Finding and keeping holiday let cleaners

01

Where to look, and what to ask

Ask other local owners, a laundry that already serves holiday lets, or a cleaning company that names changeovers as the work. A general domestic cleaner can be excellent and still be the wrong fit if they have never had a guest arriving at 16:00.

Ask about same-day turns, how they handle linen, whether they can cover a second property the same morning, and what they do if they are ill. You are listening for a plain answer, not a performance. Take up one reference from someone who lets, if they will give it.

• See them at the property, not only on a message thread.
• Check they can carry linen and work the hours your checkouts need.
• Agree who holds keys and how a lost key is reported.

02

Give them a brief they can use at the door

One page is enough: address, parking, which door, key safe or lockbox, alarm, checkout time, check-in time, where linen is, where dirty linen goes, which products not to use, bins and collection day, pets, and who to call if they cannot get in. The checklist is the rest of the brief.

Do not add a new rule by text while they are on the doorstep. If the house rules change, change the page and tell them before the next clean. A brief that grows in the chat is how jobs get missed.

Changeover Master's cleaner link is that brief on a phone, with no login. It shows the address, the checkout, the next check-in and the access notes for their jobs. They tick the checklist there. They can add a photo of the finished rooms, and the photos stay private. When they mark the clean done, the account owner gets one email. If nobody is assigned, or the clean is not marked done before check-in, the account owner can get a late-clean email and the diary can show At risk. You can start a free trial and send one cleaner their link.

03

Pay a trial clean and write the price down

Book the trial on an empty day. Walk the property with them afterwards and compare it with the checklist, item by item. Agree what you both mean by done. A trial that is 'fine' without a walk-round teaches nothing.

Write the price, what it includes, and when you pay. Say whether linen, restocking, bins, a deep oven and same-day turns are inside the price or extra. Same-day work is a different job from a clean with a spare night. Pay on the day you agreed. Late payment is the fastest way to lose someone who has other houses to choose.

04

Keeping them is mostly not being chaotic

Send the week's changeovers as early as you can, and update them when a booking moves. A cleaner can plan a school run around a 10:00 checkout. They cannot plan around a message at 9:30. If you use a calendar feed, remember it can lag. A same-day change still needs a direct message.

Calling someone self-employed does not decide their employment status. If you employ people, read the employers' liability insurance page as well. This is not legal advice. If you are unsure, check those pages or ask an adviser before you rely on a label in a contract.

Say thank you for a hard turn, and fix a problem in the brief rather than in a complaint after the guest has arrived. People stay where the standard is clear and the day is not a surprise.