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They’re changed every 2-3 days or each new guest whichever is first. I do the laundry immediately ( I don’t have a laundry basket even).
I am in the laundrette so often it’s a common joke for the staff to say: oh you again. Worse was when another customer said in passing m: I knew you would be in here. Every time I walk past you’re in here. 
Shared hand towels are common here. I live in El Paso, TX where the population is 85% hispanic, that’s what everyone uses in their home. My parents were from the Deep South, all my family there uses them. My friends in Chicago and Indy use them. I could go on and on, the only place I’ve seen paper towels are in public restrooms (schools, airports, bars). That said, I change my shared hand towel in shared spaces quite often. The one in my bathroom, not so often.
And I have never stayed at a hotel in the USA that didn’t provide at least this many towels per person.
Here is what the Holiday Inn Express chain offers per room:
Bathroom Amenities:
Curved Shower Rod
Kohler Shower Head
Complimentary shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mouthwash, face/hand soap, make-up remover
Soft Towels/wash cloths/bath mat
Wall mounted hair dryer
It’s interesting because paper towels aren’t a thing here. We have Dyson hand driers everywhere instead…in public spaces that is.
At home it’s the hand towel.
I know where to stay next what a great list of amenities!
We Americans aren’t so Eco-conscious as Europeans. I’ve seen people use toilet paper to dry their hands if there is only an air dryer. It’s ridiculous.
I’m afraid I’ve got little laminated signs all over the place, in addition to the more stern written rules such as “no smoking” for the minor or manners things. I tried to tart them up with graphics so they’re not so obnoxious. The little note about using the disposable makeup wipes has vines and flowers, (which let to the little note posted above the toilet not to flush anything but TP, decorated with blue waves), the little note to turn the thermostat to xx when you leave has a thermometer pic, etc., etc. When you own a laminator, you tend to go overboard, what can I say.
I provide washcloths, and added some Command hooks with waterproof backing so guests can hang them in the shower between wash ups.
How is it different from touching a towel with which a guest has dried him/herself?
Neverthess our rental is equipped by English standards because that’s all I know. Oddities such as an electric kettle, duvet (without a top sheet), teapot etc.
We’re unlikely to change 
But…I love my top sheets! I honestly have difficulty sleeping without one and sometimes bring my own when I travel.
To the points of communal wash towels, face towels and what have you…I have mismatched older bath towels and hand towels that surprisingly coordinate with the shower curtain and colors of the bathroom that guests use, but I also put 4-6 rolled white square face/body cloths in a basket next to the shower.I never have more than 2 guests staying at one time. Despite my history of guests with no clue, manners, and a disposition towards breaking things/house rules or just being weird, I’ve only had to dispose of a few of those white square face/body cloths.
Due to having a septic system, I can only use bleach sparingly on those white cloths.
I honestly never re-use those white cloths for other guests…instead, they get put in my cleaning basket under my sink after I wash them, I use them for dusting, cleaning off counters, and eventually cleaning my car and then being thrown away.
So what is it about the white square ones that makes them different? Why can’t they be washed and used like other towels?[quote=“brook2adks, post:50, topic:14808”]
I honestly never re-use those white cloths for other guests
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But you’d dry your hands on a towel someone else has used???
I use ‘Guidelines’ rather than 'Rules’
everyone has a laminated copy of this in their bedroom when they arrive.
It’s more friendly, encouraging & less confrontational than RULES !
Our Guidelines basically describe a few things that are important to us as we share our space with our guests :
taking off your shoes at the door if it’s raining (we provide indoor slippers)
what to expect at breakfast, or dinner time, this will indeed be strange to many hosts, but I am happy if our guests wish to join us for a home cooked meal.
using the laundry
bathroom etiquette
how our recycling / composting / rubbish system works
local personal security
communication / permission / security about visitors, which includes anyone who ‘pops in’
why we try to save water here (we pay per litre here in Australia & sometimes have droughts)
explaining how our dogs work ! the dogs are often a real ice breaker.
I ask the guests to be generally kind, also not let the dogs out into the street.
All of this generally gives the guest an idea of what to expect, and I encourage communication and questions.
We get to know our guests, and try to fix things to suit them if possible.
I have stories from these domestic guest encounters:
like the guest who asked me if he should set the washing machine to ‘small wash’ as he was a size small !
the two girls who decorated their clothes unattached to the drying line with pegs hanging from the hems on their jeans & t shirts.
as I had said
’You must use the pegs please’ as I was fed up with fishing their clothes out of the swimming pool below .
They cracked me up with laughter, and I believe I took a photo of this new peg method which is a multi-cultural treasure.
We have also met and enjoyed hosting many wonderful people, through many home stay platforms including airbnb.
We try to work through the initial domestic adjustment hiccups with humour on both sides.
I have found that although English may be someone’s second or third language their reading / understanding skills in English are often excellent.
Special consideration if they have just arrived from a long overseas flight, oxygen deprived, tired, shy, disorientated and are struggling to understand everything on the first few days.
Not sure if any of this will be any help to Monica, but writing this has reminded me of why I love being a host.
Yes? A hand towel isn’t used to scrub intimate body parts? What’s unusual about sharing a hand towel ?
The wash cloth is wet and due to its size it’s unavoidable touching an area that hasn’t been used. Bath sheets are huge, dry and can be grabbed by the corner.
As the towel is wet it harbors bacteria. I’ve seen many people who don’t wash their hands at all thoroughly. I wouldn’t want to dry my hands on the same towel they used.
We can go round and round on this one - I use a hand towel. It’s all I know and I don’t see it as unhygienic as I wash the towel very regularly. In between guests a fresh towel is put out and so if guests don’t wash their hands properly… well I prefer they try. No doubt the door handle to the bathroom and the bathroom switch is of bigger concern than the handtowel.
They don’t even sell paper towels for domestic use in this country so I couldn’t change to another system even if I wanted to. Nor do I have the will to provide towels for each use of the loo - that’s just ridiculous in terms of ecological footprint.
With regard to wash cloths, for me because of the way they’re used they are a personal item that in my opinion guests should provide for themselves according to their preference. I’ve never been asked for one - if I did provide one (as I have a few in my personal collection) I’d wash it and retire it to a cleaning cloth afterwards, as I wouldn’t want the palaver of disinfecting it with Milton after each use.
What makes them different is that I bought them in bulk (I have about 25 here that haven’t been used yet), and while they are soft and nice to use as a washcloth, they don’t wash/dry back to that softness, and they even shrink a little with each washing. So they just are not aesthetically pleasing after a couple of washings.
I do not have the volume of guests that you have, so those 25 never-used washcloths I have just may last through next year as sometimes guests don’t even use them.
Do you write the actual questions in? I think that might be rather a good idea and it could be titled Frequently Asked Questions. I’m tweaking my House Manual at the moment and I think I’ll steal that! Also, I do like Handbook rather than Manual, as Airbnb calls it.
D’ you know, I’ve been doing this for, oh, about 60 years now and I’m still alive and reasonably healthy … here’s a secret, folks, a little bit of dirt is GOOD for you (whisper it!)