What is the difference between a turnover and a deep clean?

A turnover resets a property between guests to the standard the next guest will judge. A deep clean goes further, reaching what a routine turn does not, and is done periodically or before a property starts service. Fluffy starts new properties with a baseline deep clean.

What does par mean in housekeeping?

Par is the quantity a property is meant to hold. One par of linen is one complete set for every bed and bathroom; for consumables it is the count of each item, such as toilet rolls or coffee pods, restocked on every turn.

What is the difference between a cleaning fee and a cleaning cost?

The cleaning fee is what the guest pays on a booking; the cleaning cost is what the host pays for the turnover. Most hosts set the fee at or near the cost rather than as a margin line.

Is a same-day turn the same as a back-to-back booking?

In practice, yes: one guest checks out and the next checks in the same day, so the turnover has only the hours in between. Fluffy takes same-day turns on as little as 3 hours’ notice, and 5 or more hours gives the best result.

Vacation Rental and Hotel Housekeeping Glossary

On this page

A to Z Turnovers Linens Hotels Pricing

Every Term, A to Z

2-par and 3-par Calendar sync Changeover day Cleaning fee Commercial laundry Cost per occupied room Deep clean Departure clean Flat per-turn rate Guest-ready Hotel-style bed staging Linen Subscription Mid-stay clean Occupied room night Outsourced housekeeping Par level Photo proof Post-storm clean Property management system Re-clean Restocking to par Room credits Room inspection Rooms per attendant Same-day turn Stayover Supervisor sign-off Terry Trial clean Turnover Turnover report Turnover standard Turnover window

Turnovers

The clean between guests, and the words around it.

Turnover also Turnover clean, Changeover clean: The clean that resets a short-term rental between one guest’s checkout and the next guest’s check-in. A turnover is not a house clean with a deadline: it returns the property to a standard a stranger will judge within an hour of arriving, with fresh linen, restocked supplies and a record of how it was left. What a turnover covers →
Turnover window: The time between checkout and the next check-in, which is all the time a turnover has. Anything that makes a crew wait comes out of it, most often linen still turning in a domestic dryer. Why linen decides the window →
Same-day turn also Same-day flip, Back-to-back booking: A turnover where the next guest checks in on the same day the last one checks out, so the clean has only the hours in between. Fluffy takes same-day turns on as little as 3 hours’ notice, and 5 or more hours gives the best result. When a turn falls through →
Changeover day: The day of the week when most stays in a market end and the next ones begin. In weekly rental markets it usually falls on a Saturday, and capacity on that one day decides how many properties a single cleaner can take. In-house cleaner or company? →
Guest-ready: A property that has been cleaned, restocked, inspected and confirmed ready before the next check-in. Fluffy marks a property guest-ready only after a supervisor has signed it off, with photos of each finished room. How guest-ready is confirmed →
Supervisor sign-off also Inspection: An inspection of a finished clean by someone other than the person who cleaned it. It exists because after forty minutes in a room the eye stops registering what it has already looked at, which is why self-inspection misses the same things every time. What an inspection should catch →
Photo proof: Timestamped photos of each finished room, taken as the property was left and attached to the turnover report, so a guest-ready time is a record rather than a claim. Inside FluffyOS →
Turnover report: The record a turnover produces: when it was done, what was restocked, photos of the finished rooms, and anything damaged, missing or needing repair. A useful report is submitted the same day, not the next morning. Check FTS 7.10 →
Hotel-style bed staging: Making a bed the way a good hotel does: fresh linen, square corners, and pillows plumped, matched and cased, with decorative pillows placed. It is part of every Fluffy turnover. Check FTS 4.04 →
Restocking to par also Consumables restock: Returning consumables such as toilet paper, soap, coffee and bin liners to the quantity the property is meant to hold, counted rather than estimated. Check FTS 7.07 →
Mid-stay clean: A clean during a longer stay, while the guest is still in the property. At Fluffy a mid-stay clean is a full clean with linens changed, which is what separates it from the linen-and-towel drop most companies mean by the term. Mid-stay cleaning →
Deep clean: A more thorough clean than a turnover, done periodically or before a property starts service, that reaches what a routine turn does not. Fluffy starts new properties with a baseline deep clean. Fluffy services →
Post-storm clean: The clean a property needs after being shut up through a storm. It is not a turnover: even without damage, days without air conditioning leave still air, damp textiles and a smell guests notice, and a property with standing water or roof damage needs remediation before it needs cleaning. Storm season guide →
Re-clean: A clean done again because the first one missed the standard. Fluffy re-cleans a turn that misses the standard free. How Fluffy pricing works →
Turnover standard: A written list of the checks a turnover must pass, specific enough that someone other than the cleaner can inspect against it. The Fluffy Turnover Standard is an open example: 75 checks in seven stages, free to use with credit. The Fluffy Turnover Standard →

Linens and laundry

Sets, pars and what happens to linen between beds.

Par level also Par: The quantity of something a property is meant to hold. One par of linen is one complete set for the property: every bed, every bath, every kitchen towel. For consumables, par is the count of each item that should be there after every turn. Hotel linen par levels →
2-par and 3-par also 2-par system, 3-par system: The number of complete linen sets kept in rotation. A 2-par system holds one set on the beds and one clean on the shelf; a 3-par system adds a third set in the wash. Hotels run 3-par because it is the only way a full house never waits on a dryer, and most vacation rentals run on less than 2-par without knowing it. Own linens or subscribe? →
Terry: The trade word for towels and other looped cotton: bath towels, hand towels, washcloths, bath mats and pool towels. Hotel laundry and linen service →
Commercial laundry: Laundry processed at a dedicated facility with industrial machines rather than in a property’s own washer and dryer. Washing in the property ties up the turnover window and puts utility cost and machine wear on the owner. Fluffy runs its own laundry facility in North Charleston. Vacation rental laundry →
Linen Subscription: Fluffy’s linen service for vacation rentals, billed per guest turn by property size, from $35 for 1 to 2 bedrooms. Fluffy owns the inventory, launders it at its own North Charleston facility and replaces stained or worn pieces at no charge. The Linen Subscription →

Hotel housekeeping

The numbers and roles behind a hotel housekeeping department.

Departure clean also Checkout clean: The full clean of a hotel room after the guest has checked out, before the room can be sold again. Hotel housekeeping →
Stayover also Stayover service: Service for a hotel room whose guest is staying another night: bed made, towels replaced, bathroom and surfaces refreshed. A stayover is lighter work than a departure, which is why the two should never share a count. Rooms per attendant →
Occupied room night: One room occupied by a guest for one night. It is the right denominator for housekeeping cost, because a room nobody slept in did not need cleaning. Cost per occupied room →
Cost per occupied room also CPOR: Total housekeeping cost divided by occupied room nights over the same period. Because it follows occupancy it can be compared across months and properties, and it is often understated because supervision, linen and absence cover sit outside the housekeeping line. Cost per occupied room →
Rooms per attendant: How many rooms one room attendant cleans in a shift. The figure means little without the room mix behind it, which is why a better measure counts credits rather than rooms. Rooms per attendant →
Room credits also Housekeeping credits: A way of weighting housekeeping work: a departure counts as one credit, a stayover as a fraction of one, and a suite or connecting set as more than one. An attendant is given a credit total for the shift rather than a room count. Counting credits →
Room inspection: A check of a cleaned room against a written standard before it is released to the front desk. An inspection that produces a tick and no record is a habit, not a control. Room inspections →
Outsourced housekeeping: Hotel housekeeping staffed, scheduled and supervised by an outside company instead of an in-house team. The hotel usually keeps the front desk, guest relations and sign-off on the standard. Outsourcing hotel housekeeping →

Pricing and scheduling

How turnovers are priced, booked and scheduled.

Cleaning fee: The one-time charge a short-term rental guest pays toward the turnover after their stay. The cleaning fee is what the guest sees; the cleaning cost is what the host pays. Most hosts set the fee at or near the cost rather than as a margin line. How to set a cleaning fee →
Flat per-turn rate: A price for each turnover that stays the same however the last guest left the property, rather than an hourly bill. Fluffy prices turnovers this way, from $150 per turnover, with the exact rate set after a walkthrough. How Fluffy pricing works →
Property management system also PMS: The software a property manager uses to run reservations, calendars and owner accounts across a portfolio. A cleaning company connected to the PMS schedules turnovers from bookings automatically instead of from messages. How FluffyOS connects →
Calendar sync: Connecting a booking calendar, from Airbnb, VRBO or a PMS, to the cleaning schedule, so a new reservation creates the turnover and a cancellation releases the slot without anyone sending a list. For property managers →
Trial clean: A single turnover on one property, done so a host or manager can see the standard before committing a portfolio. Fluffy offers a no-obligation trial clean on one property. Request a quote →

The Turnover and Housekeeping Glossary.