Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Cleaning Tips for Short-Term Rental Hosts: Maximise Guest Experience and Ratings

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Cleaning Tips for Short-Term Rental Hosts: Maximise Guest Experience and Ratings · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to host. Planet bite size the.
• 0:02
  Podcast brought to you by Hostplanet.
• 0:04
  And host Philly. My name's James Farley, the
• 0:06
  founder of Host. Planet and our goal is to share
• 0:09
  everything you need to know about buying and managing short.
• 0:12
  Term rentals. Today's guest is Joseph Cox from
• 0:14
  host Philly. And he's got a bunch of tips to
• 0:16
  share about cleaning and. Maintenance, including whether
• 0:20
  you should allow pets or not. OK, real talk now for all you
• 0:24
  hosts out there, you know that moment when you guest messages
• 0:27
  you? Again with hey.
• 0:29
  What's the Wi-Fi or you're? Staring at 5:00.
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  Different calendars? Wondering if you've?
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  Questions. Honestly, it.
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  Just makes your life. Easier and keeps your.
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  Guests happier helping you achieve those all important five
• 1:05
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  Just hit the link in the show notes.
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• 1:26
  the guidebooks. And if you'd like a proper
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  walkthrough, there's also a link to book a demo with Frank Bosey
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  from House Philly. He will show you how it all
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  works. Less stress, more bookings
• 1:38
  sorted with House Philly. Joseph, thank you for joining us
• 1:48
  on Houseplanet Bite Size. You've got 5 tips to share on
• 1:52
  cleaning and maintenance, so take it away with tip #1.
• 1:56
  Thanks James. Yeah, it's great to be back.
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  And yeah, no, there's the whole array of options for managing
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  cleaning and turnover maintenance.
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  So it's it's quite a complicated procedure, but you can simplify
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  things. So, so yeah, tip #1 definitely
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  have a cleaner who who understands short term rentals.
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  It's quite a niche area for a, for the generic cleaner just to
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  go in and manage a short term rental.
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  So definitely for them to understand how it flows
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  day-to-day operations, what's what's compulsory, what's
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  needed, what the guest really, really wants in a stay and being
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  able for the cleaners to really work on that.
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  So yeah, someone who understands short term rentals and the short
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  term rental property industry is super important.
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  Yeah, it's, it's just so important that the cleaner
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  understands it's, it's hospitality because sometimes
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  people will set up a rental and they might use a domestic
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  cleaner. But a domestic clean is not
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  necessarily the same as a short term rental clean because you
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  want your guests to turn up and think that it's the first time
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  that anyone has ever used the property.
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  So I think if if you are starting out potentially with a
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  domestic cleaner, it's really important to train and advise
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  and and to set those expectations from day one.
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  Definitely, Yeah, yeah, that's so important and it leads on to
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  having good reviews, which is the biggest sort of one of the
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  biggest values of a short term rental succeeding or failing.
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  You know, having that listing higher will will mean it has to
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  have good reviews. So, you know, if the cleaners
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  don't do a good job and it's a mess, it's something to do well.
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  So yeah, a funnier, funnier cleaner can do a thorough job.
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  There's a bit more pressure on them than considering the
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  difference between a short term rental and a a normal property.
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  So to finding someone who can really be under pressure,
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  understand the time limits, constraints, understanding the
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  check insurance and checkouts in the fast paces is really
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  important. So.
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  Yeah, there are a few things in the world of short term rentals
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  that you cannot compromise on. I'd say probably top of the list
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  is cleaning. Probably the second one is
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  having really fast Wi-Fi. But yeah, cleaning is definitely
• 3:58
  number one. And if people need to find a
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  good cleaner in their area who understands STR, where should
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  they go, Joseph? Yeah, that would be, I mean you
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  could always use a software like I mean turn out they have their
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  own marketplace. It's used all over the world and
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  the host can just go on. They search for the put in the
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  address of the property, how many rooms, how many living
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  rooms, the size of the property and that sort of information.
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  And then it'll come up with a whole list of cleaners that are
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  available and their experiences and reviews and ratings.
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  So they can just choose a cleaner and they'll do the job
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  for you. And then internal, it's a whole
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  array of features, inventory management, photo checklist,
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  problem reporting, quality control, the system, the
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  software is free for life with the host free subscription.
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  If if someone ever fancied using that alongside post free PMS and
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  yeah, just all in one space, you know to do that.
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  Yeah, Turno will help you find a cleaner, but also help you
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  manage the entire process as well.
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  So check it out. We'll put a link to Turno.
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  In the show notes. OK then, Joseph tip #2.
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  Yeah. So definitely having a good
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  software and system to to to manage the the clean internal
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  management space. So there's a whole array of
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  options out there. There's there's like a Perto,
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  there's Turno, there's Breezeway.
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  You could always use something even like Task Rabbit, you can
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  go in there and just hire someone for an odd job.
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  Could be maintenance, it could be cleaning, it could be all
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  sorts. So, so yeah, using something
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  like that to be able to have the cleaners log into their own
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  space and manage jobs is really important.
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  So they can keep a good log of what's what's live, what
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  bookings have come in, what jobs need to be done and what's next.
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  So you know, and more importantly, you know, the
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  cleaners are always on the move. So having a good app as well is
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  in there hostfully has sort of recently bought out a refresh
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  new host free cleaning Internet management app.
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  So they, the cleaners can just log in, go in, manage all the
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  jobs. It's all color-coded.
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  They can see all the property details about what to do.
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  So yeah, just, you know, when they're on the rave cleaners,
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  they just go on, see all the jobs and they can just mark them
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  as done or pending or whatever stage they're at.
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  And yeah, they're all very, very useful to streamline operations.
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  Yeah, that management app is. Really useful and that.
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  Leads us nicely into tip #3, where we're going to talk about
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  tracking. So your cleaners generally are
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  your first line of defence and if something goes wrong it's
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  important they know what to do. Definitely, yeah, yeah, it's,
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  it's they, they sort of be got to be the the go to ones who are
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  on the ground are in the property to to keep an eye on
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  everything. And if it's going, if something
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  goes wrong, they can keep track of it.
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  So they can just simply, you know, take a photo of anything
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  that's broken maybe and, and send that off via WhatsApp or
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  into the Hostfully app or anywhere through.
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  And then the host can keep an eye on it and keep a track of
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  expenses and what needs to be bought before the next day and
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  that sort of thing. So yeah, keeping a track of
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  anything that goes wrong for the cleaners is really important.
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  OK, so we've had make sure you get a cleaner who understands
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  STR check out Turno. Of course, if you need to find a
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  good cleaner cleaning management app, you can potentially use the
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  one that hosts fully have developed and also tracking if
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  anything goes wrong. Tip. #4 Joseph Yeah, finding a
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  cleaner that can do more than just the cleaning.
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  You know that there are a lot of cleaners out there who will go
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  the extra mile just to do that bit more.
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  So, you know, with short term rentals, it could be, you know,
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  these these upsells that hosts offer, the cleaners might get
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  involved for that. It could be doing the midstate
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  cleaning or it could be leaving a gift in the property.
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  Or it could be just yeah, some sort of service.
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  You know, it could be even like a, you know, a lift from the
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  airport to the property or something like this.
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  You know, these these cleaners can offer more services than
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  just cleaning and they can go that extra mile in offering more
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  going into that management sort of, you know, area of things.
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  You know, they can do more than just just the cleaning.
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  So definitely recommend someone who can do go that extra mile.
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  Yeah, definitely. I think that comes back again
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  to, you know, having somebody in the cleaning space who really
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  understands short term rentals and knows it's hospitality and
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  and the different the the kind of the guest journey that you've
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  got to deliver to get those get those all important five star
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  reviews. Definitely, definitely.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it'll just mean a good
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  relationship and good connection with the team, you know, so the
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  cleaner can do just more, more than the cleaning there.
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  They'll have a lot more experience in understanding the
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  whole business, the whole short term rental industry and it'll
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  just help everybody. OK then, so 5th and.
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  Final tip, Joseph, yeah, if something goes spot, you know,
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  have a backup plan. So don't rely just purely on the
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  one cleaner that you might have for all your properties.
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  Make sure you've got someone there, you know, whether it's
• 8:45
  whether it's even, you know, using Turner, you can just
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  quickly find a cleaner that you know, might be able to do the
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  job if if you're your one and only cleaner is maybe sick or
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  something or is is on holiday. So yeah, I definitely have a
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  back up plan. Find a cleaner or maintenance
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  member or someone who's local or next door or you know anyone you
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  know who can who can be there just if there is any major
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  issues if they have someone there.
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  Definitely. I think that is so important and
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  as somebody who's been the victim of guests calling me and
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  saying, oh, I've just turned up and the cleaner hasn't.
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  Been. You definitely need to have a
• 9:19
  backup because otherwise you'll end up cleaning.
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  The place yourself. Which has definitely happened to
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  me on a few. Occasions.
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  So yeah, having a backup is really, really important.
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  Now we just need to mention one other thing in relation to
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  cleaning. And this is something that
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  especially new hosts, they will ask a lot is should I allow of
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  pets at my rental? Where do you stand on this,
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  Joseph? Oh, that's a, that's a really
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  good question. Yeah.
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  I mean, I mean, I'm a massive dog lover.
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  So, you know, if it was me, I'd, I'd certainly allow dogs.
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  But there there is that sort of weighing scales of what to do.
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  So I I would, yeah. It depends on the property.
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  It depends on, you know, the the value of the items in the
• 10:00
  property. It depends on all sorts of
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  factors. And if you're really, you know,
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  comfortable having that situation, you know, if, if it's
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  a, you know, coming from Lake District, there's so many
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  rentals that are for pets just to make sure that they get a lot
• 10:13
  more revenue stream, you know, that over the percentages.
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  But I'm sure the majority of people who come here have a pet
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  dog. So you'd be losing out on so
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  much revenue if you don't allow pets.
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  So just have a look on, I'm sure there's somewhere online, you
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  know, air DNA or somewhere maybe they have some information on,
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  you know, if how many, how many guests around your area have
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  pets? And then just just have a good
• 10:37
  look around and see if you know, if that's that's high.
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  And then yeah, just just check about the value of the property.
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  You know, if if there's items in there that you're really worried
• 10:45
  about or they could be damaged or it's a one time item that you
• 10:49
  cannot get again, maybe just remove it and then have the
• 10:52
  pets. But yeah, definitely having
• 10:54
  having allowing pets will definitely generally help
• 10:57
  increase revenue. You know, you're offering more,
• 10:59
  you're giving out more options there for for guests to stay.
• 11:02
  So be done. Yeah, it's likely to get you a
• 11:05
  bit more visibility because if people are searching and they
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  want to find pet friendly places, you're going to appear
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  in those searches which obviously you wouldn't
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  otherwise. And yeah, it tends to be more
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  revenue. You might have extra cleaning
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  costs too. You're likely to have extra
• 11:19
  cleaning costs too. So it has to be a balancing act,
• 11:21
  and it depends on where you stand as a guest.
• 11:24
  If you're using the property yourself and you've got
• 11:26
  allergies, you're probably not going to allow pets.
• 11:28
  But if you're not using the property and you're in somewhere
• 11:31
  like the Lake District, then you'd probably be silly not to
• 11:34
  allow pets. So yeah, it depends on a lot of
• 11:36
  factors, but there's no right or wrong answer.
• 11:39
  But yeah, generally a little bit more revenue, more visibility,
• 11:42
  it's probably a good idea to. Yeah, that's.
• 11:45
  Trying to look past the muddy carpets.
• 11:48
  Try to look past the four prints.
• 11:50
  All right, then, Joseph. So before we go, just tell us a
• 11:53
  little bit more. About host release.
• 11:54
  PMS and digital guidebooks. Yeah, yeah.
• 11:57
  So Host V offers 2 software products and the PMS, the
• 12:01
  channel manager and the guidebooks.
• 12:03
  The platform is designed to, you know, increase bookings,
• 12:06
  automate workflow, provide an all in one space to do
• 12:09
  everything. So, you know, go in and channel
• 12:11
  manage, do your bookings, do your messaging, do your
• 12:14
  reporting, analytics, owner's statements, invoicing, you name
• 12:17
  it, it's everything's in that. So you go in and integrate with
• 12:20
  other companies as well, such as Turno, which is free with the
• 12:23
  subscription. And then the other one is the
• 12:25
  guidebooks, the host free guidebooks.
• 12:26
  So it's designed to help in, you know, enhance workflow and also
• 12:30
  provides a good guest experience.
• 12:32
  So it's a unique link, send it out to the guest.
• 12:34
  You can customize the whole thing.
• 12:36
  Why label it, brand it yourself, add in images, text, videos,
• 12:40
  links, files, you name it. And it's, you know, it'll
• 12:43
  provide the guest with everything about their stay.
• 12:45
  They'll get a thorough experience because they you've
• 12:48
  got all the local recommendations from the host.
• 12:50
  And yeah, hopefully I'll have a much better time.
• 12:54
  Superb. OK.
• 12:55
  And we've got some special offers.
• 12:56
  We've got $500 off onboarding if you're interested in host
• 13:00
  release PMS, and 30% off digital guidebooks for life.
• 13:04
  Check the details in the show notes.
• 13:06
  There's a couple of links there as well.
• 13:08
  So you get all those special offers.
• 13:10
  Joseph, it's been a real pleasure.
• 13:12
  As always, thank you for joining us on Host PLANET by Size.
• 13:14
  It's been great. Thank you.
• 13:16
  Thanks. Great to chat to Joseph Cox
• 13:17
  there about cleaning and maintenance.
• 13:19
  Remember, check out Turno. If you need to find a great
• 13:22
  cleaner in your area. All right, that's it for today's
• 13:25
  episode. Remember, this podcast is
• 13:27
  brought to you in collaboration with Housefully, which is
• 13:30
  trusted by Short. Term rental professionals.
• 13:32
  Across the globe as a House Planet listener, you get 2
• 13:35
  exclusive offers, $500 off. Onboarding for.
• 13:38
  Housefully's property management software just use the code
• 13:41
  Planet 530% of digital guidebooks for.
• 13:45
  Life use the code host. Planet GB.
• 13:48
  To grab these deals, click the link in the show notes or head
• 13:52
  to housefully.com. For more free education, tips
• 13:55
  and trends from the STR industry, visit Houseplanet dot
• 13:58
  Club. Where you can.
• 13:59
  Sign up for our newsletter Listen.
• 14:01
  To our podcasts. And download a.
• 14:03
  Suite of ebooks. For hosts and property managers,
• 14:06
  that's it for today's episode. Until next time, happy hosting.