# What should I ask before choosing turnover cleaning software?

Source: https://lemon.cy/learn/questions-to-ask-any-turnover-cleaning-software/  
Publisher: Lemon.cy (Red Tribe Media Ltd, Limassol, Cyprus)  
Updated: 2026-09-10 · Verified against production: 2026-09-10

**Short answer:** Ask what identifies a booking (if the answer is "the iCal UID", Booking.com will break it), what happens when a booking vanishes from the feed and how long before it cancels, whether cleaners need an app, how photos are required, and what it costs per property including messaging. Lemon publishes its own answers to each of these with production numbers.

## Ten questions, and why each one matters

1. **What is a booking's identity in your system?** If it is the iCal UID, Booking.com's re-keys will cancel and recreate jobs. Lemon's answer: property, feed and checkout date.
2. **When a booking disappears from the feed, what happens and how fast?** Immediate cancellation is the wrong answer. Lemon's answer: flag, wait 24 hours (2 hours near checkout), never inside 24 hours of checkout.
3. **What happens if the feed comes back empty?** It should be treated as a failed fetch. Lemon's answer: nothing changes.
4. **How often do you read the calendar?** Lemon: every 5 minutes, with every fetch snapshotted for 30 days.
5. **Do cleaners need an app or an account?** Every install step is a cleaner who does not use it. Lemon: a link on Telegram, WhatsApp, SMS or email.
6. **How are photos required?** "Upload some photos" produces three photos of the sofa. Lemon: one per named area, with a reference photo, approval and comments.
7. **What happens when a cleaner declines or goes silent?** Lemon: offer expires after 60 minutes (10 urgent), next cleaner, then host alert, then broadcast.
8. **What does it cost per property, and what does messaging cost on top?** Lemon: €18 / €14 / €10 by tier; Telegram and email free; SMS on credits.
9. **Where is my data and is there a record of every decision?** Lemon: EU hosting, every sync decision logged with a reason, every message logged with delivery status.
10. **Can I see your real numbers?** Lemon: yes — the [feed integrity report](/data/ical-feed-integrity/) is published monthly.

## How to test any tool in an afternoon

Connect one Booking.com feed with a stay in progress and one Airbnb feed with a block. Watch for a day. Count the messages your cleaner receives. A tool built for what these feeds actually do sends one.

## Related

- [Why does Booking.com change the UID of an existing reservation in its iCal feed?](https://lemon.cy/learn/booking-com-ical-changes-uid-rekey/)
- [When should cleaning software cancel a job because a booking vanished from the calendar?](https://lemon.cy/learn/when-should-cleaning-software-auto-cancel-a-job-from-ical/)
- [Do cleaners need to install an app or create an account?](https://lemon.cy/learn/do-cleaners-need-an-app-or-account/)
- [How much does Lemon.cy cost?](https://lemon.cy/learn/how-much-does-lemon-cy-cost/)