Preparing your apartment for the summer rental season

Guests decide how they feel about a rental in the first ninety seconds — the smell when the door opens, whether the air conditioning works, whether the terrace looks like somewhere they want to sit. Almost all of that is decided weeks earlier, by whoever prepared the apartment.

Eight weeks out: the technical pass

• ·Service the air conditioning — filters, gas, drainage. In July a failed unit is a refund, not a repair
• ·Test every appliance you would hate to lose mid-stay: boiler, oven, fridge, washing machine, dishwasher
• ·Check the water pressure and hot water recovery time with the shower actually running
• ·Replace tired silicone in bathrooms and kitchen — it is the cheapest thing that reads as 'clean'
• ·Confirm wifi speed and that the router is accessible, with the password visible in the apartment

Four weeks out: the guest-facing pass

• ·Terrace furniture cleaned, cushions checked, parasol working, plants alive and watered
• ·Linen and towel inventory counted — enough for two full changesets per bed, not one
• ·Mattress protectors, pillows and a spare duvet in genuinely good condition
• ·Kitchen inventory: matching glasses and cutlery, sharp knives, a working corkscrew
• ·Photograph the apartment fresh, in the light guests will actually see it in
• ·Written house information: bins, parking, pool hours, the boiler, and who to call

Between every stay

Turnover is where rental income is actually earned or lost. A same-day changeover on the Costa del Sol in August means cleaning, laundry, restocking, an inventory check and key handover in a few hours, in the heat, without exception. It needs a local person with a checklist, not goodwill.

That is precisely what holiday rental management on the Costa del Sol covers, with keyholding for guest arrivals and the full service list for everything around it.