Short Term Rental Cleaning Checklist New York City Hosts Actually Use

A real Lily Maids story

Sarah J. had 14 hours. And two beds stripped bare.

Sarah J. hosts a two-bedroom in Brooklyn Heights. Her last guests left late, her next guests were landing the following morning, and the place was still a mess of towels, coffee grounds and half-unpacked cabinets. She called us that evening in a full panic.

"With guests arriving the next morning and our apartment still in disarray, I was in a total panic," she wrote afterward. "This team swooped in and delivered the most thorough short term rental cleaning we've ever experienced, making our home sparkle. The result was a stress-free evening and a perfect first impression for our visitors."

What actually saved that turnover was not speed. It was a list. The same list we run on every rental job in the city, in the same order, every time, so nothing gets skipped when the clock is loud. Below is that list, room by room, plus the host-side tasks that guests notice but cleaners usually don't touch. If you'd rather skip the printing and just get it done, you can book a turnover clean online in about a minute.

Step one

Kitchen: the review killer.

Start here because the kitchen holds the two things guests photograph when they're upset: a dirty fridge and a crusty coffee maker. Empty the refrigerator completely, wipe every shelf and the door gasket, and toss anything the last guest left behind - even sealed items. Pull the drip tray and filter basket out of the coffee maker and rinse them. Run the dishwasher empty if the last guest loaded it and left.

Then work top down: cabinet fronts, backsplash, counters, sink and faucet, stovetop and knobs, microwave inside and out, then the floor last. Check that every mug, glass and plate in the cabinet is actually clean, because the the dishwasher does miss things. Restock dish soap, sponges, paper towels, trash bags, and whatever coffee or tea you promised in the listing. Take out the trash and put a fresh liner in every bin before you leave.

Step three

Bedrooms and linens.

Strip every bed that was used and every bed that might have been used. Sheets, pillowcases, and the mattress protector go straight into the the wash. Check the mattress itself for stains before you make the bed again - catching that now is far better than the next guest catching it at midnight.

Smart hosts keep a seperate set of spare linens in a closet so the turnover never waits on a laundry cycle. Make the beds crisply, fluff and rotate the pillows, and check under them for phone chargers and jewelry the last guest forgot. Open drawers and the closet, wipe hangers if needed, and vacuum under the bed frame where dust collects fastest in older NYC buildings. Wipe nightstands, lamp bases, light switches, and door handles.

Step five

The host-only tasks.

A few items belong to the host, not the cleaner. Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms - the U.S. Fire Administration recommends monthly testing, and for a rental with strangers sleeping in it, that's the bare minimum. Confirm the first-aid kit and fire extinguisher are where your listing says they are.

Then check the practical stuff: lock codes changed or rotated, keys accounted for, batteries in remotes, light bulbs working, and enough consumables to cover a longer stay. If you rent short-term in New York, keep your paperwork current with the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, since registration rules here are stricter than most cities. Finally, photograph the finished space. Photos protect you in a damage claim and they show you exactly what the room looked like when you handed it over.

Apartment Cleaning

Most New York rentals are apartments, and apartments clean differently than houses. Every surface works double duty, there's nowhere to hide clutter, and a studio can look worse than a three-bedroom after one bad weekend. Our apartment cleaning service is built for that: tight galley kitchens, windowless bathrooms, radiator dust, and buildings with elevator rules that decide when we can actually get in the door. We work in the same order every visit so a small space gets covered fully instead of just looking tidy from the doorway.

Maid Service

If you host part-time and live in the unit the rest of the month, a maid service is often the better fit than a per-stay turnover. Same trained team, same checklist, scheduled around your calendar. Hosts in Prospect Heights and Sunnyside use this to keep the place permanently near guest-ready, so a last-minute booking doesn't mean a panic clean.

Deep Cleaning

Run a deep cleaning on a rental every few months, and always after a long stay. This is inside the oven and fridge, behind and under furniture, baseboards, door frames, light fixtures, cabinet interiors, and the winter radiator dust that quietly ruins your listing photos. Hosts who deep clean quarterly get fewer surprise complaints, because grime builds slowly enough that you stop seeing it. Compare what a deep cleaning includes before you book.

Move in and Move out Cleaning

When a long-term tenant leaves or a new one arrives, the turnover is a different job entirely. Our move-in and move-out cleaning happens in an empty unit, which means cabinets, closets, appliances and floors all get reached. Landlords use the move-out cleaning checklist as the scope, and code MOVE30 takes $30 off.