A whiteboard covered in room numbers
Between the last students leaving in June and the first arrivals in September, the building has a lot to fit in. Deep cleans, repairs found at check-out, planned works like new mattresses or painting, summer groups, interns or conference guests, and a few students on 51-week contracts who never leave at all.
The site manager keeps track on a whiteboard, a cleaning contractor's spreadsheet and the maintenance system. Each tells a slightly different story. The first time anyone finds a room that is not ready is often when a summer guest is standing outside it.
Why the summer plan keeps slipping
The work is sequenced but the tracking is not. A room cannot be deep cleaned until repairs are done, and it cannot be let for summer until both are finished. When a repair is delayed, nobody moves the clean, and the room shows as available in the booking system because nothing told it otherwise.
- Cleaning, maintenance and bookings each have their own list.
- Room status in the booking system is not updated when work slips.
- Contractors report completion by email or not at all.
- Rooms with 51-week residents are mixed in with empty ones.
- Summer lets are added late, often after the work plan is made.
What a missed turnaround costs
A room not ready for a summer guest is lost summer income or an expensive relocation. A room not ready in September is worse, because the student has come a long way and has nowhere else to go. Behind the visible failures sit contractors paid to return twice, cleaners booked for rooms that were not ready for them and staff doing last-minute checks late into the evening.
How we build the turnaround board
- Every room is listed from your booking system with its current occupant, move-out date and next occupant, whether summer guest, 51-week resident or September arrival.
- Check-out inspection results and planned works create tasks for each room in the right order: repairs, then cleaning, then final check.
- Contractors and cleaners mark tasks done from a simple mobile page with a photo, without needing an account on your main system.
- Each room shows a status: occupied, awaiting repair, awaiting clean, ready, or let. The status updates as tasks finish.
- The board compares each room's remaining work with its next arrival date and highlights rooms at risk, giving you days to move a booking or add a contractor.
- Room readiness is written back to the booking system where it allows, so rooms are not sold before they can be used.
| Room situation | What the board shows | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Repair outstanding, summer guest next week | Red, at risk | Maintenance lead |
| Clean done, final check missing | Amber | Site team |
| 51-week resident in room | Occupied, skipped for deep clean | Nobody until they leave |
| All tasks done | Ready | Sales can let |
The board fits around the maintenance and cleaning arrangements you already have. It does not replace your contractors or change their contracts.
A summer you can see
The site manager stops maintaining a whiteboard. Each morning the board shows what is at risk and why. Summer lets are sold only for rooms that will be ready. In the last weeks of August, the question is no longer which rooms are ready but which few need attention, and the answer is on one screen.
Does your summer look like this?
- Turnaround is tracked on a whiteboard or several spreadsheets.
- Summer guests have arrived at rooms that were not ready.
- Contractors say jobs are done but nobody records it.
- The booking system shows rooms as available when work is still open.
- The last week of August is spent checking rooms one by one.