I guess different hosts have different ideas on what you should offer, but definitely agree - it seems odd that they had not mentioned the lack of provisions in their listings! Both are essential so hosts should clearly outline guests need to bring their own!
I’ve been doing bnb for 10 years and its finally nice to read someone else has these exact same issues. I’m in transition to rent my cottage latch-key/self serve and I’m pondering over asking them to bring their own linens.
Doesn’t Airbnb require that hosts provide bed linens and towels?
I know that there are some specific areas and types of accommodations in the US where that isn’t traditionally the case. But I do think it’s an Airbnb rule for hosts.
I don’t know how the rules for hosts work in other parts of the world.
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I think so. Along with loo paper, soap and so on. But I think that even if it wasn’t ‘the done thing’ in my locality I’d do it anyway just to have a competitive edge.
People prefer to travel light these days even if they’re travelling by car where there’s plenty of room. I’d go to a hotel rather than have to take my own bedding and towels to an Airbnb rental.
I will be bringing my own sheets, as twice - in mid-to-upper range - Airbnb’s, the sheets were polyster(microfiber?) jersey which is uncomfortable in heat & humidity…
If beach towels aren’t provided I buy them & ask host if they might leave them for future guests. After bed sheets, no room in the suitcase 
No, apparently it is not required. Some hosts in this thread do not provide them, and many of my local peers do not.
These are Airbnb’s basic host requirements:
Most important for this discussion is this quote from the article:
We strongly encourage hosts to provide essential amenities in all their listings, as these are the items guests tell us they consider important for a comfortable stay. This includes toilet paper, hand and body soap, towels, linens, and pillows.
So, not required but “strongly encouraged”.
Linens are not a requirement. In Europe it’s common for costal resorts not to provide linens as they are used to people driving to them.
I believe that is the case too in some of your costal areas!in the US
I think if it is a camping / cabin type place where you would expect to drive to, that’s ok, but if I am flying or catching a train etc, and moving around, why on earth would I want to carry sheets and pillowcases, to me it is just bizarre. Provide sheets and increase the cleaning cost to cover laundry…
My son found my make up and smeared foundation on my new linen. I was not best pleased. However, I read a tip about spraying shaving foam on the area, leaving it for a while, then sponging it and repeating it. Much to my disbelief this trick did work and my sheets were as good as new. I definitely expect linen when booking a place.
You just rattled a remote memory loose lol… Our elementary school teachers (in the 1970s) would spray shaving cream on our desks on the last day of school and let us have a ball cleaning the desks by rubbing it in with our bare hands. It took off all the ink, marker, crayon, and pencil stains leaving them looking not a day over 25 years old again 
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It’s a while since I’ve done renting out but interested to see the discussion on the provision of bedding towels etc as thinking to do it again .previously it was in Denmark with summer houses. Had towels and bedding available at an extra fee if requested but otherwise it was assumed guests brought their own covers and towels. Don’t know if this habit has changed with the introduction of air b&b clearly it wasn’t a thing before a certain date here either . Think the other system suits more people. It’s your time verses their convenience their pocket.air b&b is not a hotel that’s the point of it .
Again this was also practice in Denmark for them to put them on their selves if requested as an extra. Sometimes I liked to do it for returners as a gesture, when I knew they were arriving late, but nothing compulsory about this
That’s a choice to make when you book and see what is available or not etc .
It’s one thing if you’re driving to a rental, but…
How many people take sheets/towels when traveling to another country? I make sure I don’t book a place like this when I do.
Years ago we rented a villa in Tuscany, and noticed it didn’t provide sheets and towels. I was working out how to ship linens, or bring a suitcase for sheets, or come in a day early and buy locally. My husband just faxed the hosts and voila! Linens were provided.
I think they assumed people were coming by car, but if not, they could work it out.
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We have had two guests show up with linens so far. It is in the ad that we provide linens and towels. They both mentioned the previous Airbnb they stayed at required them to supply their own. But this was clearly in the ad and they knew prior to booking when reviewing the ad.
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@Ade1 Airbnb used to require that linens and towels were provided, but now, while they are listed under “essentials”, it isn’t actually required. They changed the required status when there was a huge outcry from hosts, both in certain European countries and in beach house country on the US eastern seaboard, where it has always been traditional for guests to bring their own linens.
These hosts said that it would be so problematic and expensive for them to deal with all that laundry that it would mean raising their rates to something their guests wouldn’t pay, and completely destroy their business. Sometimes it wasn’t even just a matter of it being expensive- the hosts lived hundreds of miles away, their housekeeper would have had to spend all day at the rental to get 8 sets of bedding and towels done, there weren’t any laundromats or laundry service in the area, and sometimes their water supply wasn’t adequate to be using all that water.
Of course, these were areas that guests drove to- as another poster pointed out, if guests are flying, no one is going to want to pack towels and bedding.
Beach accommodations in the USA often have limited linens and/or towels. We have never experienced this traveling in Europe, central America, South America, or Asia.
The only place I’ve come across this regularly in the US is up in Maine. Many beach cottages are rented by the week and you bring your own towels and linens. But it’s included in the description!