How To Get Rid Of Holiday Let Smells Effectively?

Fresh, clean air is essential for every guest stay. If you manage a cottage, glamping pod, or short-term rental and need to get rid of holiday let smells, you’ll need to tackle both the source and the air. Odours in holiday lets often come from cooking, pets, damp, or cigarette smoke that lingers in carpets, curtains and upholstery. Below are safe, effective ways to keep your property guest-ready.

How To Get Rid Of Caravan Smells Effectively

Caravans are compact spaces where damp, musty smells can linger. No guests wants that. Good ventilation and cleaning help, but a reliable air-cleaning solution makes the biggest difference. For lasting freshness and healthier air, consider adding the Smell Away® Specialist Air Purifier to your caravan care routine.

The biggest problem in caravans: damp and musty odours

Whether you are staying in a caravan or running the caravan park itself, damp and musty odours can be a real problem. They are a big turn off for all guests.

In fact, in a survey of over 1,500 caravan guests, a damp and musty smell was ranked as the least pleasant odour by over 35% of people — more than any other smell. It’s the kind of problem that will not only lead to bad experiences but bad reviews too. On Tripadvisor, two people said:

"BAD SMELLS AND OLD CARAVAN RUINED OUR HOLIDAY." said a reviewer about a holiday caravan in Looe
"A Bad Experience in a smelly caravan." said another about a caravan in Wemyss Bay

Needless to say, if you’re a caravan park owner, this kind of reputation can be very damaging. Some people will assume that damp means problems elsewhere. With hygiene, for instance. And they wouldn’t be wrong — musty odours do reveal hidden issues. A musty smell can indicate damp or mould, while lingering chemical or fuel smells may suggest ventilation problems. Odours can serve as an early warning system for maintenance issues.

What’s more, small, cozy caravan spaces make detecting — and disliking — musty scents much more likely.

For all these reasons, owners should prioritise ventilation and moisture control.

The problem of lingering smells from previous guests 🤢

There’s also the odours left beyond from other guests. In the same survey mentioned earlier, over a quarter complained about odours from other guests — body odour, sweaty feet and cooking smells.

“The caravan stank of cigarettes. Asked to be moved … Waited an hour and a half for someone to come … Had to sleep with all the windows open on a really windy night…” said one guest on Tripadvisor, after staying at Haven's Rockley Park Holiday.

Lingering smells can severely hamper comfort, especially if there’s delays in staff response ... as if you're staff aren't busy enough already.

These examples underscore the importance for holiday property owners to promptly address any odour issues. Enter, the Smell Away® ...

Give your caravan a neutral smell and clean the air at the same time, with the Smell Away® 😌

Even if a caravan is spotless, a bad smell can lead to negative guest feedback. For owners, ensuring a neutral or lightly fresh scent is not just about cleanliness but also about protecting reputation and ratings.

The range of smells it can neutralise includes cooking smells, farm animal smells, dog odours, perfumes, damp and musty smells, cleaning products smells, and much more. They're all trapped inside the Smell Away®.

Amazing
"We have just returned from a 7 night break and are amazed by the difference as we opened our entrance door to our 400 year old cottage. It usually smells very musty and uninviting on our return after a few days. Well we still had a very slight smell but nothing like in the past. It has taken me years to find something that really works.Will definitely be ordering another soon. Thank you. ❤️"

Customer from Solihull

Gets rid of musty smell
"Had a musty smell in the house which it has really helped. Slightly noisy but a small point for the work it does."

Customer from Sidcup

Fantastic product
"Starting to take a bad damp smell only had it on for 3 days and it's almost gone"

Customer from Carrickfergus

We were experiencing a dampish smell in the basement
“We were experiencing a dampish smell in the basement and tried a dehumidifier but it had no effect. So I did a web search and the Smell Away was the first product I found that claimed it could solve the problem, which it has. It does what it says on the tin.”

Customer from Keston

Highly effective product
“We bought a Smellaway to combat a sour smelling odour from damp and mould. I noticed a marked improvement the next day and will now use it regularly to manage cooking smells from a small kitchen. Tried a number of other products on the market but this was much more effective.”

Customer from Southwark

Manage our beer cellar smells
“Great little device that has done wonders managing the damp smell in our beer cellar."

Customer from Wigan

Read all reviews

Is Smell Away® a good fit for caravans?

Compact efficiency
Caravans are small, enclosed spaces — perfect for a device that quickly processes large volumes of air (100 cubic metres per hour).

Turnover speed matters
Owners often have just a short window between guests. Odour control is crucial because airing out, deep cleaning, or replacing soft furnishings takes time and can affect how quickly the caravan can be re-let. Just plug in the Smell Away® and leave it to get to work on those odours, while you go about cleaning and preparing the caravan for the next guests.

The Smell Away® only needs a small amount of electricity - 14 watts per hour
The Smell Away® is very energy efficient. In fact, because it needs just 14 watts (14W) per hour of electricity, it means that the average UK customer pays less than half of 1p an hour.

Tackles persistent and a diverse range of odours
Effective against cooking smells, dogs, cats, farms smells, dampness, cigarette or smoke odours, even musty or mouldy smells … and more besides.

Health and comfort boost
The Smell Away® removes not just smells but also airborne pollen, dust, pathogens, and VOCs — a real benefit for hayfever sufferers and overall hygiene. The Smell Away® HEPA filter removes 99.97% of pollen from the air, meaning it’s a haven for hayfever sufferers. Perfect for those not used to the countryside.

Ease of use and low maintenance
Just plug it in and let it run — ideal during guest turnovers. Filters last 1–2 years, depending on use.

How Smell Away® compares to against other odour neutralisers

Smell refresher sprays (which often use essential oils and enzymes) can work on fabrics and surfaces, but they often rely on masking or mild chemical reactions — not the air-circulation and deep filtration approach of Smell Away®.

Passive absorbers (like baking soda or activated charcoal) help to soak up smells but don’t actively clean the air in the way Smell Away® does.

Why the Smell Away® works well in caravans

Feature	Benefit in Caravan Setting
Airborne odour removal	Quickly clears lingering cooking, smoke, pet, or damp smells
Large air processing area	Efficient even in tight spaces like caravans
Low power consumption	Cost-effective for frequent or continuous use
Removes VOCs & allergens	Enhances guest comfort and health
Simple to operate	Minimal effort during fast guest turnovers

In short: Smell Away® offers a powerful and efficient solution to keep caravans smelling fresh and maintaining air quality.

30-day money-back guarantee

We're so confident you'll be satisfied with your Smell Away® that you can return it within 30 days of purchase, even if you've used it, for any reason.

See our full returns and refunds policy.

Give the Smell Away® Specialist Air Purifier a try - you won't be disappointed.

View or Buy

Award winning portable odour removal for caravans

Cleans Air & Smell

Removes pathogens, dirt, dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. VOCs are found in cigarette smoke, paints, air fresheners, etc.

Low Power Usage

The Smell Away® Odour Neutraliser uses only 14 watts of electricity per hour, that’s less than most energy saving lightbulbs!

30 Day Guarantee

If you change your mind for any reason, you can return it to us within 30 days of purchase.

Let customers speak for us

from 146 reviews

Kelley Playfair

Smell much better

Though the smell is still here we are not quite a week in with use. We have 3 dogs and a puppy who seems to emit odour. We are still in process to sort beds etc but hopeful this will keep smell to a minimum. We can’t move yet as puppy is a wire chewer so keeping wire hidden so have to be careful where placed. It’s on the floor but would have preferred is up out the way then I could move it more. Air certainly fresher.