01Advice
Deep cleaning an apartment or villa before the season: when, and in what order
Before opening, if it is done once. An apartment that has stood closed since the end of October meets Easter with dust on everything, stale textiles and a terrace that spent the winter in rain and salt; that comes off just before the first guest, not in the autumn.
An autumn clean after the last check-out has its own point: it takes off what the season left while it is fresh, and the apartment is closed up clean. If you can do both, do both; if you have to choose, choose spring.
The calendar the work follows
Most apartments and villas in Dubrovnik open around Easter, are full from July to September and close after October; some open briefly for Advent. That gives three windows for a deep clean: March and April before opening, a day between two check-outs in mid-season for what cannot wait, and November after closing.
The spring window is the shortest. A few weeks separate the end of winter from the first arrival, and the trades, the painting and the inventory all want the same weeks, so the clean goes into that schedule as the last item before the guests. If you manage the property from abroad, that is the slot to give your key-holder.
What a closed winter leaves behind
Closed shutters and the jugo, the damp southerly wind, keep moisture inside for months. Textiles take it up first, the mattresses, sofas and rugs, and it shows as a stale smell that one day of airing does not shift. On the terrace, salt and dust build up over the winter, green growth on the shaded side; bathroom grout that looked acceptable in September has darkened by April.
The order through one unit
- Terrace and exterior first. Pressure washing throws spray and dirt, so it is done with the doors shut and before anything inside is finished.
- Dry before wet. Dust comes off wardrobes, lamps, shutters and walls before anything is washed, or it settles on what has just been cleaned.
- Kitchen and bathroom by steam: the extractor hood, behind the appliances, the grout, the shower enclosure, the toilets and basins.
- Textiles towards the end, with the windows open and time to dry before the beds are made up: sofas, mattresses and rugs by extraction.
- Glass, handles, switches and doors last of all, once nobody is carrying equipment through.
In a villa on several floors the same order runs top down. All of that together is what we quote as a whole-property deep clean.
What is left for November
After the last check-out the summer comes off: sand and salt out of the rugs and off the terrace, sun cream on the sofas, three months of guests in the kitchen. The fresher it is, the more easily it lifts. An apartment closed up washed and dry suffers less over the winter, and the spring job is shorter.
Mid-season
Between two check-outs there is room for what cannot be postponed: a stain on the sofa, a mattress after an accident, a rug the next guest should not find. That is one piece and one day, planned around the check-out and arrival times.
Several units
On a property with several units the order follows the opening dates, and the scope is agreed after a site visit, because the state of twelve apartments cannot be read from a description.
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How many units, and when it opens
Tell us how many apartments or rooms, when the first arrival is, and whether the terrace is part of the job.
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[email protected]For a larger property we come and look at the space first; for a single piece of furniture or a carpet a short description is enough.