Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Hi,
Have we any statistics on average time to prepare/clean a 4 b/r or 3 b/r property during changeover. My kitchen could easily take at least 2 hours if I have to clean out all the cupboards, oven, hob, fridge, worksurfaces, cupboard doors, etc. etc. That is not leaving much time for everything else. What about window cleaning? After having children in the villa for 3 weeks, all the windows/doors needed cleaning. The teenage kids obviously used both sofas full time to watch TV/play games that the covers had to be laundered including all the cushion covers. The outside kitchen/bbq also more effort. I seem to be spending more time cleaning and laundering than I used to when I first started and I have never had 1 complaint/comment about cleaniness during the last 4 years. Or is it just that I am looking forward to the end of the season
How many hours for changeover do you have¨?
What do you overlook if you are running out of time?
For a 3 bed/2 bathroom (plus extra loo)it seems to take 5 to 6 hours,depending on how many teenagers there were! There is no time for window cleaning! A quick rub on a dirty patch of glass if necessary,someone else does the garden and pool ( even more time, and money!)
For our 4 bedroom/4 bathroom property it takes 2 of us 6 hours so 12 hours in total. This includes all the kitchen cupboards inside and out, the oven and hob. I clean the patio doors as they suffer with finger prints but rarely have time to do the other windows.
To be honest, the work tends to expand to fit the time available, so if people leave early and we get in there early, we still don't get finished until 4 o'clock. I'm still not sure it's because we do it better or faster.
I've seen figures quoting less time than this, but our caretakers estimate it takes two of them between 5 and 6 hours - that doesn't include a brief stop for items for the welcome pack. The house has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, sep WC, and the rooms are all quite large, including the hall. Kitchen cupboards and their contents get a cursory inspection only. As for the upholstery - In that time they are also checking the pool, and tidying the garden; I doubt that they clean the windows much, if at all - I have just asked them to try to fit it in on the next changeover as they must be almost opaque by now! They don't do the laundry any more (sore point) but the time also includes meeting the guests and explaining a few bits and pieces.
Some people here felt that our changeover shouldn't take this long - and from our own experience there, we are inclined to agree. But what can one do? Having said that, there has only been one complaint in 2 seasons about the level of cleanliness, and that was recently, when they were also fitting in getting married - not on changeover day though, I hasten to add! So they may take longer than necessary, but they are reasonably thorough - and, important point, the guests like them.
We don't have the time to properly clean all the windows, sills and grates on a changeover (considering it's a big villa with lots of windows and a security grate on each!!). This is left for when we have a 'window' for cleaning the bits that we are unable to do in the 4 hour turnover. However, Hubby hoses down all the windows/sills and grates, but unfortunately this still leaves a white residue which really needs going over with a cloth (and we really do not have the time to do this on a changeover).
If there are smudges on the patio doors (leading to the pool) I give the glass a clean...but that is the only window I have time to clean!
The guests that we had 2 weeks ago (saga on another thread)...complained that the villa was 'dirty'...to our horror!...but when I met them 'face to face' to confront what was dirty..it was the window sills and grates...which I explained are hosed down but leaves a white residue due to the hard water in our area.
I must add these are the only guests to have complained about the window sills and grates...but I think they were fault finding to add 'oomph' to lessen their portion of damage done to a bed and a leather sofa !!
Last edited by Guest3 on Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm always surprised how long it takes me to sort out our 1 bedroom apartment when we leave. I nearly always have to leave the washing machine and dishwasher on when we leave (obviously not if guests were arriving). Our friend does our changeovers, and takes some of the laundry home with her. Last time, I washed and swept the bedroom floor the night before, and I was still half an hour late leaving. I do window, shower cubicle, loo and sink. Hubby does the kitchen, hoovers and cleans the patio doors. The bedroom window is shuttered as it is right next to our neighbours front door. Bedding goes in the washer first , followed by the towels.I remake the beds, and leave the laundry on the airer in the lounge and bathroom(dries quickly with underfloor heating) Lastly, as we leave I put in the bathmat, and cotton floor rug,and turn on the dishwasher. It is rare that we leave on a changeover day (usually come back on Friday), so Mel will take away the last lot of laundry to dry at home when she goes the next day or so.
I wouldn't let my house go 3 weeks without a clean to be honest. To keep on top of it, we need to be in there every week.
Ours is 3 beds, 2 baths, 1600 sq ft home. We have 2 professional cleaners for 3 hours and I work alongside them, so you could say 9 hours to do normal household clean, including change all beds and towels, replenish household supplies, make up baskets of complimentaries, sort games and toys, clean outdoor furniture, BBQ, sweep decks, wipe off all thumbprints etc. This would also include trying to fit in a selection of jobs that are done every 2 to 3 weeks or as needed, not every week, such as washing accent rugs, outside of a few windows.
We do get comments about how clean it is, usually the first thing they say when they check in and always much appreciated.
I have an hour's leeway, but twice this year a load of bathmats were still going round in the drier when the next guests arrived. Although not intentional, I have found the drier-still-going-round scenario to be a really good ploy. Because they know how tight it is for us to get everything through in the time, they had already done most of the washing for us before they checked out. Perfect!
Joanna, I'll let Mel know about that trick!!! We actually have our first two week booking in our place this week, as skiers tend to just go for a week. They never gave an answer to my email for cleaning or linen change, so I've left it up to Mel to sort out with them.
I wouldn't let my house go 3 weeks without a clean to be honest. To keep on top of it, we need to be in there every week.
We are in there every week as we've had back-to-back bookings since May! Our villa get's a good clean inside on each change-over, including all the garden furniture, and the outside terrace areas. However, windows are given a cursory hose down on the outside because of the time element.
Crystal,
I completely agree about the windows being a problem. It's just not possible to do them all on a regular changeover. All window sills are done inside and out every week, also the 5 glazed doors usually have thumbprints to remove, but that's about it. All our windows and most doors have bug screens on the outside that catch a fine pollen that comes from the wild olive trees and have to be unclipped and power washed, then the windows underneath cleaned. There's no way we can do that every week, so at most they get a cursory hose down through the screens, and sometimes not even that. We try every week to do one or two thoroughly, but it's not ideal.
Jane,
Unless you are there to see them do it for yourself, I honestly don't see how you can really judge whether it should be 9 hours or 12, but it doesn't sound unrealistic to me, even without the laundry. I think your house is considerably larger than ours, also I haven't included an acre or so of grass cutting and various other minor repair issues in the 9 hours above, so it doesn't sound to me to be too far off. If I add that in, also the stop for fresh flowers and fruit, and the meet and greet, I'm definitely up there in the 10 to 12 hour time range.
Another thing to bear in mind is that a cleaner is not a cleaner is not a cleaner. I work with 2 drawn from a pool of 4 professional cleaners. All of them are good workers, and I'm happy with each of them, but I definitely have my favorites and my house shows the difference depending on who has been.
P.S. I would definitely add straightening the kitchen pots and pans to their task list. More often than not ours are mixed up higgledy piggledy in the cupboard and quite difficult for someone who doesn't know what you have to find the right lid. It only takes a minute or two to restack, literally, and I think it's one of those small things that make a big difference on the arrival impression. It's also the only way to make sure they are all clean and dry, and sometimes the odd one is not, which is a definite yuck factor. I also give myself the job of separating mixed up dinner services and wine glasses from tumblers and wooden spoons seem to dance between 3 different drawers, and straightening the shelves in the food pantry, but personally I don't think any of that matters half as much as making sure the pots and pans are grease free and neatly stacked. So I do think it's important to have them do that for you if not already, but that's just me.
I think I must spend at least the first 20 minutes of a changeover checking the kitchen! Most often, cups and glasses are left 'higgildy piggildy' or moved from it's original resting place to a totally different cupboard! I have often had to bleach tea mugs as they have been stained brown from tea brewing (or lack of a good scrub after drinking strong tea!!)
I also do a weekly check on the pots,pans and cutlery drawer. Once I found the remanants of scrambled egg in a pan which someone couldn't be bothered washing up properly..yuk!!
We allow between 6 and 9 manhours for each property. It depends on how many houses we are changing that day.
To be honest 6 isn't really enough, but if we have three houses to do in one day, three people and six hours to do it in we don't have much choice.
The time includes making up all the beds (which is very time consuming) but doesn't include any laundry, except perhaps the odd wash for bathmats or tea towels if I am short.
We do windows when they need them, normally the french doors have little hand prints on them. But if we have a tripple change this is limited to the absolute essentials.
I do think that we work quicker than employed cleaners would, and we are also very slick and have our routines worked out. When we first started in the business it took us more like ten to twelve hours to do one house, but alot of that was due to inexperience.
Ah, after reading all these I realise we all include different things in out time. I said that my 5-6 hours doesn't include the outside. It doesn't include the meet and greet either, that could be another 2-4 hours depending on who is doing it ( I just wait for them, my concierge has a 2 hour time frame, then she goes). It does not include buying the milk, flowers etc. It doesn't include re-arranging the pots and pans, I do that when I'm there , that's an extra 20 mins or more . I suppose if you had to include cleaning up the outside that would be an extra hour for the BBQ, the tables ( we have 2 ), chairs,12 outside "dining chairs", then sun loungers and their side tables, then children's table and chairs,plus quick check on parasol and bikes, then sorting out the table tennis table, bats, balls etc,then throwing away all the old pool toys that people leave behind. The pool is a different job on top of that of course, and then the grass cutting is yet another different job that someone else does. Phew- don't we all work hard, or work hard to earn the money to pay people to work hard on our behalf? I'm tired just reading all that lot! This is only for one house that sleeps up to 7 people !!
Joan and I have never timed ourselves on change-over days other than being aware that everything gets done very comfortably between 10.00 a.m. to 4 p.m. What screws it all up is the guest who hangs around until noon and then leaves everything “in a right old state�.
We don’t count the laundry – that’s done during the week. We don’t count the pool or the garden – they’re to be done anyway.
I guess one could call it hard work but its all part of the role we have taken on.
Many of us were “high flyers� in our previous lives and now we are cleaners. Ah! Well, such is life.
