What an Airbnb changeover clean includes
Beds made and towels changed with your linen, the kitchen and bathrooms cleaned, floors done and bins emptied, so the home is ready for the next guest. The timing is yours to agree with the business, often after each stay.
The parts that vary are the ones to pin down. Who washes the linen? Who tops up toilet paper, coffee and dishwashing liquid? Who tells you the remote's gone missing? Write each one down, so nothing is left for a guest to find.
Airbnb cleaning in Victoria: off the list for now
Cleaner Scout can't take holiday rental cleans in Victoria for now. In every other state and territory, send the job through as normal.
Why Airbnb cleaning shows in your guest ratings
Cleanliness gets its own score in Airbnb's guest ratings, separate from accuracy, check-in, communication, location and value. A hair in the shower or crumbs in the toaster is the sort of thing a guest remembers when that prompt arrives.
No clean can promise a rating. A clear routine, followed every stay, is what gives you the fewest surprises.
Setting up an Airbnb cleaning routine
A changeover runs to a clock: the gap between one guest leaving and the next arriving. Tell the business your usual check-out and check-in times, how far ahead bookings land, and how late a change can reach them. Sharing the booking calendar beats a chain of texts. Mention anything unusual as well: a spa, a pool gate, or a pet-friendly listing that leaves more hair behind.
Access comes next. A lockbox, a keypad or a key held by the business can all work, so agree which. Decide where spare linen and supplies live, and keep anything guests shouldn't touch in its own locked cupboard.
Questions to ask Airbnb cleaners
- Who washes and dries the linen, and where does that happen?
- Will you restock the basics, and who buys them?
- How will you tell me about damage or missing items? Will you send photos?
- What happens when a booking changes at short notice?
- Who covers the clean if your usual person is sick?
- Can I see your ABN and a current public liability certificate?
Your side of an Airbnb cleaning service
Worth doing yourself
- Write a room by room list, with a photo of how the beds should look.
- Keep spare sets of linen for every bed.
- Stock a supplies cupboard and check it regularly.
- Stay a night now and then, and see the place as a guest does.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- Kitchen and bathrooms, every stay.
- Beds and towels, set up your way.
- Floors, bins and a last look around.
- A note of anything broken, stained or running low.
A deep clean between holiday rental seasons
A changeover keeps a home guest-ready, but it doesn't reach everything. Book a deep clean when the calendar goes quiet, and add the oven, inside windows, carpet steam cleaning or wall marks then. Those extras are easier to plan in a gap than between two bookings.
Warning signs before Airbnb cleaners get your keys
- No ABN, or one that ABN Lookup shows as cancelled.
- A request for your booking platform password, when a shared calendar would do.
- No clear answer about who covers the clean on a sick day.
- Keys requested before anything's agreed in writing.
What we'd put on one page for Airbnb cleaners
Put the changeover on one page before you ask anyone: the check-out and check-in times, how the beds should look, where the linen lives and what gets restocked. Then ask the business to send photos of the first few turnovers. It's much easier to adjust a routine early than to fix it in the middle of peak season.