As a host you probably know all the challenges of maintaining and servicing your vacation rental. After all, guests’ impressions are crucial when renting out and their reviews have a major influence on whether your accommodation is well booked or a slow seller.
But as a host, how do you ensure that your property is always in good condition, even if you don’t use it as vacation accommodation yourself? Find out what you can do in this blog post.
Why it is important to regularly maintain your property
Maintaining your vacation rental is crucial for the long-term success of your business. By cleaning thoroughly after each departure and regularly checking all details, you can ensure that your accommodation remains in good condition, does not lose value and remains attractive to potential guests.
A checklist can help you maintain your vacation rental. Not only can you ensure that everything is checked regularly, but you can also make sure that all the necessary points are taken care of as part of the maintenance of your vacation rental.
This is the only way to discover minor problems such as leaking pipes or faulty sockets in good time and repair them before costly repairs or even extensive renovations become necessary.
What is included in the maintenance of a vacation rental?
Nowadays, travelers have high expectations and the good condition of your vacation rental is more important than ever. The maintenance and upkeep of your vacation rental ranges from regular inspections and repairs to extensive renovations to meet the needs of your guests.
The maintenance of a vacation accommodation includes all measures aimed at ensuring the functionality, safety and good condition of an accommodation.
This includes:
- regular cleaning
- regular checks of the electronics
- regular inventory of items and furnishings
Successful maintenance not only helps to prevent possible damage, but also extends the life of the equipment and ensures a pleasant vacation experience.
In the following, we will look at the individual aspects of maintenance in detail:
Regular checks
Regular inspections are important for maintaining and preserving the value of your vacation rental. They help to identify and rectify potential problems such as leaking roofs, faulty heating systems or mold at an early stage before costly repairs become necessary. A well-maintained building also ensures a pleasant stay and a high level of guest satisfaction.
To increase the efficiency of inspections, it is advisable to work with a checklist. This should include points such as checking the sanitary facilities, electrical installations, heating and outdoor facilities. Schedule inspections at regular intervals, ideally at least a short inspection after each departure or at least once a quarter, to ensure that everything is in perfect condition.
You can also hire a professional maintenance service to ensure that all work is carried out properly. Document all inspections and maintenance efforts to keep an overview of the condition of your accommodation. These measures will not only increase the value of your vacation property, but also the well-being of your guests.
Pay attention to notes, comments or reviews from your guests also. This makes it easy for you to see whether your accommodation is up to scratch and whether there are areas where you urgently need to make improvements.
Maintenance budget
Regular maintenance is essential to keep maintenance costs in control. This includes regular checks of the building services, maintenance of the garden and checking the sanitary facilities. Make sure that you plan a special budget for maintenance in addition to the costs for running your vacation rental business. You can use this to cover the cost of cleaning products or materials and tools for minor repairs.
The following advice will help you ensure that your vacation rental has a financial reserve for unexpected expenses:
- Create a separate account for the maintenance of your vacation rental.
- Transfer a fixed amount each month.
- Enquire about subsidies or grants for renovations etc.
- Document all maintenance work carried out and create an estimation of the costs of upcoming measures.
Consistent cleaning
In addition, cleaning after each departure is an essential aspect of ensuring the ongoing satisfaction of guests. This includes thoroughly cleaning the rooms, changing bed linen and replenishing consumables.
A cleaning log can be very helpful here. It helps you to keep track of the cleaning steps carried out and ensures that important tasks are not forgotten.
Let’s go through together which tasks you should record in your cleaning log:
- Daily cleaning: Wipe down surfaces, empty trash and sweep floors.
- Weekly cleaning: Vacuum, wash windows and clean bathrooms thoroughly.
- Monthly tasks (or quarterly): Disinfect refrigerator, dust hard-to-reach areas and clean carpets.
- Spring cleaning: Wash curtains, clean upholstery, tidy storage room, check dishes and replace if necessary.
Parties, events etc.: Spruce everything up before the event and clean thoroughly after the party.
With a log for the maintenance of your vacation rental, you can keep an overview, discover minor problems in good time and adjust them before costly repairs become necessary.
How Smoobu supports you in maintaining your property
Smoobu offers you the opportunity to automate many aspects of your vacation rental business. On top of a channel manager that synchronizes your bookings on all your booking portals and your own website, Smoobu also helps you coordinate your team.
You can either set up assistant accounts with limited reading rights for tradespeople, cleaning staff, etc. or connect a professional service to your Smoobu account using an integration. This way, your employees and partners are reliably informed as soon as the guests have left and any necessary work can be carried out in the vacation rental.
This is particularly helpful if you rent out several accommodations or don’t live nearby yourself and therefore cannot coordinate directly.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be said that the maintenance and upkeep of vacation rentals is not only crucial for maintaining the value of the property, but also for ensuring a pleasant stay for guests.
Regular inspections, well-thought-out checklists and regular maintenance will help you to identify potential problems at an early stage and avoid costly repairs.
Good documentation of all cleaning and maintenance work gives you clarity about the condition of your property and helps with planning.
In combination with reliable management software, you can get off to a flying start as a vacation rental host.
