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Who Cleans your Cottage?

By CottageGuru | November 13, 2007

We’ve decided to offer a complete cleaning service with our cottage rental this year. In the past, like most cottage rental owners, we have asked our renters to depart the property on the final day, leaving it in an ‘as found’ condition. In most cases, I am relatively happy with the way it’s left but I’ll always spend a couple of hours cleaning to meet my standards and making it ready for the next guests in my own way.

On our recent vacation in Arizona we stayed in a rental villa, and the departure checklist simply asked us to strip the linens off the beds and leave them in the laundry room, and tidy the kitchen with the dishwasher loaded up. Since we were leaving really early in the morning, not having to do a thorough clean was wonderful.

So, for an experiment in 2008, I am including cleaning in my rental rate which will rise by $150 to cover the service. I’ll employ someone locally to come in for 3 or 4 hours and pay them $100, and provide them with a detailed checklist of tasks they will need to do. I expect it will be much easier to find someone willing to do a longer clean than a quick changeover check. I’ll  also leave my guests a checklist so they know how they should leave the property, as I don’t want to find dirty dishes on counters and beds still made up.

I’d be interested in knowing if any other owners do this, or are intending to do so for next year.

Topics: Property Management, Cottage rental basics |

2 Responses to “Who Cleans your Cottage?”

  1. lissie Says:
    November 23rd, 2007 at 11:05 pm

    In New Zealand its common practice to charge the guest a “cleaning fee” per a visit - maybe NZ$50. They are still expected to leave it in a reasonable condition, do dishes etc. Also common is the requirement that you bring your own bedding (sheet, pillows, duvet) or pay an extra charge (less applicable to the more upmarket end of the market).

  2. How to Start Renting our Your Cottage | Cottage Blogger - Rental Resources for Vacation Home Owners Says:
    February 16th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

    […] Recommendation #4 - It may be less challenging to find a cleaner who can give you four hours on a Saturday afternoon at a decent rate, than expect to find someone to pop in for an hour to do a quick changeover. This is what I have in place in my cottage this summer, and I have added the cleaning charge to my rental rate. My guests are expected to leave the cottage in a tidy condition but they don’t have to clean or vacuum. Take a look at my post on Who Cleans the Cottage. […]

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