Host startup cost for private room/bath rental?

Haha, yes. I buy nice sheets and bedding for our Air apartment, and yet my husband and I use a thermal blanket and sheets that got dyed by said thermal blanket when they were all thrown in a hot wash together. But we have kids and a dog, we’ll have time for nice bedded when I won’t change my sheets more for diaper leaks and wet paws then regular bedding washes…

Speaking of sheets, how are linen sheets to sleep in? I’ve heard good things about linen, though it’s expensive. But I don’t know how it works for bed sheets.

My current guest towels are a very heavy, medium bronze color, and are Turkish towels. Retail at $30/each. I said that because I’ve read on the forum in a couple books, that I should not use super expensive towels and sheets. White towels/sheets. Medium price range. Do you not agree?

What color do you use?

Thank you! I love Percale sheets. What color do you use? And another question… do you use a fitted sheet and a flat sheet? Or two flat sheets? I’ve seen hotels use two flat sheets which is why I’m asking.

I have a linen fitted sheet; it’s very comfortable but linen is not cheap and creases like you’ve never seen.

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Yes, I just had some linen shorts custom made. They look nice and feel good, but it was staggeringly expensive, at least by Indian standards. Though I didn’t shop around - it isn’t that easy with cloth - so the shop may have been robbing me. I’m thinking of having some linen shirts custom made. Or maybe buy them on Amazon. Anyway, OT.

Linen is lovely and if you can afford it buy it :slight_smile:

Here’s a metaphysical question. How do I know that linen is actually linen? :slight_smile:

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Well I know with silk it burns a certain way. I’m sure there are similar things to look for with linen …willing to burn your shorts @faheem?

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You really only need a bed to get started. You won’t be able to offer many amenities, but it’ll get you off the ground. Don’t forget about your operating expenses too!

Nope. :slight_smile: And what does burning linen do, anyway? Do I get fireworks?

I’ve used both colors and white. After experimenting for over two years I prefer white. I’m still going to use the colored ones until I can’t anymore then it’s all white. I’ve been able to get every kind of stain out of white but once someone uses a product like pimple scrub that bleaches, your sheets and towels are ruined.

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No fireworks. Sadly.

I’m a more budget/homey style place. But I still offer the best linens for the value/price point. For my main bed I use white sheets because it looks more clean (and appearance is almost everything when it comes to “cleanliness”), and it’s easier to keep looking clean. But on my futon I use beige sheets so it’s easy to tell them apart after washing, plus those are only used about 25% of the time, so there’s not as much wear and tear.

For now I use tan and light green towels because I haven’t splurged for fancy fluffy white ones. There is a small amount of bleaching on a few of them that wouldn’t show on white towel, but I keep those folded in the linen closet as extras. And for now it’s not worth the expense since starting this school year I will be letting my cousin rent from me and will save big expenses for next summer when I STR again since what I have will last through this summer. Next year we plan on a bathroom upgrade which will then also make having nicer towels make sense, and then I will also be able to charge a bit more.

But having 2 sets of everything is a must. I now have 3 sets of sheets for the main bed, because sometimes I have 3-4 one-night bookings in a row and it’s nice to not have to do laundry every day. I was caught off-guard by a last minute instant booking last month and thank God I had an extra set of sheets in my bedroom closet. They were a little frayed, but at least I wasn’t having to do laundry on top of scrambling to get the place clean and set up for guests arriving in 3 hours.

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C[quote=“K9KarmaCasa, post:11, topic:12432”]
At $40-50 a night and mostly one nighters it’s hard to justify buying expensive sheets.
[/quote]

I disagree, you need a lot of bookings in this market so bad reviews will hurt. Most of my guests stay 2-3 weeks so one bad review might people some off but I don’t need that many booking per year. Not that I have had one but it’s a numbers game.

But most importantly I disagree because if you are washing sheets every day for one nighters that need to be very high quality, like thick hotel sheets, or they will simply fall apart.

Like many others, my guests sheets are top quality and mine are average, it’s certainly a sad state of affairs!

I’m sure as soon as I get a bad review because of my sheets I’ll change my tune. At this point I’ve had about 230 guests, 97% 5 star reviews and not one comment about the $25-35 sheets. I’ve had many compliments on the comfort of the bed and rave reviews on the shower. So there are a lot of moving parts here. Let’s say you have top of the line $100+ sheets but they are on an uncomfortable bed. Or your bed is fine but the room is too warm. Or the water pressure in the dimly lit shower is poor. If people want to feel that their expensive sheets are necessary for their rental (oh, and some people iron them as well, I don’t) then more power to them. But I see no evidence that I need expensive sheets.

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Hi there, you seem to have misunderstood my post entirely. So please let me clarify. My reply about reviews was a lead on from others comments about chips in wall etc and wanting room to look as sharp as possible at low costs to fix this. I am sure your sheets are fine and look great.

I made no reference to your sheets generating a bad review & of course bed comfort and ambience would contribute to overall guest experience. I disagreed that cheaper sweats would be a good idea for a high turnover rental as higher quality sheets simply last longer with repeated washing. Hope this clears that up.

Hi! Welcome back. I don’t think I misunderstood. I think you posted on the wrong thread. Even though you quoted me off this thread. Don’t take this personally but you are the one confused. There is nothing on this thread about chips in the wall.

I use only white sheets. We have been triple sheeting, so one mattress cover, one fitted sheet, one flat sheet, next the duvet, then one more flat sheet.