A guest smoked. The next check-in is tomorrow.
Same-day smoke and odour reset for Airbnb, VRBO and short-term rentals across Toronto and the GTA — and the photo record you can attach to a smoking-violation claim.
You do not get a week to fix this. Send photos tonight, approve a flat quote, and the unit is cleaned, treated and aired before the next arrival — with timestamped evidence of what the guest left behind.
What a smoke incident actually costs a host.
A smoked unit is not one bad review. It is a refund request, a cancelled booking, a review that follows the listing for months, and a claim that gets refused because nobody photographed the room before cleaning it.
Hours, not days
Turnarounds are measured in hours. A smoke incident needs a crew inside that window, not a booking slot next Thursday.
Reviews outlive the smell
"Smelled like cigarettes" in a public review costs bookings for months after the unit is clean again.
Claims need proof
A resolution request without photos of the room as found is a request that gets refused. Evidence has to be captured before anything is wiped.
Bad fixes make it worse
A fragrance bomb or a spray-and-hope turnover turns one incident into a three-star review, a refund and a smell that comes back as soon as the windows close.
Evidence first, then the clean.
Four steps, in this order — because the photos are worthless once the room is clean, and the clean is worthless if the film stays on the walls.
Photos before anything is touched
We photograph the ashtrays, butts, burn marks, smoke film and the room as the guest left it. That evidence goes to you the same day, labelled by room — exactly what the resolution centre asks for.
The film comes off
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors and switch plates degreased top-down. Smoke film on a bedroom wall is the first thing the next guest touches and the last thing a normal turnover clean reaches.
Soft surfaces treated
Mattress surfaces, upholstery, carpet and curtains treated as far as the fabric allows. This is where a guest's smoke lives on longest — and what keeps a five-star review from turning into a three.
Air filtered, unit aired
Exhaust grilles cleaned, soft surfaces HEPA-vacuumed, then activated-carbon filtration and a proper air-out before the next check-in. No ozone generator, no fragrance to mask what is left.
Starting rates, rush fee shown up front.
These are starting rates for the common jobs, not fixed prices. The quote is set by property size, how heavy the contamination is, which surfaces are affected and what we find on inspection. Your price is confirmed in writing before anything is booked, it is not adjusted afterwards without your approval, and nothing is charged until you accept it.
Studio to 1 bedroom · starting rate · up to two affected rooms
Guest-smoked unit reset
from $329
Nicotine film off walls, ceilings and trim, hard surfaces, glass, vents and bathroom sanitised, soft surfaces treated. The unit a guest smoked in, reset for the next arrival.
2–3 bedrooms · starting rate · every room affected
Whole-home smoke reset
from $549
Full top-down wash of walls, ceilings and trim in every room, kitchen and bath detail, vents and grilles, soft-surface treatment through the home.
Per space, after cleaning · starting rate
Odour treatment & filtration
from $249
Deep HEPA vacuuming of carpet, mattress and upholstery, surface treatment where the fabric allows it, then activated-carbon filtration and forced ventilation. Physical removal, no ozone and no masking fragrance.
Arrival inside 24 hours
Same-day / next-guest rush
+$150 flat
Quoted and disclosed before booking, never added later. We move the crew, you keep the booking.
Months of smoke, several units, offices and common areas
Heavy nicotine, multi-unit or commercial
Quoted from photos
Priced individually once we see the damage — a smoked 4-bed after a decade is a different job from a weekend guest.
Not a cleaning job
Fire, soot or structural contamination
Specialist referral
Soot from a fire, charred or delaminating surfaces, or contamination inside walls, ducts and subfloor needs a restoration specialist. We say so at intake and refer, rather than quote work we cannot finish.
What moves the number
- How long the smoking went on — months of nicotine film is a different job from one weekend.
- How many rooms and how high the ceilings are.
- Whether carpets, mattresses, drapes and upholstery are involved (soft surfaces hold the smell longest).
- Whether the odour has soaked into drywall, subfloor or cabinetry — and whether sealing is needed after cleaning.
- How fast you need it — same-day and next-guest work carries the flat rush fee above.
- What an inspection or your photos show. If the scope changes, you approve the change or we stop.
All prices are starting rates before 13% HST. Quotes are valid for 30 days, and a price is never adjusted after booking without your approval.
Send these six details with the request.
- 1. Next check-in date and time — the deadline everything else is planned around.
- 2. Which rooms are affected, and whether the hallway, carpet or soft furnishings caught it.
- 3. What was smoked: cigarettes, cannabis, vape, cigar, or a mix.
- 4. Severity as you found it — smell only, visible film or staining, heavy film, or fire and soot.
- 5. Photos of each room exactly as the guest left them, before anything is wiped.
- 6. Access details — lockbox, smart lock, concierge, elevator booking — and whether the unit will be vacant.
Before the crew arrives: do not spray air freshener or light a candle — it masks what the record depends on — and message the guest in the app so the violation is on the platform file.
Photos are supporting records only. We document what we found and what we did, and you are welcome to attach that to an Airbnb resolution request, a deposit file or an insurance note. We cannot guarantee that a platform or insurer approves a claim, and we do not file it for you.
Host FAQs.
A guest smoked and the next check-in is tomorrow. Can you actually fix it in time?
That is the exact job this page exists for. Send photos tonight, approve the flat quote, and we hold a same-day or next-morning slot. The rush fee is disclosed in the quote before you commit — you will never find an extra charge on the bill afterwards. If the damage is heavy enough that one visit cannot fix it, we tell you before booking rather than after the next guest arrives.
What evidence do I need for an Airbnb smoking claim?
Airbnb wants the violation documented, not described. We photograph the room as found — butts, ash, burn marks, film on walls — then give you before-and-after photos of the reset and a short note of what was cleaned. Attach those to the resolution request. These are supporting records: they show what we found and did, they do not guarantee the platform approves the claim, and we do not file it for you.
Can you clean the unit while the guest is still there?
The wash and filtration can be done with the guest present if they stay out of the room being worked in. A deep soft-surface treatment needs the unit empty for the few hours it runs. We tell you which scope your situation needs before booking, and no ozone or residual chemical treatment is ever used.
Will the smell be gone before the next guest checks in?
In most single-room incidents, yes — cleaned, treated and aired within one working day. If the guest smoked through a whole multi-bedroom property for a week, the soft furnishings and drywall may need more than one pass, and we will say so up front with a plan rather than a promise.
Do you handle cannabis and vaping as well as cigarettes?
Yes. Cannabis resin behaves like a stickier version of cigarette film and often needs a stronger degrease on hard surfaces; vape residue leaves a thin haze on glass, mirrors and windows that a normal glass clean smears rather than removes. Both are covered by the same reset.
Between-guest work that keeps the listing clean.
Guest-ready turnovers
Calendar-timed turnarounds between bookings, with photo reporting so you know the unit is ready before the guest does.
Deep resets between seasons
Mattress, upholstery, grout and vent work that a 90-minute turnover never reaches — scheduled in your slow week.
Odour checks on problem units
Units that keep drawing smell complaints from pets, cooking or damp get a documented check instead of guesswork.
Guest smoked? Send the photos now.
Next check-in, affected rooms, what was smoked, severity and photos — quote back, crew in before the next arrival, evidence captured before anything is cleaned.