Cleaning, maintenance and damage
Guests judge a stay on the state of the place when they walk in. These guides cover the turnover system behind that, and how damage claims and insurance work.
In short
What this topic covers
Every stay ends with a turnover: the clean, restock and check between one guest’s checkout and the next guest’s check-in. On a busy day that window can be a few hours, and several units may turn over at once. What keeps it reliable is a system rather than effort: a written checklist per room, enough complete linen sets that a clean never waits for laundry, a clear handover of keys or codes, photos of the finished unit, and a way for cleaners to report anything broken or missing before the next guest finds it.
Damage is the other side of operations. Most stays pass without problems, but when something is broken you need evidence and you need to act quickly, because the platforms set deadlines for claims after checkout and expect you to ask the guest for payment first. Airbnb’s host damage protection and Booking.com’s damage process work differently, neither covers ordinary wear and tear, and Airbnb states that its damage protection is not an insurance policy. That makes the owner’s own insurance, and what your agreement says about responsibility, just as important.
The guides in this topic set out a turnover system with a room-by-room checklist, and explain what the platforms cover, what insurance should cover and how to file a claim.
Guides
Start with the first guide
- GuideOperations
Airbnb amenities checklist: what to stock in a managed unit, room by room
The amenities Airbnb lets guests filter on, a room-by-room stocking table for a managed flat, linen par levels, and the smoke, CO and fire safety equipment Belgian and Dutch rules ask for.
- Airbnb’s essentials are toilet paper, hand and body soap, one towel per guest, one pillow per guest and linen for each guest bed; ticking them without providing them can lead to penalties.
- Guests can filter Airbnb search on amenities in 12 groups, from Bathroom to Home safety, so an unticked amenity can hide the listing from a matching search.
- Separate durable items, which the owner buys once, from consumables, which are restocked every stay, and agree in writing who pays for each.
- GuideOperations
Turnover cleaning system
The checklist is the easy part. This is the system around it: scheduling, linen, photo checks, restocking, a backup for a busy Saturday, and the Belgian and Dutch staffing rules that catch beginners out.
- GuideOperations
Damage claims and insurance
How to document damage and get paid on Airbnb and Booking.com, why Airbnb’s damage protection is not insurance, and which cover the owner and the co-host each need.
- GuideOperations
Self check-in and smart locks
How to choose between a smart lock, a keypad, a key box and a key exchange point, how to send codes safely, and the guest registration, privacy and fire safety rules that still apply when nobody meets the guest.
- GuideOperations
Preventive maintenance
A maintenance schedule by frequency, the smoke alarm, boiler and fire safety checks that Belgian and Dutch rules require, and how to plan contractors, blocked nights and costs with the owner.
Terms and tools
Terms you’ll meet in this topic
- Turnover
- Par level
- Self check-in
- Cleaning fee
- Damage claim
- AirCover for Hosts
- Service vouchers
- Direct booking
About HostPro Academy
The team behind this guide
These guides are written by the team behind HostPro Academy, a training programme for building a short-term rental management business. The cleaning, maintenance and damage part of that programme is covered in levels 9 and 11 and lessons 4.4 and 5.4.