00VILLA GUIDE
Preparing a villa for house guests
Guest suites and spare rooms are often the least used parts of a villa — which means their AC, bathrooms and water heaters are the most likely to have quietly developed problems. Before family arrive for an extended stay, it is worth bringing those rooms back into service a week ahead rather than discovering faults on the first night.
01PART
Guest room cooling
AC units that sit idle can develop musty smells, drain blockages or simply struggle when finally asked to work. Run them for a few days beforehand, clean filters and listen for unusual noises.
- Run guest room AC for several days.
- Clean filters and check for smells.
- Make sure controllers and remotes work.
02PART
Bathrooms and hot water
Water heaters in guest bathrooms may have been switched off. Turn them on early, check they heat, and run every tap and shower. Look for slow drains, running toilets and tired sealant that will not survive heavy use.
- Switch on and test guest water heaters.
- Run all taps and showers.
- Check sealant and drains.
03PART
Access and comfort
Guests need to come and go: spare gate remotes, pedestrian gate codes and door keys should work. Check that blinds, curtains and wardrobe doors operate, and that bedside sockets and lights are working.
- Test spare remotes and access codes.
- Check blinds, curtains and wardrobes.
- Check sockets and lamps in guest rooms.
04QUESTIONS
- Why run guest AC in advance?
- Problems in idle units show up when they run, giving time to fix them.
- Do water heaters need time?
- Yes, they need time to heat, and any fault is better found early.
- What about the maid’s room or annex?
- If guests use it, check its circuit capacity and AC too.