Keeping Short Term Rental Guests Safe During Covid-19

As short term rental hosts, our primary concern is the safety and wellness of our guests. In addition to implementing the Center of Disease Control & Prevention’s safety recommendations, we came up with additional techniques for short term rental hosts to help minimize contact & provide peace of mind for their guests & team.

1) Implement contact-less check in

Create a contact-less check system to minimize risk of exposure for your guests & team. This also allows guests to arrive at their own convenience anytime after the designated check in time. We use a contact-less check in system as our standard protocol because of the flexibility it provides.

• We digitize all of the communication flow, apartment resources, & payment

• Our guests retrieve their apartment keys in a secure lock box

  • Tip: Provide disposable gloves next to the key access point for guests to use when accessing the keys & building doors

• Our building entrance is securely locked so we installed the product Latch on our building doors to enable guests to digitally unlock them through their smart phones

  
  

2) Switch to a “DIY” approach

Reduce contact & ensure guest peace of mind by enacting a “do it yourself” approach for the parts of protocol that require non-essential contact with critical surface areas. These extra steps will instill confidence in your guests that their items are completely sanitized. Consider implementing the examples below:

• Prior to guest arrival, run all of the plates and utensils in the dishwasher on the sanitization cycle & leave them inside for guests to unload

• Provide guests with linens & bedding in a plastic bag with instructions on how to configure the bed

  • If you use a laundry business, ask if they can pack each guests’ set individually

• Provide additional disinfectants & cleaning supplies, as well as disposable gloves

• At the end of their stay, ask guests to put their linens & towels inside a laundry bag to help minimize your team’s contact to potentially exposed areas even further

3) Put temporary covers on frequently touched surface areas for every reservation

This may require some creative problem solving, but if you are able to implement it, it will help ensure guests that they are not exposed to at-risk surface areas

• Start by identifying all of the highly touched contact points in your apartment or vacation rental. For example, the television remote, light switches, door knobs, & cabinets

• Firstly, disinfect these contact points. Secondly, add temporary covers to them to be replaced between each stay

4) Remove high-contact, decorative items

Make implementing the new sanitation requirements more manageable and time efficient by removing any unnecessary items. You could also purchase one time use versions of these items. Some pieces that The Upton will be removing include:

• Decorative bed & couch pillows

• Decorative bed throws

• Beverage coasters

5) Analyze your guest arrival, stay & departure sequence

Write out the sequence of your guest arrival, stay, & departure. Analyze how your guests enter & exit the property & how those contact points can be enhanced to support safety. After you review the points of contact, create a thorough cleaning protocol in writing that addresses the contact points and identifies how to minimize potential exposure. The written protocol can be used as a new cleaning manual for yourself or your team for every reservation. Below are a few ideas:

• Plan when high traffic public areas will be routinely disinfected, such as the lobby

• Identify all frequently touched surface areas in the public spaces & see if you can provide disinfectants, disposable gloves, etc.

• Stagnate guest arrival times to support social distancing

6) Consider limiting the number of guest reservations allowed at a time

If you have multiple apartment units, a gradual way to re-open could be by reducing the number of reservations allowed on each floor at a given time.

• Many buildings and communities are also restricting visitor access - consider doing this to support social distancing but be sure to inform guests in advance

7) Include a brief summary of your new cleaning protocol in your property description

Everyone is still adjusting to the reality of new safety precautions, many that vary from business to business. Include a brief summary of your new cleaning protocol to show prospective guests that your property is taking the appropriate precautions, as well as give guests the expectation that the property may look different. Transparent communication is essential to managing expectations; this is a new territory for hosts & there will be a learning curve.

We would love to know any additional ways that you are minimizing contact. Comment below!

We hope that everyone stays safe and well!

— The Upton Team