Bedding Towels how much do i need?

Hi Guys i am planing to start my renting within the next couple of months.
I am planing to let the entire house, which will accommodate 4 people.
I have one bunk bed, double bed and a bed settee.
i’m not quite in the zone with how much bedding and towels i am going to need.
The last thing i would want is a bad review.
I’d rather has too many than not enough.
thanks for any help or advice Andrew

You will want at least two sets of linens and covers for each bed, plus 2 sets of towels/facecloths and hand towels for each person.

Why? Say that guests check out at 11AM and new Guests check-in at 5PM. You aren’t going to be able to clean the place and do all that laundry in just 6 hours.

You don’t keep the clean linens where Guests can get to them.

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I’ll say 3 sets of everything, one on the bed, one in the wash and one just in case I don’t want to wash and iron today.

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I’d say three at least. One set in use, one in the laundry and one for emergencies. (An emergency such as the guest has just dropped a bottle of water on the bed and everything’s soaked. Or something else…)

I’d include in that shower curtains and bath mats so every guest has fresh.

Oh and welcome to hosting and to the forum. Read as much as you can here and at the Airbnb site. Ask questions too - we’re happy to help. :slight_smile:

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Not every host needs to, but my wife and I have learned to provide the following extra amenities to make our guests’ stay more comfortable and convenient:

  • Body wash and shampoo for shower.
  • Mini-soap bars, that are individually wrapped, as some guests don’t like large soap bars used before by strangers.
  • Kleenex tissue boxes for each bedroom and bathroom.
  • Hair dryer
  • Hand-lotion pump in the bathroom(s).
  • Hand-held make-up mirror.
  • 12-cup coffee maker (with coffee supplies) for big coffee drinkers. Don’t forget tea bags.
  • Paper coffee cups, with plastic lids, for guests to take their coffee with them at morning check-out.
  • “Guest book” with a writing pen for guests to leave their comments.
  • Playing cards and family board games, if your guests wish to entertain themselves. Volleyball net and ball, badminton set, croquet set, Frisbees, and other outdoor games, if you have a backyard.
  • Printed list of television channels. Our Comcast cable-TV has 225 channels. Make sure you block the “pay per view” TV channels.
  • Full-length mirror in a common area of the house.
  • Magazine rack to hold take-away brochures of local tourist attractions and bus schedules. Ask your local chamber of commerce or tourist information office for free visitors’ information brochures.
  • Framed wall map of your city and/or surrounding area. Include a “You Are Here” arrow on map. This will help your guests plan their day adventures.
  • Printed list of local restaurants (with types of food served), with phone numbers to make table reservations. Some hosts have a binder of local restaurant menus.
  • Within our framed list of “house rules,” our Internet WiFi signal-name and password are included and my cell phone number (if guests MUST contact me for a house-rental emergency).
  • Besides basic dining-ware items, don’t forget wine and beer bottle openers.

You could invite friends to stay free for one or two nights, and have them give you an honest evaluation afterward.

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Wasn’t sure if you meant how much bedding and towels you need to own, or also to put out for a current group.

For a group, one set of bedding per Registered Guest… if 5 guests coming but capacity is 8, I put bedding for 5 on the beds. Otherwise I have to launder all 8. For towels, depends on length of stay. 1-2 days gets 1 towel per guest, longer gets 1.5 towels per guest. They can have bedding/towels replaced after 5 night stay.

I also have a whole house listing.

I make every bed and I have a 2nd set of bedding for every bed locked in a storage room. If I need to turn the house over quickly, I can simply exchange all bedding with the clean bedding in the storage room.

For towels, I hang one bath towel for each guest in the bathrooms and I have one towel for each guest in the linen closet. Same for washcloths. Regardless of length of stay. I also have a third set available for the maximum number of guests locked in the storage room in case I need to turn it over quickly.

I always offer to change the bedding any time if a guest requests it. So far, not one guest has accepted this offer.

I should mention that my maximum stay is 14 days and I have had only 3 reservations that were longer than 5 days and they were 10, 10, and 11 days.

Also, previously, I left an extra set of bedding in the linen closet just in case a guest needed it, but it was ruined by a group that snuck in extra guests.

I started out with 3 sets of bed linens and 6 sets of bath linens for each (1 queen bed) room. That seems to have worked well. I have only come close to running out of clean sheets once during my first year of operation, and that was because I was too busy with my tour business to do laundry for several days.

I ask folks to NOT strip the bed (easier to see stains that way) and to put bath linens in the hamper in the bathroom. I keep all extra linens in a locked closet. Since I live downstairs, it’s easy for me to provide more towels if they ask.

Where are you from, @Rowlie? I am in a place with cold winters and hot summers, so I have three sets of cotton sheets per bed for the warmer seasons, and three sets of flannel for the colder.
As the others have said, having three sets makes for less pressure. I have six only because of the ridiculous weather.

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WELCOME @Rowlie

I’m similar to @jaquo in my quantities

I offer 3 beds-1 king, 1 queen, 1 sleeper sofa.
Max #guests 4
Most stays 7 nights or longer.

Bath towels = 12
Wash cloths = 18
Sets of sheets per bed = 2per Queen (total 4). 3 per king

I don’t hide or lock any up. Full size washer/dryer available. I leave all available so guests can change their own sheets and wash them if something happens or maybe hubby is snoring too loudly and wife decides to sleep in the living room recliner.

Beach condo rental—Most condos either offer a linen service for $30-$70 per person or instruct guests to bring their own. I offer a “please bring your own” or wash, dry & stow what you use (no charge). I encourage guests to bring their own so they aren’t doing laundry on day of check out.

You have had good advice on the amount of linen so I can’t add to that. What I can add is learn to deal with stains, (there are some good threads on this subject here) and before you strip the bed pin a safety pin on every stain, that way when you take the linen off the bed you are not scrabbling around to look for the stains to treat. Best of luck.

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That is a fantastic tip. I’d never thought about doing that - so simple and yet brilliant :slight_smile:

Let’s not give @Rowlie the idea that stains are inevitable though. Yes, you’ll probably meet more bodily fluids as a host than you ever thought possible but mostly, guests leave linen in good condition. I have never lost an item of bedding, or a towel, because of staining. Every mark I’ve ever come across has washed out. Some might have needed soaking and treating (more than once, some of them) but any marks come out eventually.

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I have to disagree with this. I really can’t fathom how many stains get on practically every single guest’s sheets in just a couple of days that we don’t see in a year on our own sheets.

BTW, we have a no food or drinks in the bedrooms rule, too.

Agree here, by checking for stains, pre-treating, etc., all have come out (save one, but it was from our group of bad guests that had a big party, so let’s not count it).

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Brian, our rentals are separate apartments so guests have room to do whatever they do to make a mess elsewhere. The only marks on bedding I get are normal things-people-do-in-bed stains :wink:

Additionally, we’ve had makeup from time to time - usually mascara on pillowcases - and rarely some sort of self-tanning makeup ot lotion but they are pretty rare.

Many years ago I recall having some pizza stains on sheets and some mysterious pale pink marks from a punk-y type lady’s hair.

Like you, I’ve had great success cleaning everything. I’m too mean to buy new so I’ve become good at stain removal :slight_smile:

I use blue painter’s tape for the same purpose if I need to treat stains away from the bed. I can usually use the pieces more than once.

I don’t get many stains. I speculate that it’s related to guests only being here a short time and being right next door to me. They probably figure if they can hear me and the dogs, I can hear them. I’ve also wondered if they find the large shower to be a quiet spot for doing adult things.

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In my experience some stains now and again are inevitable and most if not all come out with the right treatment. I think if you are hosting this comes with the territory and one might as well be practical about it :wink:

My listing is also a whole home, with a separate living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, breakfast nook. More than 1000 square feet outside of bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways, plus a 450 square foot covered patio. Yet, nearly every single #*%& sheet has some kind of spots on it after a group of guests leave. My wife does the sheets and towels and she does a fine job, but I do feel sorry for her sometimes when she needs to wash sheets and towels more than once. (I always clean the kitchen, breakfast nook, family room, dining room, and living room, so she feels sorry for me sometimes, too. :slight_smile: )

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Blimey. Our smaller apartment is only just slightly bigger than that.

Hi Guys thanks for all your comments, really helpful.
Andrew

Please send your guests to me. I almost never have a stay without at least one item of linens ruined permanently. I’m pretty expert at stain removal but a lot, if not most, of the stains are not removable. Bleached spots on towels, pillow cases and sheets from skin preparations containing bleaching agent and acids, nail polish, glue, etc…those are things you will never get out. Burned holes in kitchen linens…gotta toss those potholders and dish towels in the trash even when they are brand new.

Honestly, I don’t get it. I have never ruined any of my linens at home through misuse/staining, but seemingly it’s entirely normal for my guests to ruin these things. I know most people on the forum say it’s a cost of doing business, but I may get to the point where I start charging for it. I don’t buy cheap linens…I buy 100% Egyptian cotton high thread count sheets, and nice thick bath sheets and towels. I’ve had guests ruin BRAND NEW, first time of use towels and sheetswith their skin preparations that had peroxide or salicylic acid in them.

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