The Gainesville Airbnb turnover checklist (game days, graduation and move-in weekends)

Short-term rentals in Gainesville run on a very particular calendar. Gator home games fill every bed in town on fall Saturdays. Commencement weekends in May and December bring families from everywhere. Move-in week in August brings parents who need somewhere to sleep while they haul furniture up three flights of stairs. And UF Health keeps a steady flow of visiting families and traveling nurses all year.

Those peaks mean back-to-back bookings with a four- or five-hour gap between guests. Here’s the checklist we use for turnovers, so your listing looks exactly like its photos every single time.

Before you start: set the window

Write down the check-out and check-in times for every booking and share them with your cleaner. A typical Gainesville turnover has a gap of around four to five hours — enough for a thorough clean if nothing else goes wrong. Build in a little slack on busy weekends; late check-outs happen.

The turnover checklist

Bedrooms

• Strip the beds and check mattress protectors for stains
• Remake with fresh linens, pillows plumped the way they look in your photos
• Check under beds and in drawers and closets for anything left behind
• Dust nightstands, lamps and headboards

Bathrooms

• Clean and disinfect the toilet, sink, tub or shower
• Remove hair from drains and shower walls — guests notice hair first
• Polish mirrors and fixtures
• Replace towels and bath mat
• Restock toilet paper, soap, shampoo and conditioner

Kitchen

• Run or unload the dishwasher and put everything back where it lives
• Empty the fridge of anything guests left
• Wipe the stovetop, microwave, counters and table
• Restock coffee, filters, paper towels and dish soap

Living areas

• Vacuum and mop; check under cushions
• Dust surfaces and the TV; reset the remote and Wi-Fi card
• Stage to match your listing photos: throws folded, pillows placed

Final pass

• Take out all trash and recycling — check the complex’s pickup days
• Set the thermostat to your check-in setting (Gainesville summers are no joke)
• Walk every room one last time
• Photograph each room and report anything broken, stained or missing

Linens: the two-set rule

Keep at least two full sets of linens and towels per bed, and three for busy seasons. That way the clean set goes on while the used set is washed — no waiting on the dryer while the next guest is parking.

Report everything, every time

The easiest way to protect your listing and your damage claims is a quick photo report after each turnover: beds, bathrooms, kitchen and anything unusual. Every Good Heart Homes turnover ends with one, including notes on damage, missing items and supplies running low.

Let us handle it

Our Airbnb and vacation rental cleaning covers everything on this list, works around your check-in and check-out times, and ends with a photo report. Hosts with several units or long-term rentals should also see rental turnover cleaning, where our home-care team can fix small problems in the same visit.