Our holiday rental Covid 19 cleaning protocol explained

Every owner of a property listed with Bolthole Retreats has undertaken to implement a series of cleaning and disinfecting measures in order to minimise the risk of infection between stays. Read on to find out what this means for your future stay with us…

At the heart of the Bolthole Retreats Covid 19 cleaning protocol lie two important principles: cleaning first, then disinfecting. Cleaning removes germs, dirt, and impurities, whilst disinfecting kills germs with chemicals. By cleaning first, then disinfecting, the risk of spreading infection is lowered.

Housekeepers have been instructed by their owners to follow a 30-point guide which involves cleaning first to remove germs and other impurities, and then disinfecting to kills germs with chemicals while wearing disposable gloves and face masks.

All laundry will be washed using a bleach or other disinfectant-based laundry detergent containing active oxygen bleach at a temperature of at least 60 degrees.

At least one pot of hand sanitiser, and for the larger properties 2 or 3 pots, will be provided.

Finally, we ask that where possible, guests remove shoes inside the property, as this minimises the transfer of germs.

Implementing these measures will necessarily result in an increase in the time taken to undertake a clean. Therefore, we ask that guests respect the advertised check-in and check-out times, and we will regrettably be unable to agree to any exceptions.

Lindsay Evans, owner of Teagles Cottage, Stow-on-the-Wold, explains how she is preparing her property:

“Following Bolthole Retreat’s advice to owners on the new Covid 19 Cleaning Protocol for my property in Stow-on-the-Wold, I’ve been busy trying to source new products and hand sanitisers for guests. My goodness, they have been really hard to get hold of but I’ve now managed to buy 24 x 100ml bottles of hand sanitiser (70% alcohol) so that should keep me going for a little while. I’ve also bought loads of antiviral disinfectant (70 %) and I’m putting disinfectant sprays and a clean J-cloth in every bathroom, cloakroom and kitchen so that if guests are a little worried, they can sanitise areas themselves too. I’ve also put a noticeboard up in the kitchen with key information like wi-fi code, my contact details, fuse box locations etc so that guests don’t need to handle the welcome guide if they’d prefer not to. Small things but every little helps.”

The sparkling clean and disinfected kitchen at Teagles Cottage, Stow-on-the-Wold