Managing the changeover - sharing our thoughts here

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>
SPJ
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Managing the changeover - sharing our thoughts here

Post by SPJ »

Hi Everyone, I've noticed some good suggestions popping up in different places on how to go about managing changeovers through the pandemic and I wondered if we could share them all in one place please. If you've posted something elsewhere, would you mind please posting it here as well. I think we can learn from each other. Thanks.
I'll post again below with what I've just put in the French section.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Re thoughts for cleaning - I've said some of this elsewhere, but I think it's worth repeating here. Basically I'm setting up the gite exceptionally this year, stripped aback to the bare minimum for efficient cleaning. I believe this will reassure my guests.
All "knickknacks" will be out. All games will be out. I may also remove all books and DVDs (in discussion with guests)
I will provide the minimum of cutlery / plates etc so I can have two sets on the go - one lot comes out for deep cleaning later, the other already deep cleaned lot will be ready to go in for next guests.
All bedding ditto, Guests will be asked to strip their beds and put bedding into black sacks. We will come in with already deep cleaned fresh bedding including pillows / duvets for next guests.
Welcome pack will only consist of stuff in bottles / tins / sealed packs that can be cleaned. So for example they will have to buy their own fresh bread.
Everything they bring or buy here that normally they might leave - eg shampoo / mayonnaise / etc MUST leave with them or be thrown away by them.
All of this will be discussed with them beforehand, including that they MUST let us know if they feel unwell while here or fall ill within three weeks of their return.
I think they will understand. They are returners and they know us well and I think they will want to be as safe as possible and to keep the cottage free of infection if possible.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

SPJ wrote:Re thoughts for cleaning - I've said some of this elsewhere, but I think it's worth repeating here. Basically I'm setting up the gite exceptionally this year, stripped aback to the bare minimum for efficient cleaning. I believe this will reassure my guests.
All "knickknacks" will be out. All games will be out. I may also remove all books and DVDs (in discussion with guests)
I will provide the minimum of cutlery / plates etc so I can have two sets on the go - one lot comes out for deep cleaning later, the other already deep cleaned lot will be ready to go in for next guests.
All bedding ditto, Guests will be asked to strip their beds and put bedding into black sacks. We will come in with already deep cleaned fresh bedding including pillows / duvets for next guests.
Welcome pack will only consist of stuff in bottles / tins / sealed packs that can be cleaned. So for example they will have to buy their own fresh bread.
Everything they bring or buy here that normally they might leave - eg shampoo / mayonnaise / etc MUST leave with them or be thrown away by them.
All of this will be discussed with them beforehand, including that they MUST let us know if they feel unwell while here or fall ill within three weeks of their return.
I think they will understand. They are returners and they know us well and I think they will want to be as safe as possible and to keep the cottage free of infection if possible.
Can't guests make their own minds up about whether they want to risk touching a game etc that's been handled by others? It's not actually going to spread Covid-19 by sitting in the cupboard. Not everyone is terrified of the virus and actually want to get on with their lives. The risk to individuals is small unless the virus gets out of control and if it's out of control, no-one will want to come anyway. And by deep-cleaning cutlery, I assume you mean putting it in the dishwasher?
Moonshine
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Post by Moonshine »

I'll be very interested to see what people are doing too. Here's what I'm doing, and have put on my website:

'To protect everyone concerned, and to eliminate (we hope) any possibility of transferring infection, we are leaving one week between all bookings this year. The scientists have determined that the Covid-19 virus can remain active on hard surfaces for up to 72 hours, or three days. We will therefore get the cottage completely ready for guests three days before they arrive, and then not go into the cottage for any reason until three days after they leave. We will still be able to have friendly chats with our guests, but only outside and at a distance.'

I will discuss these precautions with guests before they come, or before they book if a new booking, to make sure they understand everything and also realise that there are still likely to be some government-imposed restrictions upon what they can do when they're here.

I had originally thought that I wouldn't accept new bookings this year, and would cancel those I already had, but then I thought there was no good reason not to go ahead following these precautions. I'm always open to improving or amending them, though.

I'm also giving full refunds for any coronavirus-related cancellation at any time.

Not going to make much money this year!
chipiechoo
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Post by chipiechoo »

SPJ I am not decrying anything you suggest but wonder if you would be better off delaying your guests for the next few months or even cancelling them? It is obviously causing you concerns that can't be answered by anybody even the experts, so why put yourself through this angst?
We have not obviously had your level of bookings but the ones we have haven't yet cancelled, first being 20th June and if they cancel so be it, we haven't actually taken any money from them as they are returning guests and we just ask them to pay before arrival.
Personally we will do what we always do if they decide to come, a deep clean and any products we leave will be unopened, apart from that we will keep our distance and leave them to enjoy the property. To be honest I don't see how anything more than that is necessary as nobody apart from myself and other half have been in the gite for 6 months and I as I speak we appear perfectly healthy.
Following this we have plenty of time to prepare for our next guests and will repeat the previous advice.
All this of course is entirely dependant on France allowing visitors from abroad or within France to travel more than the current 100k radius to either a second property or for other than urgent famlly reasons, which is yet another unknow quantity.
As mentioned by others it does not look like a good year to make much money but we take the good with the bad in this business.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

If people are so paranoid, are they going to want to leave their home and go anywhere?
I presume you'll have to remove all the instruction manuals and the curtains - they will have been handled by the previous guests - and your guests will only be able to travel to your place if it doesn't involve a stop at the service station - and they will have to wait 3 days after buying everything at the supermarket because it lives on surfaces - and won't want to visit any attraction...

There are sensible precautions to take but taking it to extremes to avoid any risk at all is not sensible. Life is never risk-free and if you choose to go away and stay in a holiday cottage, you're going to want to go out and enjoy yourself and accept the risk - which for an individual is actually quite small. We may be living with Covid-19 for many years - a vaccine is by no means certain and it may be like the 'flu with different strains every year - and leaving a weeks gap between bookings would mean closing your business.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

I'm finding the responses by some of you interesting.
Unlike some, I do have concerns, not least because I known people who have been ill, some continue to be so and the virus has left others with continuing problems. Friends recently lost their sister-in-law to COVID-19. She was 39. I respect this virus and I think we need to take it seriously.
I am a fit, active, 73 year-old who is extremely fortunate to live in rural France and so the lockdown for us has been easy. I am fitter than most of my guests and my concerns are for them and their well-being. It is how I have always treated my guests and it is why I have had only 5-star ratings on HomeAway and all my bookings for this year are repeat business except for one family.
In this scenario I am also a planner and I need to think things through. And I noticed that others elsewhere on the site were also beginning to ask questions about what to do for changeovers. So I thought pooling our shared experience might be valuable. For example, I have read credible sources that say ordinary dish soap and alcohol based products are better than bleach based products (despite what Unilever advertising would have us believe) at killing the virus. Some of the information and advice on ABB and Tripadviser I find barely comprehensible when it comes to the chemical names of cleaning products etc. that is not my world.
If you believe that none of this matters, that your guests won't be concerned, that it's business as usual this year, then may I gently suggest that you do not bother with this thread and leave it to those of us who believe that the health and well-being of our guests this year will be partly in our hands and we have a duty of care to go above and beyond.
Maybe I'm a lone voice.
If nothing else, maybe there is a conversation to be had at the end of the year about how it was for you.
farley
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Post by farley »

I’m with you 100% SPJ.
We are ‘older’ gite owners with relatives in the ‘NHS Frontline’ . Knowing what we know we wouldn’t dream of taking chances with our own or our guests health. So for us it’s a very poor year from a financial viewpoint, most of our guests have moved their holidays to next year or the year after.
I will be very interested to hear how folk cope this summer if they’re able to take guests.
Stay safe everyone
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Sanchisimo
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Post by Sanchisimo »

I just wish that the 'authorities' would come up with rules and guidelines - along the lines that restaurants and any people involved in food handling have - that we would have to sign up to. Restaurants don't have to invent their own rules to prevent food poisoning and are inspected and fined for violations giving the restaurant customer a good degree of confidence when eating out. Even the idea of some sort of course on cleaning and preparing vacation lodging would seem to me to be a good idea. Everyone who handles food in the commercial sector needs to go on one.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Thanks for your support farley.
Some thoughts about what "deep cleaning" means to me.
I'm guessing that for most gite owners a Saturday changeover means a quick check through all the cutlery, crockery, glasses, pots and pans. Any that are sticky, dirty, bits of food still in the fork tines etc are put in the dishwasher for a "normal" wash. For most situations the dishwasher will be used just once.
For me, a deep clean on the other hand means that every single item of cutlery, crockery, pot, pan, serving dish, glass is put through the dishwasher because I do not know which item in the kitchen has been used by my guests during their stay. In the current situation also the recommendation is that the dishwasher should be set on its highest temperature - which means it all takes longer.
At the beginning of the season I do just that - every single item in the kitchen is put through the dishwasher. It takes me two days. Obviously that is impossible if one set of guests leaves at 10am and another lot arrive at 4pm. Hence my thought to split my kitchen contents into two. For example I have 12 cutlery settings, which is generous when quite often I only have a couple in the cottage. I do not know which they have used, neither will they. But if I reduce this to 6 and hold the other deep cleaned 6 ready for the next guests I can whip the "contaminated" lot out and put the cleaned lot in - minimum of hassle and no fussing around with an impossible cleaning task on the changeover day itself.
Perhaps for some of you this is all over the top but for me, it's about thinking it through in advance and making life easier.
shamac
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Post by shamac »

I'm going to strip back a bit, take away the children's toys i normally leave but not the books, up to visitors if they want to touch them or not.

I am wondering about bedding. We can't launder duvets and pillows after every visit-they have to be dry cleaned and this is just impossible to manage every couple of days. Thinking of supplying covers and pillowcases and asking guests to bring their own duvets and pillows-or ask them what they prefer? I have leather sofas and no carpets and everything else can be hot washed.

All my cutlery etc is dishwashed, I'm not washing them again, if guests want to it's up to them.

A house can never be sterilised, we have to be sensible I think.
The harder you work, the luckier you get.
Circé
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Post by Circé »

I manage properties for absentee owners, who also use their properties themselves for holidays.
Some of my clients have cancelled all their bookings for the summer, saying it is just too much hassle and worry, from not knowing yet whether people from afar can come to cleaning protocols.
Others are hoping to arrive themselves early season, enjoy their holiday then let as normal late July, August and to the end of the season.
Having looked at all the advice and links issued by our departmental tourisme organisation, I cannot see how I can safely manage to do a same day changeover, as we usually do, in any property we currently manage.
Clients will have to face up to higher cleaning and laundry costs (more time & cleaning products, more things to launder than usual), and lose at least one day off each let.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

I feel for you Circe. It's tough enough sorting this all out as an owner on site. Having to manage it for someone else is an extra layer of complexity/uncertainty. I hope all your distant owners really appreciate just what you are facing.
rosebud
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Post by rosebud »

I am going to leave an extra 2 or 3 days between bookings.

I intend buying some big washing bags and asking guests to strip the bed linen and leave it in the bags.

I may ask guests to leave windows open - upstairs at least.
Norfolk Canary
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Post by Norfolk Canary »

Our letting agent emailed me a couple of days ago to inform me that a local company was offering sanitising of properties by ‘fogging’ which I had never heard of. It lasts for 30 days apparently. They were quoting just under £100 for our one bed flat!! I did a bit of googling and came across this. You simply set the canisters off, close the door and leave it for 20 mins. Simple. I have order some and will be doing it myself. This may be a good alternative to leaving the property empty for a period between guests and something you can add to your promotional material to reassure prospective guests.
https://safe2stay.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw ... FYEALw_wcB
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