Let’s talk about something that should be simple but somehow isn’t: sharing your Airbnb calendar with your cleaner.

If you’re like me, you’ve tried every method under the sun. Screenshots sent via text? Check. Adding them as a co-host? Been there. Complicated spreadsheets? Done that. Late-night panic when you realize a new booking didn’t get communicated? Oh yeah, that too.

The “Old Way” of Sharing Your Airbnb Calendar

Let me walk you through the current options (and why each one made me want to pull my hair out):

Method 1: The Screenshot Bombardment

How it works: Every time a new booking comes in, you take a screenshot of your Airbnb calendar and text it to your cleaner.

Reality check: This worked fine when I had one property with a booking every week or two. But add a few more properties or increase your booking frequency, and suddenly you’re sending 15 screenshots a week. Plus, there’s no good way for your cleaner to see the full picture or plan their schedule effectively.

Frustration level: 7/10 – Simple but completely unsustainable.

Method 2: The Co-Host Route

How it works: Add your cleaner as a co-host on Airbnb, giving them direct access to your calendar.

Reality check: This seems like the perfect solution until you realize you’re giving your cleaner access to ALL your hosting details – messaging, pricing, reviews, etc. or some marginal subset that is complicated. Plus, if your cleaner works with multiple hosts (as most do), they’re constantly logging in and out of different accounts or getting lost in a maze of listings. As one of our cleaners told us, “I have to log into 8 different accounts every day just to see my schedule!”

Frustration level: 8/10 – Great in theory, messy in practice.

Method 3: The Shared Google Calendar

How it works: Export your Airbnb iCal link to Google Calendar, then share that calendar with your cleaner.

Reality check: This is better, but now you’re asking your cleaner to use Google Calendar effectively (not everyone does). Plus, the sync can be delayed by up to 24 hours, which has led to some… interesting surprises.

Frustration level: 6/10 – Workable but unreliable.

Method 4: The “Just Call Them” Approach

How it works: Pick up the phone and verbally communicate every booking and change.

Reality check: Phone tag is annoying. Texting is annoying. It’s all just so unnecessary.

Frustration level: 9/10 – Personal but completely impractical.

Why We Created a Better Way

After months of frustration managing our four rental properties (two long-term, two short-term), my cleaner finally told me point-blank: “There has to be a better way.”

She was right. This is 2025, after all. We have self-driving cars and AI that can write poetry, but I’m still sending calendar texts to my cleaner at 11pm.

That’s when we created TurnCal – a ridiculously simple solution to this annoying problem.

How TurnCal Solves the Calendar-Sharing Nightmare

TurnCal does exactly one thing: it makes sharing your Airbnb (or VRBO, or Booking.com) calendar with your cleaner dead simple.

Here’s how it works:

1. You plug in your iCal feeds from whatever booking platforms you use
2. You get a simple, clean calendar that combines all your bookings in one place
3. You share one link with your cleaner – no accounts, no passwords, no confusion
4. Your cleaner gets the up-to-date info they need without the stuff they don’t
5. Everyone stops texting screenshots and starts enjoying life again

The best part? You can force a manual refresh whenever you want, so there’s no more 24-hour sync delay. New booking at 9pm? Refresh the calendar and your cleaner sees it instantly.

Real Talk: Why This Actually Matters

This might sound like a small problem, but if you’re managing vacation rentals, you know it’s not. Poor communication with cleaners leads to:

• Missed turnovers (hello, bad reviews)
• Cleaners showing up when they don’t need to (wasted money)
• Constant back-and-forth messages (wasted time)
• Frustrated cleaners who eventually quit (back to square one)

One of our properties has four individual bedrooms, each with its own listing. Before TurnCal, our cleaner had to juggle four different listings just for one house. It was madness.

Our other cleaner refused to use apps altogether and relied on spreadsheets and texts. Now he just bookmarks one simple calendar link and has everything he needs.

Try It Free (Seriously, it’s free for the basic version)

We made TurnCal free because we believe this problem is too annoying not to solve for everyone. There are premium features for power users wanting automatic notifications and communication or managing lots of properties, but the basic version does everything most hosts need.

Ready to stop sending calendar screenshots and start living your best host life? Give TurnCal a try.

Your cleaner will thank you. Your guests will never know the difference (which is exactly the point). And you’ll get back hours of your life previously spent on unnecessary communication.

Because at the end of the day, sharing your calendar with your cleaner shouldn’t require a degree in project management or a carrier pigeon. It should just work.