The turnover between bookings
The turnover is the block of work between one guest leaving and the next arriving. In a busy week it can be a few hours. Everything that has to be washed, checked, restocked or repaired has to fit inside that window.
Treat it as a fixed list rather than a look around. Beds stripped and remade, kitchen and bathroom cleaned, floors done, bins emptied, dishwasher unloaded, terrace furniture wiped, consumables replaced.
The part people skip is the check. Someone should open the taps, flush the toilet, run the hot water, test the air conditioning and the Wi-Fi, and look under the sink. Ten minutes there prevents a message at eleven at night.
- Linen and towels: two full sets per bed, so a running wash never blocks a check-in
- Consumables: coffee, toilet paper, bin bags, dishwasher tablets, soap
- A written checklist the cleaner ticks off and photographs
- A quick test of hot water, drains, air conditioning and Wi-Fi
What breaks most often
Water heaters and boilers are the most common emergency, usually because a group of guests uses far more hot water in a day than the owner ever does. Blocked shower and kitchen drains come next.
Washing machines fail more often in a rental than in a family home, simply because they run several cycles a day. Fridges follow, and often the fault is nothing more than a coil packed with dust behind the unit.
Near the coast, salt air works quietly. Balcony railings, window hinges, outdoor light fittings and door locks degrade faster than they would inland, and they give up at the worst possible moment.
- Hot water: none at all, or it runs out mid-shower
- Drains: shower, kitchen sink, washing machine outlet
- Appliances: washing machine, dishwasher, fridge
- Air conditioning that drips or stops cooling
- Locks, key boxes and handles seizing up
- The Wi-Fi router and the television box
Damp and mould, the Madeira version
Madeira is humid, and the north of the island is wetter than the south. An apartment shut up for three days between bookings will smell of damp long before anything is visible on a wall.
Guests make it worse without meaning to. They dry towels indoors, they take long hot showers with the door closed, and they go out for the whole day leaving everything shut.
The answer is airflow and habit, not a product. Ventilate on every turnover, keep the bathroom extraction working, and check the same places every time: behind wardrobes, on window sills, the shower silicone, and the north-facing wall behind the bed.
Terraces, gardens and pools
Outdoor space is half the reason the property gets booked. It is also the work nobody notices when it is done and everybody notices when it is not: swept, no dead plants, dry cushions, nothing rusting.
Wind matters here. Parasols and light furniture move, and on exposed hillsides they move a long way. Agree with whoever cleans that anything light gets stowed while the property is empty.
A pool needs a routine, not a rescue. Water treated and tested on a schedule stays usable; two warm weeks with nobody looking at it turn green and then cost somebody a full day.
Lining up people you can call
Build the list before you need it. The bad version of this is a dead water heater on a Saturday, guests arriving on Sunday, and no numbers in your phone.
Aim for one trusted contact and one backup per trade: plumber, electrician, appliance repair, handyman, cleaner. Ask each of them in advance whether they take short-notice jobs and how they prefer to be contacted.
Agree access at the same time. Who holds a key, whether there is a key box and what the code is, and whether they may enter while guests are in the property. HomeFix is one way to find local professionals and keep the conversation in one place, which helps most when you are not on the island.
- One main contact and one backup per trade
- Whether they take same-day or weekend work
- How they get in: key box, neighbour, cleaner
- Whether they will send a photo of the fault before repairing it
Keep spares in the property
A cupboard of spares turns a call-out into a five-minute fix. Bulbs in the types the flat actually uses, fuses, batteries for remotes and alarms, a plunger, a spare shower head, silicone, and an extra set of keys somewhere safe.
Keep manuals and model numbers together, ideally photographed. Appliance parts often have to come from the mainland, so a repairer who knows the exact model before travelling saves you a second visit.
The paperwork guests never see
Short-term letting runs under the Alojamento Local regime. Registration goes through the national Balcão Único Eletrónico, the activity is declared to the tax authority, and the registration number belongs in your listings.
Fire safety equipment and visible emergency information are part of the standard, not decoration. Check the extinguisher date and the smoke alarm batteries on the same schedule you use for linen.
Rules change. Confirm the current requirements with the câmara municipal for your parish and, if the property is in a building, with the condominium, before you publish the listing.