How to Find Reliable Airbnb Cleaners (and Why Most Hosts Struggle to Get It Right)

If you’re searching for how to find Airbnb cleaners or comparing holiday rental cleaning services, you’re already aware of one thing:

cleaning is one of the hardest parts of running an Airbnb well.

It’s also one of the most important. Poor cleaning is one of the fastest ways to lose five-star reviews, damage occupancy and reduce long-term income.

This guide explains:

• how Airbnb cleaning really works
• how to find and vet cleaners properly
• why many hosts struggle to make it sustainable
• and when professional holiday rental cleaning services start to make more sense

It’s written for both first-time hosts and experienced DIY hosts who feel cleaning is becoming a bottleneck.

Why Airbnb cleaning is different from domestic cleaning

This is where many hosts go wrong.

Airbnb and holiday rental cleaning is not the same as domestic cleaning. The standards, pace and accountability are completely different.

Airbnb cleaning usually involves:

• full reset after every guest
• laundering and changing all bedding and towels
• checking for guest damage or missing items
• restocking consumables
• preparing the home for immediate re-use

Domestic cleaners are often excellent at regular weekly cleans, but Airbnb cleaning requires:

• speed without cutting corners
• consistency across different days and times
• comfort working to check-in deadlines
• reporting issues clearly and promptly

This is why many hosts who hire a “regular cleaner” end up with mixed results.

How to find Airbnb cleaners that actually work for short-term lets

If you want to do this yourself, these are the routes that tend to work best.

1. Recommendations from other hosts

Local host groups, WhatsApp groups or Facebook groups can be useful. Cleaners who already work in short-term rentals understand the pace and expectations.

Be cautious though. It a delicate balance managing multiples homes as a short-term rental cleaner. All it takes is for 2 or 3 homes to have a check-out on the same day and it isn’t possible and standards are likely to significantly fall.

2. Local housekeeping companies

Some cleaning companies offer holiday rental cleaning services rather than domestic work.

Ask specifically:

• do they handle changeovers
• do they do laundry
• do they work weekends and bank holidays
• can they handle back to back bookings
• can they handle late check-outs or early check-ins

Many companies say yes to everything initially but struggle in practice.

3. Hiring independent cleaners directly

This gives you more control, but also more responsibility.

You will need to handle:

• recruitment
• training
• cover for holidays or sickness
• quality checks
• payment and invoicing
• last-minute issues

In rural areas, this is often harder than hosts expect. There are simply fewer experienced Airbnb cleaners available.

What to look for when vetting Airbnb cleaners

Whether you’re hiring directly or using holiday rental cleaning services, these are the basics that matter.

Reliability beats speed

A slightly slower clean done properly is far better than a rushed one that leads to complaints.

Realistic time allowances

If you expect a full clean, laundry and reset in an unrealistic timeframe, standards will slip.

Clear checklists

Good Airbnb cleaners work from detailed checklists. Without them, tasks get forgotten and standards drift over time.

Willingness to report issues

The best cleaners flag:

• wear and tear
• guest damage
• maintenance issues
• missing items

Silence after every changeover is not a good sign.

The hidden work most hosts underestimate

This is where many DIY hosts hit a wall.

Even if you find a great cleaner, you still need to manage:

• inspections and quality control
• linen rotation and replacement
• supply ordering
• cover when cleaners are unavailable
• coordination with guests and check-in times
• maintenance issues spotted during cleans

Each individual task seems manageable. The problem is that they happen constantly, often at short notice, and often outside normal working hours.

Many hosts tell us the issue is not just the volume of work, but the mental load of always needing to be available.

Why cleaning problems usually show up in reviews first

Guests rarely complain during their stay unless something is very wrong.

Instead, they leave:

• four-star reviews instead of five
• vague comments about cleanliness or presentation
• feedback about things “not feeling fresh”

Once reviews slip, performance drops:

• lower visibility on Airbnb
• fewer bookings
• pressure to reduce prices

At that point, with fewer bookings and lower margins, fixing cleaning becomes harder, not easier.

When professional holiday rental cleaning services start to make sense

Many hosts can manage cleaning themselves at the beginning.

Over time, as bookings increase, most find that:

• managing cleaners can become almost as time-consuming as guest messaging
• standards become harder to maintain consistently
• issues are spotted too late
• holidays and time away become stressful

This is often when hosts move to full holiday rental management.

With a professional setup:

• cleaners are paid properly and held to clear standards
• inspections happen routinely
• linen systems are handled at scale
• issues are picked up early
• guests get a consistently better experience

In many cases, better reviews and stronger occupancy offset the cost of management.

A note on rural areas vs cities

In cities like London, there is usually a larger pool of cleaners.

In areas like the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and other rural regions, finding reliable Airbnb cleaners is often harder. Travel time, availability and cover all matter more.

This is why local networks, trusted relationships and scale make such a difference.

Final thoughts

If you want to find Airbnb cleaners and manage them yourself, it is possible. This guide should help you avoid the most common mistakes.

However, most hosts eventually discover that cleaning is not a standalone task. It sits at the centre of guest experience, reviews, maintenance and long-term performance. Even if you find a great cleaner,

That is why many owners ultimately choose professional holiday rental cleaning services or full management, not because they can’t do it themselves, but because it delivers better results with far less stress.

If you’d like to talk about how we handle cleaning, inspections and housekeeping across our managed homes, or want to understand whether full management would make sense for your property, feel free to get in touch.

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