Some Of The Problems Associated With The Setting Up Of A Holiday Let Changeover Services

So you've purchased your first holiday let property and you are in the process of putting in place all the necessary arrangements for your first season of guests. Then you hit upon the dilemma of how to organize the changeover cleans. Perhaps you are a veteran in the holiday let business but you are suspicious you are paying too much for your changeover cleans and you are now looking for a way to reduce your cleaning costs.

If you are indeed new into the holiday letting business and this is your first property you will already have made some very critical decisions about where you are looking to purchase a property, how big it should be, and how it should be furnished. If you have also decided to run the whole business yourself then you will also have to decide where and how you advertise the let and how much you will charge. On the other hand you may prefer to go for a smaller return and hand all of this over to a holiday let agency.

If you decide to manage the lettings yourself then you'll need to arrange the changeover cleans, linen changes, welcome packs, key holding and periodic deep cleaning such as carpet cleaning. You need to find a company who can provide all the above, and carryout out their services to the highest of quality with total consistency, but you do not want to pay too much.

The most obvious course of action to follow is to advertise in the immediate area for a cleaner/housekeeper type person. It will certainly be the cheapest solution as you will be paying an hourly rate and an amount for the laundry and they will be able to keep on eye on the stock of consumables such as toilet rolls. It will always be the same person so you will definitely get consistency in the cleaning and general housekeeping. As they will be so close they can also 'meet and greet' your guests. There must be any number of people who would jump at such an opportunity to earn some extra cash or so you would think! However let us assume that you do find this 'gold nugget'. Will they ever be ill? Will they actually want to take a break themselves? Are they going to actually be as reliable as you want them to be?

What if your cleaner tells you last minute that their washing machine has just packed up and they don't have a launderette in the area guests are arriving in less than two hours! Even worse still, what to do when they get the hump and leave with the keys? Did you check that your insurance covered self-employed cleaners or that they themselves were properly insured? Did you make the necessary checks that your cleaner is actually self-employed or just trying to make a bit of money on the side? You are at risk of running into very dangerous territory with the law if you do not do what is required.

Okay so you are now put off the idea of the 'local' so you resign yourself to bringing in a professional cleaning company although this is going to cost you more. So you have a look on Yell.com to find a local cleaning company. Bingo you have found a cleaning company who works in this area so you contact them. You describe how you would like them to clean the property between lets. Okay this is no problem, to them it is a regular weekly clean. Then you go on to ask for other things, laundry, welcome packs, inventory checks and so on. It soon becomes very clear that you do not just require a cleaning company because it is not just about cleaning. This company may not be geared up to meet your very precise and demanding requirements and they in all probability will not want to get involved in inventory checks, meeting and greeting and arranging for emergency call outs of plumbers and electricians! And you thought this was going to be the easy part of the process!

When you finally find a cleaning company who can handle all of your requirements you nearly fall off your chair when you get the quotation. You were expecting the quote to come in at half the price; after all it is only cleaning but is it? Cleanliness is one of the most important things to your guests and what forms their first impressions of the property, but it is also one of the most complained about issues in hotels and holiday homes. If a guest finds a property in anyway unclean; from dusty skirting boards, to smeary mirrors, greasy ovens, or stained sheets; the chances are they will never return and will warn others off your holiday home.

You are asking a company to look after your property and entrusting them to make sure that when they leave the property they are leaving it in an absolutely spotless condition, with all those little, but important touches that guests come to expect from their stay, as well as relying on that very same company to pick up the phone at all hours to arrange linen changes, plumbing repairs and other such emergency maintenance services. This all comes at a cost and suddenly you realize that you can't take shortcuts when it comes to cleaning and maintenance. You can't afford to make mistakes; you need to get this right first time, so it really is worth investing in a quality cleaning company for your holiday let cleaning services.

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

About the Author

Are you searching for acleaning company that can meet your precise holiday let cleaning requirements then contact The Cleaning Services Group..

by: Laura Smith

Total views: 4 Word Count: 948 Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 Time: 10:52 AM - 0 comments

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