Holiday Let Cleaning — A 6-Step Turnaround for Devon Hosts

Summer's coming. If you own a cottage in Sidmouth or a beach flat in Exmouth, you've probably already got back-to-back bookings from June through September. Here's the dirty secret of the Devon holiday-let business: your reviews aren't really about your property. They're about your cleaning.

Two identical 2-bed cottages on the same street, same beach, same kitchen. One gets 4.5 stars, one gets 4.9. The difference, 95% of the time, isn't the décor or the WiFi — it's whether the guest spots a single hair on the bath mat when they arrive.

After 18 years of turning around holiday lets across East Devon, here's the process we use to get every property guest-ready in the 4-hour window most hosts have.

The 6-step turnaround

The whole thing should take a team of two between 3 and 5 hours depending on property size. The order matters — you want each step to set up the next.

Step 1 — Strip and start the laundry (first 10 minutes)

Beds, towels, tea towels, dishcloths — all off and into the wash first, before you touch anything else. The laundry's the bottleneck; the sooner it's running, the sooner you can iron bedding while doing other rooms. Cushion covers and throws too if it's been a busy week.

Step 2 — Dishwasher cycle (next 5 minutes)

Even if you've asked guests to load the dishwasher, run a full cycle anyway. Half the time they've just stacked clean plates back into cupboards. Check the rim of every mug and glass when unloading — if there's lipstick or coffee stain, it goes back in.

Step 3 — Bathrooms first, then kitchen (the dirtiest rooms)

Counter-intuitive but critical: do the rooms most likely to get re-dirtied by you (with your buckets, cloths, footprints) last. So bathrooms and kitchen come early.

Bathrooms checklist:

• Toilet — bowl, rim, under-rim, base against tile, behind the cistern
• Bath/shower — including grout, glass screen, drain hair
• Taps, shower head, plug-holes — descale every visit
• Mirror — including the bit of wall directly above the basin (toothpaste flecks)
• Towel rail — back side too
• Bin — empty, wipe inside and out
• Re-stock: hand soap, loo roll (always 2 spare), shower gel, shampoo

Kitchen checklist:

• Hob and oven door — fingerprints and food splatter
• Inside microwave — most-missed spot
• Inside fridge — even if it looks empty, wipe the shelves
• Kettle — descale weekly during summer (Devon's hard-water)
• Sink, taps, drain
• Bin — empty, replace liner, wipe lid
• Re-stock: dishwasher tabs, washing-up liquid, sponges, tea towels, salt & pepper, basics

Step 4 — Bedrooms (after laundry has dried)

Make beds with fresh laundry. Critical points:

• Mattress protector should be visibly clean — guests check. Replace if stained.
• Pillows should look fluffy — punch them up
• Sheets should be ironed if possible. We know it's a faff but reviews mention it
• Window sills, bedside tables, dust on bedside lampshades
• Wardrobe inside — check for items left behind (always 1-2 per week)
• Hangers on the rail — a generous number; people notice

Step 5 — Living areas + hallway

• Vacuum thoroughly — corners, under furniture, behind sofas
• Cushions plumped and straightened
• TV remote(s) wiped (germ city)
• Surfaces dusted including TV unit, top of skirting
• Hard floors mopped after vacuum
• Windows — at least the bottom half, inside, where light hits and shows smudges
• Coffee table set with information binder, WiFi card, local attractions leaflet

Step 6 — Final walkthrough

This is what separates 4.5-star from 4.9-star turnarounds. Walk through the property as if you were a guest arriving:

1. Open the front door. Does it smell fresh? (Not bleach-y — that smells "cleaning-grade")
2. Touch the kettle, the bedside lamps, the TV remote. Is anything sticky?
3. Sit on the sofa. Does the cushion show wear? Any debris between the cushions?
4. Lift the toilet seat. Look at the underside of the rim. (Yes, really.)
5. Pull a towel off the rail. Was it folded with the label hidden? Is there a hair on it?
6. Check the back of the front door — wear marks, fingerprints

Five minutes for this walkthrough catches almost every issue. Skip it and you'll find out from the review.

The mistakes most hosts make

From cleaning hundreds of Devon holiday lets between bookings:

• Cleaning with the door open in summer. Salt spray from the coast settles on every surface you've just cleaned. Close windows during cleaning, open them only when finished.
• Cheap bedding. Polycotton sheets feel like sandpaper after one wash. Spend on at least one set of quality cotton sheets; guests can tell.
• Wet kitchen towels left out. Bin the old ones, hang fresh dry ones.
• Forgetting outdoor areas. Cobwebs by the front door, fag butts on the patio, dead leaves on the garden table — all get noticed before the guest's even inside.
• Same products for everything. Bathroom cleaners on kitchen surfaces leave residue.
• Trying to do it solo for a 3-bed. By the time the kitchen's done you're too tired to give bedrooms the care they need. Two people halve the time and improve the quality.

What changes between seasons

April–June: hay fever season. Keep pollen out. Wipe down outdoor furniture before guests arrive.

July–August: peak coastal traffic. Sand, salt, sun cream. Add extra mat-cleaning. Replace fading exterior cushions.

September–October: longer turnarounds because guests stay later. Worth doing a deeper monthly clean if you have any gap days.

November–March: damp season. Check for any signs of mould in bathrooms, behind furniture, under window sills. Heat the property between bookings to keep it dry.

One bonus trick

Take a "ready for guests" photo of every room after every turnaround. Three reasons: it doubles as a reference for what "ready" looks like; it's evidence if a guest later claims something was damaged; and the cumulative folder is useful when training new cleaners or returning to a property after a quieter month.

If you'd rather just hand the whole thing off, we currently do turnarounds for a dozen-odd hosts across Exmouth, Sidmouth and Budleigh, plus a handful of cottages in inland villages. Reliable, key-holding, and we do the laundry too if you want.

Summer's around the corner. Make 2026 your 5-star year.