Dozens of units, a short window to work in and an end customer who notices everything. It is different work from domestic jobs, not in the technique but in the logistics.
A price per unit with a quantity discount, planning in low season and a record of what was done on each unit.
Why air conditioning decides reviews
An analysis of more than two and a half million online reviews, across almost six thousand hotels in twenty cities, identified smells and air conditioning among the categories with the most negative mentions. Complaints about air conditioning appeared in twice as many reviews as problems with internet.
The mechanism is always the same and it happens in the first thirty seconds. The guest comes in, switches on the air conditioning and smells damp. From then on, the visible cleanliness of the room stops counting, because the first impression has already been made by the sense of smell.
It is one of the few hotel problems that is entirely avoidable with scheduled servicing — and one of the few whose absence nobody praises but whose presence everyone writes about.
How we plan a batch job
A survey before quoting. How many units, of what type, what makes and in what condition. On a property with a mix of wall-mounted and ducted units, the quote itemises both.
A calendar by wing, floor or block. Never the whole property at once. We work by zone, so that rooms become available again as we go and operations do not stop.
Carried out in low season. From October to March is when there is a real window to do the work properly. It is also when we have availability. Fixing the calendar months in advance is the difference between a job done well and a job done in a rush between check-outs and check-ins.
Coordination with whoever runs things on the ground. Housekeeper, maintenance or management, depending on the property. We agree access, times and where to start.
A record per unit. Which unit, in which room or space, what was done and what was flagged. It is the document that justifies the expense, serves as evidence in an audit and lets you plan the following year.
For property managers
Most villas in Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo and Almancil belong to owners who are not in Portugal for most of the year. Whoever hires, oversees and signs off is us and the management company.
We work like this:
- A quote per property, with the number and type of units itemised
- A single point of contact for the whole portfolio
- A record per unit, delivered at the end of each property, ready to forward to the owner
- An annual calendar, ideally April or May, before the house reopens
- Service in Portuguese and English
On timing: a villa closed from October to May spends seven months with still air and high humidity inside each unit. These are the worst possible conditions for the equipment, and the reason the smell always appears on reopening. Cleaning in April is prevention; cleaning in August is a remedy with the house full.
For holiday rentals
The window is between bookings and it is short. We agree a time that does not cross with check-ins, and on a small property we do everything in one morning.
The ideal time is before the start of the season, not in the middle. A clean unit is one of the first things a guest notices — and one of the first they comment on when it is not.
Price
A price per unit, with a quantity discount. From the fourth unit, the deep clean price drops from €60 to €50 per unit + VAT, applied to all of them.
Above 20 units, we prepare a dedicated quote. For properties with dozens of units, the price per unit is agreed case by case according to the type of equipment, the access and the calendar.
