One of the most reliable ways to get a bad review is to let a guest discover a maintenance problem. A broken dishwasher, a running toilet, a door that won't lock, an AC unit making noise — these aren't catastrophic on their own. But when a guest arrives expecting a five-star stay and finds a problem that was clearly there before they checked in, they feel like no one is paying attention. And they're usually right.
The good news is that most maintenance issues are caught during the cleaning process — if your cleaners know what to look for and have a way to report it that doesn't get lost.
The Maintenance Communication Gap
Here's how maintenance usually gets reported in a manually-managed STR operation: a cleaner notices something wrong, texts the property manager, the property manager sees it a few hours later, texts a maintenance contact, and by the time anyone responds, the guest has already arrived and found the same problem themselves.
The issue isn't that people aren't paying attention — it's that the communication path is too long and too informal. A text message requires every person in the chain to read it, understand it, decide what to do, and act on it in sequence. Any delay anywhere breaks the chain.
Common STR Maintenance Issues You Need to Catch Before Guests
- Appliances: Dishwashers, coffee makers, refrigerators, washing machines — these fail regularly and guests notice immediately
- HVAC: Heating or AC that isn't working is the number one reason for guest refund requests in extreme weather
- Plumbing: Leaking faucets, slow drains, running toilets, low water pressure
- Smart locks and key access: A lock that doesn't work is an emergency on check-in day
- Internet: WiFi that doesn't work or is significantly slower than advertised is one of the top complaint categories for STR guests
- Furniture and fixtures: Broken chairs, damaged tables, wobbly towel bars — small things that feel neglected to guests
- Lighting: Burned-out bulbs, particularly in bathrooms and reading areas
Building Maintenance Into the Turnover Workflow
The most reliable way to catch maintenance issues before guests is to make issue reporting a standard part of the cleaning workflow — not an optional add-on.
This means:
- Cleaners are expected to flag issues they notice, not just clean around them
- There's a clear way to report an issue that doesn't require hunting for a phone number or sending a message that might get buried
- Reported issues go somewhere actionable — not into a text thread
- Property managers can see open maintenance items alongside job status so nothing gets forgotten
Cleaners who know their issue reports are acted on will report more — and earlier. Cleaners who have learned their texts get ignored eventually stop sending them. The tool matters less than the habit of response you create.
Organizing Your Maintenance Vendor Network
You can't resolve maintenance issues quickly if you don't have the right vendors ready to respond. For each market where you operate, you should have reliable contacts for:
- Handyman (general repairs, furniture assembly, minor fixes)
- Plumber (for anything involving water or drains)
- HVAC technician (for heating and cooling issues)
- Locksmith (for access emergencies)
- Appliance repair (or a replacement source for common items)
- Electrician (for power and lighting issues)
Know your vendors' typical response times and whether they can handle emergency calls. A vendor who can respond in two hours is worth more than one who does better work but needs three days of notice.
How the Best Operators Handle Maintenance
The operators who consistently avoid guest-facing maintenance surprises share a few habits:
- They treat every issue report from a cleaner as urgent until proven otherwise
- They have a vendor for every common issue type, not just the obvious ones
- They track open issues per property so nothing falls through the cracks between turnovers
- They follow up on every reported issue to confirm it was resolved before the next guest arrives
Keepers gives cleaners and field providers a way to report maintenance issues directly in the app during turnovers — with photos attached — and routes those issues into a tracked workflow for property managers. Open maintenance items appear alongside job status so nothing gets missed. See how it works.
Ready to stop operating your rentals manually?
Keepers connects housekeeping, maintenance, inventory, and provider coordination in one platform built for short-term rental operators.