Summit County residents are as passionate about their pets as they are with our surrounding beauty and active lifestyle. Locals are seen year-round with their four-legged companions all over town; on trails down low and on the highest mountain tops, on backcountry excursions, and curled up around the camp fire.

We have numerous pet supply stores, two fabulous dog parks, and dozens of dog-friendly patios around the county. On Main Street in Breckenridge, many merchants provide ‘doggie hydration stations’. Our pets need extra hydration just like we do! Doggie waste bags can also be found in abundance far and wide throughout the county.

Office dogs are the norm in Summit County. In fact, the Breckenridge Tourism Office puts out an annual Working Dogs calendar filled with adorable photos of office dogs, avalanche rescue dogs, and service dogs of all breeds and sizes! They also provide a comprehensive guide to dog-friendly Breckenridge activities and lodging.

Should You Bring your Dog to Breckenridge?

It’s not surprising that we attract visitors who want to share their love of the outdoors with their dogs just as much as we do. We love our visitors and we love their pets too. Our visitors’ pets are welcome to share in all the same perks as our resident dogs, with one major exception … lodging! Unfortunately, when it comes to finding a hotel or vacation home that allows four-legged family members to stay the night, the options are often slim.

There are tens of thousands of places to lay a head while in Summit County; single bedrooms in private homes, hotel rooms, and multi-million-dollar mansions rented by private homeowners. Unfortunately, only approximately one-quarter of these lodging options are pet friendly, or places where pets are allowed to lay their heads for the night alongside their humans.

While many homeowners and property managers cite allergies as the reason for banning furry family members (and rightfully so), many more have the conception of other people’s dogs as dirty and destructive. There are also dozens of HOAs which prohibit guest pets in rental properties for safety and liability reasons.

Dog Friendly Rentals are Cleaner

We want to let you in on a little secret: dog friendly rentals are often cleaner than their counterparts.

There is no question that cleanliness is the number one factor for guest satisfaction. No one wants to stay in an unclean hotel room or vacation home. Since guest reviews are a key factor in rental property success, cleanliness becomes that much more important.

However, unless you or one of your family members have pet allergies, we’d like to point out a few things that might make you reconsider allowing guest pets in your rental home, especially if you have pets of your own.

Pet Friendly Rentals are Profitable

With pet-friendly options being the minority in the market, and in high demand, these rooms and homes are often booked solid. If you have a unit that is new to the market with no reviews or one that doesn’t book as well as your neighbor’s home, making it pet friendly could greatly increase your bookings, and grow positive reviews! We’ve seen this scenario with homes that are slightly less favorable due to location, décor, fewer upgrades and amenities, etc. Switching that home over to the pet-friendly category can increase the rentals thus increasing the homeowner’s revenue.

If your own pets are present when you occupy your home, but you don’t allow guests to bring pets, you could end up with guests who assume pets are never in the home, and then unhappy guests who discover a dog hair or become sick due to pet allergies. If you are a homeowner who has pets and does not have a HOA that restricts your guests, perhaps you might consider allowing your guests to have them too. As Breckenridge cleaning professionals, we can honestly say that young children tend to cause more messes and damage than pets do!

Professionally Cleaned Dog Friendly Rentals

Most people who are attached enough to their pets to want to take them on vacation have pets that are well-trained and well-behaved. However, in the event of excessive pet hair or a pet accident, Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration is here to rescue your rental and get it back to 5-star status. The additional revenue from increased bookings will more than offset the cost of an extra carpet clean.

Exclusive Cleaning serves many well maintained and professionally cleaned dog friendly rentals on a regular basis. With fresh, inviting carpets and upholstery, you wouldn’t know which ones are pet-friendly properties without being told. Plus, not every reservation at a pet-friendly home brings pets; the average is about half with pets and half without.

Lastly, if you’re determined to not allow guests to bring their pets, but you have pets of your own, we hope you will consider more frequent deep cleans, carpet and upholstery cleans in the event you have guests with allergies or aversions to stray dog hairs. Your stellar reviews for cleanliness will result in maximizing your revenue potential.

The post Dog Friendly Rentals are Better for Business appeared first on Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration.

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Although there is still snow on the ground, and a few more snowstorms on the forecast, Spring is definitely in the air here in Summit county! With the change of seasons outside, it’s the perfect time to give the inside of your home a makeover as well. We know it can be a daunting task to tackle all the grime and dirt that inevitably finds its way inside during a busy Winter of skiing and boarding on the slopes, but Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration and Exclusive Cleaning Summit can take on even the messiest of Breckenridge Spring cleaning jobs, so let them help! If you’re feeling motivated to do some deep Spring cleaning in your Breckenridge home yourself, though, then break out the vacuum and mop, and follow this checklist to get started in sprucing up your house!

Living Room

The heart of the home… and inevitably a place where dirt and dust manage to find their way into all the nooks and crannies. Spiderwebs also have a habit of collecting in the corners, so as a first step, start with the ceilings! Extend the hose of your vacuum, and run it along the corners and edges of the ceilings. Spring is also a great time to move the large furniture items and clean those places that are normally hard to reach. Set aside a day, and recruit another person to help move the larger pieces, and give the floor a thorough dusting and mopping, if it’s wood, or vacuuming, if it’s carpet. After the furniture is back in place, go over your cloth furniture (make sure to lift cushions!) with the fabric nozzle attachment on your vacuum. Don’t forget to take off any slipcovers and pillow covers and throw them in the wash, as well! Bonus points: vacuum lampshades, clean the fireplace/wood-stove, and dust any fan blades and lights.

Kitchen

Winter comfort foods are the best, but with all the cooking of tasty soups, stews, and casseroles, the kitchen can be a messy place in need of a thorough cleaning by Springtime. Along with your usual routine of mopping the floors and washing up all dirty dishes, take the time to give the stove-top (make sure to lift the burner grates!), appliances, backsplashes, cabinets, and inside and outside of the dishwasher and fridge a thorough scrubbing. Now is also a great chance to go through the cabinets and pantry and toss anything that is expired, and reorganize for a sparkling and orderly new space to cook in. Bonus points: deep clean the oven, wash any kitchen light switches (sticky fingerprints find their way onto these), and defrost the freezer.

Bathroom

Although the bathroom is a place that is regularly and thoroughly cleaned, Spring is a wonderful chance to take the extra step of cleaning and de-clogging the tub and sink drains. Additionally, go through all the drawers, medicine cabinet, and underneath the sink and wipe them out with all-purpose spray and a sponge. Unused, old, and expired toiletries and medications have a habit of collecting in the bathroom, so toss out anything that you can, and clear out some space in those drawers and shelves. Bonus points: wash the baseboards, and wipe down the doorknobs

Bedrooms

It’s time to open the windows and bring some fresh air into your bedrooms after the long, cold winter! After dusting and vacuuming, take down any curtains, remove the heavy winter bedding, flannel sheets, and fleece blankets and launder them accordingly. While it may seem over-ambitious, now it a great time to vacuum, rotate and flip your mattress in order to distribute the wear and increase the life of the mattress. Lastly, let even more of the Spring sunshine in by giving the windows a clean on both the inside and outside. Bonus points: dust any fan blades and lights, clean out the closets, and rotate winter wear for Spring clothing

Garage

We know it’s daunting, but you can do it! The snow is almost gone, so now is the time to  neatly organize the winter skis, snowboards, and snowshoes, and break out the summer gear and gardening pots! Unearth all the boxes stashed in the corners of the garage, and go through each one, donating or selling whatever you don’t use or need any more. The key to an organized and Spring-ready garage, is creating orderly storage systems for everything. Designate shelves for certain categories of items, label bins and caddies and place the appropriate items in them, and put racks for bikes, and skis on the walls in order to reduce clutter on the garage floor and open up space. Bonus points: take a broom and sweep the corners of the garage ceiling to remove any spiderwebs, and wipe down any shelves.

While it may seem like a lot to tackle, Breckenridge Spring cleaning is a manageable goal if it’s broken into smaller tasks—so set aside a weekend to clean each room, and in no time, your home will be sparkling, and ready for the new season. Even better yet, skip the hassle and hire Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration to do your Breckenridge Spring cleaning for you; then you can begin those gardening projects or get out on the trails with a clear conscience and a clean home.

The post Breckenridge Spring Cleaning Checklist appeared first on Exclusive Cleaning and Restoration.