dressing table to prevent the surface being ruined and use glass tops to encourage guests to put their items out in that one area.
Choose your mugs and plates wisely. Some can discolour or get marked or scratched easily. I used to have white plates which showed up the scratches and I've now replaced them with patterned plates which don't show the scratches, so look as good as new.
Declutter
It's nice to put a few plants out and useful items that people might miss if they are in a cupboard or drawer, but don’t put too much out as there's more to clean and less room for your guests to put things.