Turnover checklist

Why a written checklist

A good clean done from memory still misses things, and they tend to be the same things: hair in the shower, a dirty oven, a remote with flat batteries. A checklist in walking order turns the turnover into the same routine every time, whoever does it. Airbnb's own hosting advice says to create a turnover checklist and follow the same routine before every check-in (resource 656).

This tool builds that list from the rooms and amenities you tick. It starts with the place as the guest left it and ends with the lock-up and a sign-off, so nothing in between depends on memory.

The photos before cleaning starts

The first section asks the cleaner to photograph each room as it was left, before touching anything. Once a room is cleaned, the evidence of a broken lamp or a stained sofa is gone. A photo with a time on it, taken before the clean, shows what the guest left.

That matters because Airbnb's damage process has a deadline and asks for evidence. Help article 279 says to file a reimbursement request "Within 14 days of the responsible guest's checkout", and to document the issue "by taking photos or videos" along with estimates or receipts (help 279). Check the current rules before you claim. The checklist can't make a claim succeed. It makes sure the photos exist.

The fixed photo list

After the clean, the cleaner takes the same short set of photos every time: the same spot, the same angle, the same framing. The tool picks 8 to 12 shots from your rooms, in walking order, with a photo of the keys or lock among them. If your rooms give fewer than 8, it adds shots such as the fridge, the bins, the supply cupboard and the heating or air conditioning control until there are 8.

A short fixed list is easier to keep than a long one. When the shots are always the same, you can compare this clean with the last one at a glance, and a cleaner is less likely to push back on photos they know are quick.

Room by room

Each room section lists the jobs most likely to be missed, not every possible task. Bedrooms and bathrooms are numbered when you have more than one, so the cleaner ticks each one off separately. Amenities you tick, such as a pool, a barbecue or a cot, get their own short sections after the rooms. Appliances work the same way: the dishwasher, oven, microwave, coffee machine, washing machine and tumble dryer tasks only appear for the ones you tick, so the cleaner is never asked to empty a dryer the place doesn't have.

Edit the printed list by hand to fit your place. If a guest mentions something in a review, add it to the list for that room so it never happens twice.

Restock, damage and lock-up

Three sections appear on every checklist. Restock: count each consumable and top it up to par. Damage and incidents: photograph and log anything found during the clean, and tell the host the same day. Lock-up: windows, doors, heating or air conditioning, lights and keys.

The restock par calculator gives you the par numbers for the restock step.

Rolling it out with a cleaner

Walk the first turnover together with the printed list. Agree where the photos go, usually one folder per booking named by date. After the first week, look at the photos together and adjust anything that isn't working. A checklist the cleaner helped shape is one they will use.

Print it, or laminate one copy per room. A short list on the wall is read. A long document on a phone is skimmed.

What this tool can't do

It doesn't know your place, so the tasks are the common ones, not a full standard for your home. It doesn't store the list or the photos. Nothing you tick here is sent anywhere.