Whether you clean your Florida vacation rental property yourself or have a cleaning service do it for you, you are bound to notice things that could look better while you’re cleaning. Determining if it is something that should be addressed or improved now or if it can wait until you deep clean, is a crucial one. Deep cleans are for cleaning behind appliances, dry cleaning curtains, cleaning baseboards, removing scuff marks on walls and doors, dusting ceiling fans, cleaning air return vents, cleaning grout, etc.
When making this determination there are several factors to consider. First, is it something that the next guest will notice during their stay? Will the guest notice light scuff marks on a baseboard or bottom of a door? Second, consider if it will affect the guest experience. Will it cause them to have a bad experience or lessen it in any way? Will the scuff marks affect the guests’ stay or experience? Third, problems can sometimes escalate quickly. Will the scuff marks cause an escalation if not removed now? You should also consider if this could be potentially dangerous to the guest? Will the scuff marks on the door be harmful to the guest? Guest safety is your responsibility and leaving something that could be dangerous is never an option.
Lastly, you want to consider the cost of the issue. Will this cost you more or get expensive if you wait to address it until after the next guest departs? If I leave the scuff marks, will it cost me more to remove them later? There could be a price to wait. Are you willing to pay that price? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should take care of it now instead of during a deep clean. In this instance, light scuff marks on a baseboard or at the bottom of a door probably won’t get noticed. They won’t affect the guest experience and doubtfully will cause an escalation. Scuff marks aren’t going to harm the guest and it’s not going to cost you more if you wait to remove the scuff marks when you deep clean.
If you are the type of person that I tend to be, then things like scuff marks no matter how light or few of them there may be, tend to bother me. Considering it doesn’t take a lot of time to grab a magic eraser and clean them off, I would do it right then. Doing this does improve the appearance and a guest may notice that there aren’t any scuff marks on the baseboards or doors like there are at other vacation rentals they have stayed at. In this case they notice the extra effort and that may earn you a 5-star rating rather than the 4.5 rating I would have got because I left the scuff marks. Both outcomes are good, just one may be a better outcome by taking care of it now. In the end, your decision should always ensure the guests safety and good experience during their stay.
