missing, messed up household items

[Judy296]

Hello,

We live far away from our airbnb home, and only see it during our stay once per year. Inevitably when we return after months away, the cupboards, closets, decorative pillows and other home decor are all mixed up. After thoughtfully decorating and equipping the home, it's frustrating to find it looking like a mis-matched mess, and with items missing. I ask my cleaners to please arrange things as I intended, and even provide photos for them to follow, but so far it's not working. If a guest decides to "redecorate" or make off with the hairdryer, etc., the cleaners don't seem to notice. My cleaners do a great job at CLEANING, and our ratings for cleaning are 5 star, so should I just be happy for that? I thought about providing photos in the Welcome Book so guests can see where things go, but don't want to be overbearing. Does anyone else experience this? I'd love to know how you handle it. 

Thank you!

[Huma0]

@Judy296 

I am afraid that no matter how good your cleaners are, you can't rely on them for this sort of thing, as I think you have already indicated you understand.

As you are there so seldom, this is a situation where you really need to recruit a co-host, whether that is someone you already know and trust to help out or a professional. Of course, that's going to cost you more, but if you want to keep on top of things, I think it's the only way to go. I couldn't imagine leaving my listing rented out for a year without checking up on it. I think you are fortunate that nothing more serious has happened!

[Judy296]

Thank you for the realistic response. We do have a good neighbor who watches the house and takes care of maintenance issues for us, so perhaps making him an official "co-host" is a good idea. (now if I can get him to care about decorator pillows??? LOL)

[Sarah977]

@Judy296  What you need is a detail oriented person who can go through the place and do a thorough check to see if it is all in the order in which you want to present it. Your neighbor may or may not be good at this, and if not, perhaps there is another neighbor who is, who you can hire  to do this.

You might also consider packing away any extraneous items, like an over-abundance of throw pillows  and purely decorative items. 

[Judy296]

Good ideas. Thank you.

[Huma0]

@Judy296 

Ah, I see. Good to know that someone nearby is there to check up as well as take care of maintenance. That, combined with your excellent cleaners, has you covered to a pretty good extent but, yes, keeping the place ordered as per the listing photos and checking the inventory (ideally after each stay) is another matter...

[Sandra126]

Every time  someone checks out there will be items in odd places. They will not remember where to put them, they put them how they have it at home. Accumulated over a year this will be big changes, like a game of Chinese whispers. I found that some guest solutions were better than mine and changed to doing it that way.