Airbnb Turnover Cleaning Checklist for Montreal Hosts

What is an Airbnb turnover cleaning checklist?

An Airbnb turnover cleaning checklist is a room-by-room task list. A host or cleaner follows it between guest stays. It covers laundry, sanitizing, restocking, and a final staging pass, in the same order every time. Cleanliness drives most guest complaints on Airbnb. So a fixed checklist matters more than speed. Montreal hosts deal with small units, tight changeover windows, and Quebec's short-term rental rules. A repeatable list beats winging it every time.

Ezi Home Services works with Montreal Airbnb hosts. They need a turnover they can count on, not just a fast one. Below is the checklist. Hand it to a cleaner. Save it to your phone. Or follow it yourself before your next guest arrives.

Why a written list beats cleaning as you go

Airbnb cares a lot about how clean a space looks. That weight shows up in your star rating. That rating decides whether you keep Superhost status. To qualify, hosts need a 4.8 or higher overall rating. They also need a cancellation rate under 1% and a 90% response rate. Airbnb checks all of this every quarter, in January, April, July, and October (Airbnb Help Center, 2026). Miss the clean-space bar, and the badge is gone. It doesn't matter how good your other numbers look.

A written list also protects you when a different cleaner covers a turnover. Memory drifts over time. A cleaner who's done 40 turnovers starts skipping steps that feel repetitive, like checking under the bed. A checklist doesn't drift. It's the same steps whether it's turnover one or turnover three hundred.

For Montreal hosts, a checklist should also cover local paperwork. That means your CITQ number is posted where guests see it. It also means smoke and CO detectors get tested. These aren't cleaning tasks. But they belong in the same routine, since they get checked at the same time.

The room-by-room Airbnb turnover checklist

Work through these rooms in order. Skipping around wastes time and causes missed spots.

Entryway and living areas

• Wipe down light switches, door handles, and the entry table. Guests touch these first.
• Vacuum or sweep floors, including under furniture.
• Fluff and straighten couch cushions and throw blankets.
• Empty trash bins and replace liners.
• Dust surfaces: coffee table, shelves, TV stand, window sills.
• Check remote controls work and batteries aren't dead.
• Reset any furniture guests moved.

Bedrooms

• Strip all bedding and pillowcases, even ones that look unused.
• Start laundry right away so it's ready before the next check-in.
• Check the mattress and pillows for stains. Spot-treat or flag for replacement.
• Remake the bed with fresh linens. Hospital corners give it the crisp look guests photograph.
• Vacuum floors and under the bed.
• Wipe nightstands, lamps, and closet door handles.
• Check closets and drawers for items the last guest left behind.

Bathrooms

• Scrub the toilet, inside and out, including the base and behind the seat hinges.
• Clean the shower or tub. Clear hair and soap scum from drains and grout lines.
• Disinfect the sink, faucet handles, and counter.
• Wipe the mirror streak-free.
• Mop the floor last, after everything else is done.
• Restock toilet paper, soap, and shampoo to your usual amount.
• Swap in fresh towels and bath mats with no stains.
• Empty and reline the bathroom trash bin.

Kitchen

• Wash any dishes left behind and put them away.
• Wipe down countertops, backsplash, and the outside of appliances.
• Clean inside the microwave. This is the most-missed spot in Airbnb reviews.
• Check the fridge for leftover food or spills. Wipe shelves as needed.
• Run and empty the dishwasher if one is present.
• Wipe the stovetop and clean under the burner grates.
• Restock coffee, tea, dish soap, and paper towels to your usual baseline.
• Take out kitchen trash and recycling.

Final staging pass

• Set the thermostat to your standard temperature.
• Turn on a few lamps or the porch light if guests arrive after dark.
• Walk through with a phone flashlight. Check corners and baseboards for dust.
• Confirm your Wi-Fi info card and house manual are visible and up to date.
• Check that smoke and CO detectors have working batteries.
• Confirm your CITQ registration number is posted, as Quebec law requires.
• Take a few photos of the reset space. Keep them on file in case of a damage dispute later.

This list mirrors Airbnb's own Enhanced Cleaning Protocol. Airbnb publishes a five-step framework for hosts: prepare, clean, sanitize, check, and reset. A few extra Montreal steps sit on top of that base. That's the CITQ check and the detector test.

Two extra Montreal headaches: salt and humidity

Two things make Montreal turnovers harder. Salt in winter. Damp air in summer. From November through March, guests track road salt and slush indoors. Salt dries into a white haze on entryway floors. Left too long, it can eat into hardwood finish. Add a quick salt check at the door on every winter turnover. Don't just wipe the floor and move on.

Summer brings the opposite problem: humidity. Montreal summers run warm and sticky. A unit closed up between guests can develop a musty smell fast. This happens most in older triplex and duplex buildings, common across the city. Run the air conditioner or a fan before you start cleaning. Let it go for the first 20 minutes of every summer turnover. The space airs out while you work, instead of trapping the smell in.

The rule most checklists skip: your CITQ number

Every short-term rental in Quebec needs a permit. It comes from the Corporation de l'industrie touristique du Québec, or CITQ. This applies to any stay of 31 days or less. That six-digit number must appear on every listing and ad for the unit. This includes Airbnb and any other site you use. This rule has been in place since May 2020. It covers a host's main home too. Source: the Gouvernement du Québec.

Add "check CITQ number is current and posted" to your turnover list. Don't leave it only in your listing setup. Numbers can lapse. Starting September 1, 2026, hosts also need yearly written OK from their landlord or condo board. This keeps the number active. Skip the renewal, and the registration expires on its own. A checklist that flags this saves you from a fine. Without it, you might only find out after a guest complaint.

If you take bookings outside Airbnb, you also need to register with Revenu Québec. That lets you collect the province's 3.5% lodging tax. None of this is cleaning work. Fold this check into the turnover routine. Then you never have to remember it on its own.

What the checklist protects: rating and bookings

A clean space is what Airbnb guests care about most. Not one factor among many. The top one. It's the top thing they mention in reviews, in Montreal and every other market. Hosts with a clean-space rating below 4.7 stars lose bookings to hosts who score higher. Airbnb's search results favour higher-rated listings, and so do guests browsing on their own.

The Superhost math makes the stakes concrete. Airbnb checks your rolling 12-month rating four times a year. One bad cleaning review from a rushed turnover can sit in that window for months. It drags your average down each time Airbnb runs the count. A checklist won't stop every bad review. But it removes the ones you could stop. A missed step causes those, not a picky guest.

A steady cleaning routine hits revenue directly. It's not just about star ratings. Guests filter and sort by rating before they open your listing. A rating that drops even half a star can quietly cut how often you get booked. This happens before a guest reads a single line about your space.

How long a turnover actually takes

Most Airbnb turnovers run 1.5 to 4 hours (HomeGuide, 2026). The time depends on unit size and how much laundry there is. A studio with one guest's worth of towels and sheets moves fast. A two-bedroom with several bathrooms and a full kitchen takes longer. Dishes left in the sink add even more time.

Build buffer time into your schedule, not just into the checklist. If your calendar allows same-day check-in and check-out, a rushed cleaner skips steps. That's exactly when the microwave or the shower drain gets missed. Block at least 3 hours between checkout and check-in whenever you can. Treat anything tighter as the exception that needs a professional turnover service, not the default.

Methodology

The checklist and timing guidance here come from three sources. One is Airbnb's own Enhanced Cleaning Protocol handbook. Another is Airbnb's own Superhost rules. The third is Quebec's official short-term rental rules from the Gouvernement du Québec. Turnover time and cleaning fee ranges cite industry benchmark data from HomeGuide. These rules apply to Montreal and the rest of Quebec. Hosts in other provinces should check their own city's short-term rental rules.

When to call a pro

Running this list yourself works fine for one place. It also works with an open schedule. It gets harder once you add same-day turnovers, multiple units, or a guest arriving early. A missed step at 3 PM with a guest checking in at 4 PM isn't a small slip. It's a bad first review.

Ezi Home Services turnover cleaners in Montreal work from this exact checklist on every booking. The standard doesn't depend on who shows up that day. Want to skip checking every box yourself? Book an Airbnb turnover clean. Keep your calendar open for more guests, not more cleaning.

The bottom line

A written, room-by-room checklist protects your rating. Skip it, and you leave your rating to chance. Cover the entryway, bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen in the same order every time. Add Montreal's CITQ check and the seasonal salt or humidity step to the routine. Leave enough buffer between guests that a rushed step never turns into a bad review. Run it yourself. Or hand it to a same-day service. Either way, the checklist is what makes the standard repeatable.