Preparing your Airbnb for the first guest

Preparing an Airbnb for the first guest is a different job to every turnover after it. A turnover keeps a standard. The setup creates it. Get the order right and the first guest walks into a property that matches the listing, and every clean after that has something clear to reset to.

This is the Airbnb setup checklist our crews work through on new properties across Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It applies just as well to Stayz or Booking.com, or to a property you are taking over from another manager.

Before you start: rules and paperwork

Check your building's body corporate by-laws and your council's rules on short-term letting before you spend money on setup. They vary between buildings and councils, and they change. Confirm your insurance covers short-stay guests, and read the platform's current host terms for anything they require of you. None of this is cleaning, but all of it is cheaper to sort out before the first booking than after.

Step 1: deep clean the whole property

A turnover is built to reset a property in a few hours. A pre-launch deep clean reaches the things a turnover does not, and should be done once before you start hosting:

• Inside the oven and the rangehood, filters degreased.
• Behind and under appliances, including the fridge and washing machine.
• Window tracks and blinds.
• Skirtings and light fittings.
• Full interior glass, including shower screens and sliding doors.
• Ceiling dust, cornices, fan blades and air conditioning vents.
• Inside every cupboard and drawer, so they are empty and clean for the inventory.

If the property was lived in, or has just come out of a renovation, expect the deep clean to take a good deal longer than a standard turnover. Book it as its own job, not squeezed between other commitments. Our Airbnb cleaning page lists what a pre-launch deep clean covers alongside the standard turnover.

A deep clean also turns up maintenance issues: a mixer that drips, silicone that has started to lift, a fan that rattles. Fix those now. A guest will find them on night one.

Step 2: take a photo inventory

Once everything is clean and in place, photograph it. This is the step most new hosts skip, and the one they wish they had done the first time something goes missing. Our first-guest setup includes:

• Inside every wardrobe and drawer.
• Every kitchen cupboard, with crockery, glassware, utensils and cookware visible enough to count.
• Bathroom cabinets and under-vanity storage.
• A full property overview photo of each room.

Write a simple count list beside the photos: how many wine glasses, mugs, plates, bowls, pans and towels. Your cleaner checks against it on every turnover, so a missing item is spotted the day it goes. It also gives you a dated record of condition if you ever need to raise a damage claim. Our guide to Airbnb damage photo evidence covers why that matters.

Step 3: label the wifi

Wifi is one of the first things guests ask about. Put the network name and password on a clear label where guests will look: on the modem, inside the house guide, or on a card by the TV. Then photograph the label, so your cleaner can check it is still in place and you can send the same details if a guest asks.

Test the connection in every room, including the bedrooms furthest from the modem. If your listing promises fast wifi, make sure it is.

Step 4: keys, lockbox and access

Self check-in lives or dies on access. Before the first guest:

1. Decide where guest keys or fobs live: a lockbox, a smart lock or a building concierge.
2. Make spare sets for your cleaner and for yourself, kept separately from the guest set.
3. Test every key and fob on every door it needs to open, including the building entry, car park and lift if your building restricts floors.
4. Photograph where the lockbox is, and write clear arrival instructions with those photos.
5. Change the lockbox code between guests if your setup allows it.

Our crews finish every turnover with the guest keys back in the lockbox, a photo of them there, and the lockbox code scrambled with a photo of that too. Front door, balcony door and windows are locked and photographed before they leave.

Step 5: stock linen and consumables

Buy or hire linen before you stock anything else. You need enough sets that a bed can be made fresh while the last set is in the wash, and towels to match the guest count. On a back-to-back booking there is no time to wash and dry between 10am and 3pm, especially on a humid Brisbane day. Our linen hire brings laundered sets in and takes used ones out on every turnover, which removes the problem entirely.

Then stock consumables to par. On our checklist that means a minimum of three toilet rolls per bathroom, body wash, shampoo and conditioner at three each plus soap, and an under-sink kit of dishwashing liquid, dishwasher tablets and laundry detergent (three each), three spare bin bags, a sponge and air freshener. Add tea, sugar, salt and pepper, coffee pods if there is a machine, and fresh milk in the fridge door. The full room-by-room version is in our Airbnb amenities list.

Keep a locked owner's cupboard with backup stock. It means restocking happens on the spot, not after a trip to the shops.

Step 6: stage and photograph the listing

Your listing photos are the standard every guest compares the property against, so take them after the deep clean and once everything is stocked. Stage each room the way you want it to look on every arrival:

• Beds made the same way in every bedroom, with cushions and throws placed deliberately.
• Towels folded and set out in the same spot.
• Benches clear except for what you want guests to see, such as the coffee machine and kettle.
• Blinds open to the same height, lamps on, balcony furniture set out.

Then keep those photos. We build each property's reset from its listing photos on the first clean, then reproduce it every turnover after: where the cushions go, how the throw is folded, which drawer the coffee pods live in. If the photos and the property drift apart, guests notice.

Step 7: do a test run

Before the first booking, stay a night or at least walk through the property as a guest would. Arrive using your own check-in instructions. Check every light, the air conditioning and its remote, the TV and remote, the hot water, the oven, the dishwasher and the washing machine. Test the smoke alarms. Sit on every bed. Anything that annoys you for five minutes will annoy a guest for a week.

After the first guest

The first checkout is the first real turnover, and it tells you a lot. Book it in advance against your checkout time. With a 10am checkout and a 3pm check-in, a 1 bed, 1 bath apartment takes our crews about 2 hours on site and a 2 bed, 2 bath about 2.5 hours. Ask for a photo report of each room, and compare it with your inventory and listing photos. That is when you find out what guests actually use, what goes missing and what needs adjusting.

If you want help setting up, we do pre-launch deep cleans and ongoing turnovers in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.