STR Pro – 9 Questions to Ask a Potential Cleaner

Good morning,

First impressions are important, especially for travelers. When they walk into your STR, the first thing they’re going to notice is how clean it is.

It must feel like utmost care has been taken to clean and sanitize between guests. This is why your cleaner is the most important piece in your STR puzzle.

Here are some questions to ask to make sure the cleaner is a good fit for your STR dream team.


9 Questions to Ask a Potential Cleaner

1.) Have you ever cleaned STRs before?

There’s a huge difference between cleaning for homeowners on a bi-weekly or monthly basis and cleaning STRs.

Beyond being capable of cleaning, your cleaner needs to be able to put themselves in both guest and owner shoes. They need to imagine they are a guest walking in, and make sure they leave the place the way a guest would like to see it.

Your cleaner needs to be looking out for the owner too, checking for broken or missing items, counting supply inventory, noticing maintenance issues, etc.

Most importantly, your cleaner needs to be reliable. They need to be able to keep up with the schedule and never, ever miss a clean.

2.) Can I speak to a reference?

If your cleaner has been cleaning STRs for a while, he or she should have a host or two that can recommend them.

3.) When you travel, what do you look for in an STR?

This is my favorite question to ask. If they’ve been an STR traveler, they should have no problem putting themselves in the shoes of our guests.

4.) How do you handle laundry?

Whether there’s laundry in the units or they must take it with them, this is an important question to ask. What if the “usual” laundry takes about as long as the clean, but there are stains? It’s imperative that STR owners and cleaners are on the same page when it comes to discretionary effort.

For example, will they take things home to treat if needed?

5.) Do you provide your own supplies and cleaning products?

I’ve forgotten to ask this before. I assumed cleaners all had their own vacuums. I figured we’d have cheap, backup ones in the units in case theirs wasn’t working. That was my mistake. It’s good to know if they carry everything needed for your property. In our case, we supply stain remover and Lime Away, but the cleaners bring everything else, like wood cleaner, glass cleaner, etc.

6.) If there’s an easier than normal clean, will you do something extra?

Not everything will need to be cleaned each time, like blinds, baseboards, ovens, drip pans, etc. I ask this question to see if they know that they’ll need to rotate some items in when their day is a little lighter.

7.) How much notice do you need?

It’s important for the host and the cleaner to have an agreement for how close to check-ins bookings will be accepted, as well as how long bookings can be.

8.) How often and how do you prefer to be paid?

Our cleaner invoices us on Fridays, and we process payment via Zelle no later than Monday. We’ve found that paying by check here and there gets cumbersome quickly. The most important thing when it comes to payment is that you’re both on the same page.

9.) How do you prefer we communicate?

We communicate with our cleaners through text for quick questions. For scheduling and guest feedback, we use email. About once a month or so, we’ll talk on the phone to make sure we’re still on the same page.

In Conclusion

It’s incredibly important that hosts hire the right cleaner. Reviews drive so much business, and the cleanliness of your STRs is a HUGE part of guest reviews. Ask these questions and you’ll greatly decrease the risk of hiring the wrong cleaner.

For a FREE STR cleaning checklist click blow

Short Term Rental Cleaning Checklist Cleanliness is the most important part of any short-term rental business. Falling short here means lower reviews and revenue. It also affects guest health and safety. Enjoy this FREE sample cleaning checklist. Tailor it to make it your own and customize for your property. adultingiseasy.gumroad.com

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