Best Airbnb cleaning service London: what to check before you book

What makes the best Airbnb cleaner for your London listing?

No single company suits every host. A studio let a few nights a month and a four-bed house with a hot tub and back-to-back bookings put different strain on a changeover. So begin with your listing, then check a company against four things you can verify yourself.

• Fit: can they work to your shortest gap, and get through the door?
• Reach: how quickly do they reply, and until what time?
• Price: what is it built from, and do you see it before you commit?
• Recourse: what happens when something is missed?

Reviews describe a past job. These four describe how a company behaves on your changeover day, and you can put them in a message before you share a code. The grid sets each question beside a good answer and Ivory's.

Ask in writing and set the replies side by side. Expect some gaps, and look for whose answers are clearest. The guide to finding a trustworthy cleaner in London goes further on insurance and vetting.

Can a cleaner really turn a London flat round in your gap?

Anyone can promise same-day. A guest due out by mid-morning and the next arriving mid-afternoon looks comfortable on paper. Then the first guest leaves late, the lift is out of action or the fob will not admit a visitor, and the stretch shrinks before a cloth is lifted. A company that never asked for your times cannot say whether that works.

So skip "are you free the same day?" and hand over your worst case instead: the tightest gap on your calendar, and the way into the building.

• What is the shortest gap you could take this month?
• If I message on the morning of a changeover, can someone come that day?
• What do you need from me to get into a block with a fob, a buzzer or a concierge?
• Who do you contact if a guest has not left?

A good reply names your times and says what is realistic. A cheerful "no problem" with no questions back is worth probing.

Ivory has same-day availability, subject to your gap. Send your check-out and check-in times, the property and how we get in, and the turnover is built around them. Airbnb cleaning turnaround in London shows how to work out the gap you can really plan with.

How fast, and how late, should an Airbnb cleaner reply?

Guests do not keep office hours. A booking lands late at night for the next morning, or a message at dawn says someone is leaving early. A cleaner reachable on weekday mornings only will struggle with that.

Ask for a reply time and for hours, then test both: write to every company on the same Sunday evening and note who answers, and how soon.

• Which days and hours can I reach someone, and by phone, email or WhatsApp?
• Does the reply time cover a changeover that has gone wrong, or only quotes?

Ivory replies within 30 minutes, and most customers hear back in under a minute. We are open seven days a week, 8am to 10pm. Use the form on the Airbnb cleaning page or the contact page, and judge us by how fast the answer comes.

How should an Airbnb cleaning price be built, and what should it cover?

From your property. A fair figure follows questions about bedrooms and bathrooms, how guests tend to leave the place, and extras such as a hot tub or the inside of the oven. A number offered before anyone has asked any of that is a guess.

Then ask three things in writing: what is included, what costs extra, and whether you see the final figure before you commit to a date. Two quotes can name the same money for different amounts of work. What sets an Airbnb cleaning fee in London goes through what moves the figure.

Ivory prices a turnover to the property, so there is no list price. Send the details, hear back within 30 minutes, and the price is confirmed before you book. A turnover covers:

• Kitchen and bathrooms sanitised, floors vacuumed and mopped
• Bins emptied, and handles, switches and surfaces wiped
• Beds stripped and remade, towels swapped, linen checked for stains and wear
• Loo roll, soap, tea, coffee and welcome basics topped up from the stock you keep on site, with low stock flagged so you can reorder
• The place set to match your listing photos, then a walk-through for damage or lost items, with photos sent back if you want them

Inside the oven, fridge and cupboards cost extra, as do add-ons such as a hot tub wipe-down, the garden table or a welcome hamper reset. Repairs are not part of the job. Ivory cleans and reports; it does not fix or redecorate. A key safe, a smart lock or a held key all work for getting in.

What happens if something is missed before the next guests arrive?

Ask this one first. Two different things can go wrong between guests, and a good company has an answer for each.

• A miss in the clean itself: a smear on the hob, a shower screen left half done.
• A find after the clean: a cracked lamp, or a phone charger left in a drawer.

For the first, ask how you report it, whether someone returns, and how soon. For the second, ask how fast you are told. A return visit that lands after check-in fixes the clean but not the first impression.

• How do I report a miss: phone, WhatsApp or email?
• Is a photo enough, or does someone need to see it first?
• Given my next check-in, how soon could a return visit happen?
• If you find damage or a lost item, how quickly do I hear?

At Ivory, you tell the team what was missed, with a photo if you can, and it comes back and re-cleans it. That is the re-clean guarantee. No return window is stated for a turnover, so ask us how soon against your next check-in. Each turnover ends with a walk-through for damage or lost items, and anything found is flagged the same day, with pictures. Airbnb host cleaning tips for London covers keeping your own record.

Do the 90-night rule and the short-let register change which cleaner to pick?

They shape how a London home may be let, not how it is cleaned. The GOV.UK page for hosts, letting out a self-catering holiday home in England (opens in a new tab), was last updated on 2 October 2026 and does not mention turnover cleaning, linen or any cleaning standard. The four checks above are your yardstick.

The rules themselves are worth knowing. Under section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (opens in a new tab), in London the nights a home is used as temporary sleeping accommodation must not exceed ninety in a calendar year, and at least one person providing it must be liable to pay council tax there. City Hall's guidance (opens in a new tab) calls the use unlawful without planning permission where those two conditions are not met. Counting the nights is your job, so keep your own record.

This is not legal advice. Check your own position with your local planning authority or an adviser.

Where does Ivory fit?

Our pick is Ivory. That is an opinion, and it comes from the company that wrote this guide and stands to gain from it, so do not take it on trust. Set against the four checks:

• Fit: same-day availability, subject to your gap.
• Reach: a reply within 30 minutes, seven days a week, 8am to 10pm.
• Price: set to the property, shaped by condition and add-ons, and confirmed before you book.
• Recourse: a re-clean guarantee, and a same-day flag with pictures if a walk-through finds damage or a lost item.
• Cover: £2m public liability and vetted cleaners.

Ivory is rated 5.0 on Google, so you can read what customers say yourself. Put every company through the same four checks, Ivory included, and see whose answers you would trust with your keys. For a longer comparison with the criteria spelled out, read the best cleaning companies in London.

We work across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Start with Airbnb cleaning in London. If a property needs a reset before its first booking, a deep clean is from £150, and regular cleaning covers your own home.