Cleaning a homestay room between two guests

HostBooking · Updated Oct 28, 2026 · 7 min read

Turning a room over between guests works best from a fixed list: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, restocking, a check for damage and forgotten items, and photos as proof. A room should only be called clean after someone has looked at it again. Here is a sample checklist and a way to plan the gap between check-out and check-in.

Why a fixed routine matters

In a small homestay the cleaner is often the owner, a relative or one or two staff on shifts. When everyone cleans their own way, small things get missed: one towel short, no toilet paper, hair in the drain. The next guest does not see how busy you were, only a room that is not quite clean. A fixed list makes every turnover end the same way, whoever does it.

A sample checklist

Bedroom

• Open the window, collect rubbish and bottles left behind.
• Change all sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers; check mattress and pillows for stains.
• Dust the headboard, desk, shelves, door handles, switches and remotes.
• Look under the bed and in wardrobes and drawers: that is where guests forget things.
• Vacuum or sweep, then mop from the far corner towards the door.

Bathroom

• Scrub the toilet, basin, shower and glass; wipe dry so no water marks are left.
• Clear hair from the drain and check the water runs away.
• Replace bath towels, face towels and the bath mat.
• Restock toilet paper, soap, shampoo and shower gel to the room type’s set amounts.

Kitchen and shared areas

• Wash and put away dishes; wipe the hob, microwave and sink.
• Clear the fridge of anything left behind and wipe the shelves.
• Check the free tea, coffee and water, and top them up.

Final check

• Damage: bulbs, air conditioner, TV, taps, curtains. Note it straight away, even small things.
• Lost items: record room, date and description, keep them in one place and tell the guest.
• Photo proof: the bed, the bathroom and anything damaged. In a dispute, a timestamped photo beats a recollection.
• Air and temperature: switch the air conditioner off if the next guest is hours away; close the window before you leave.

Planning the gap between check-out and check-in

With check-out at 12:00 and check-in at 14:00, you have two hours for every room changing guests that day. Do the sum: how long a double room takes your cleaner, and how many rooms turn over at once on a busy day. If it does not fit, there are three ways out: a later check-in time, an extra person for that window, or cleaning rooms that were empty overnight earlier, so midday is left for the rooms just vacated.

For rooms rented by the hour, set a fixed gap after every booking so the system never sells into cleaning time. See running an hourly homestay.

From dirty to clean, with a second look

A room should move through clear states: dirty when the guest has just left, cleaning while someone works on it, and clean when it is ready. For important guests or new staff, add awaiting inspection: someone else, the owner or a manager, looks before it is called clean. If it fails, send it back with a specific note, such as "streaks on the bathroom mirror", not a general complaint.

Recurring deep cleaning

Some jobs are not needed every turnover but must not be forgotten. Give them a fixed schedule:

• Weekly: window glass, air-conditioner filters in busy rooms, watering plants.
• Monthly: wash curtains, turn mattresses, deep-clean the kitchen, check fire extinguishers.
• Seasonal: service the air conditioners, check waterproofing before the rainy season.

Running out of supplies

Most complaints about amenities come from something that ran out earlier and nobody said. Set standard amounts per room type (how many towels, how many bottles of shampoo) and have cleaners mark what is missing as they go. At the end of the day, one person collects the list and restocks in one trip.

Dorm rooms sold by the bed

In a dorm, guests in different beds leave at different times. Cleaning the whole room each time one leaves wastes effort and disturbs people still asleep. The usual way: change the bed of the guest who left, and clean the bathroom and floor once for the whole room at a quiet hour.

Doing it on HostBooking

HostBooking’s housekeeping follows the routine above:

• The desk taps Check out on the Today room board; the room turns dirty and a Clean task is created, with the room type’s list of included items to mark present or missing.
• Turn on an option to also get a Prepare room task a set number of minutes before the guest arrives.
• Staff open housekeeping in their phone’s browser, tap Start, tick each item and take up to 6 photos per task.
• You choose which kinds of task need inspection. Those wait for someone allowed to inspect; a task sent back carries a note and the room goes back to dirty. The room turns Clean only once it passes.
• Items marked missing appear on the list of supplies to restock.
• Daily, weekly and monthly recurring tasks are created on their day.
• A wall board opens from a secret link on a TV or tablet, with no login, showing only room numbers, task kinds and the first name of whoever is on it, no guest details.
• Dorm rooms: several beds checking out create one cleaning task for the room.

Housekeeping is included on every plan, Free included.