Hotel linen is a management decision: towel weight, ironing and what the guest feels

In many hotels, bed linen and towels are chosen where they will later be processed: in housekeeping. That sounds logical, because nobody knows the linen as well as the people who wash, iron, fold and make up the beds with it every day. Even so, the decision belongs on the desk of the owner or the hotel management. Cottonbabe founder Jens Liebhauser, 5-star hotelier and interior designer from a family tradition since 1870, explains why.

Why the guest should have the final say is something we have already described in Who decides on hotel linen?. This article is about practice: towel weight and machine loads, the calculation behind quality, the honest extra effort at the ironer – and a checklist for everyone who decides.

Two perspectives, one room

When it comes to linen, two legitimate points of view meet in a hotel. Housekeeping looks at the workflow: what can be processed quickly and reliably? The hotelier looks at the room: what does the guest feel when getting into bed at night or reaching for a towel in the morning? Both questions are right. They just don’t always lead to the same answer.

“In a hotel, bed linen and terry are not something you should leave to housekeeping or the executive housekeeper alone. There is a perfectly understandable conflict of interest.”

Jens Liebhauser

The housekeeping view

Anyone who makes up dozens of beds every day asks very specific questions: how easy is the bed linen to iron or put through the ironer? Does it need reworking? How easily does a cover go on, how does it handle? And for towels: how many fit into one machine, and how heavy may a towel be?

An everyday example: housekeeping will often prefer 40 towels at 500 g per machine to 33 towels at 650 g. If you do the maths, the load is almost the same – around 20 kg versus around 21.5 kg. The difference lies in the number of pieces: with lighter towels, more items come out of the machine per wash, and heavier terry usually takes a little longer to dry.

Important for context: the grammage in g/m² describes how densely and heavily the terry is woven. The weight per piece results from grammage and size. Anyone comparing offers should therefore know both. What else makes hotel-quality terry, you can read in our guide Hotel-quality towels.

These arguments deserve respect. They come from experience and from responsibility for a smooth workflow, often under time pressure.

The hotelier’s view: always for the guest

The hotelier has a different task: to fight for the guest and their experience. And an experience that a guest remembers rarely comes from small improvements. A bed that feels a little better than the one at home is soon forgotten. A bed you lie down in and think “wow” is not.

“An experience doesn’t come from something being a little bit better. It comes when it is truly outstanding. That wow effect is what the hotelier has to defend for the guest.”

Jens Liebhauser

Bed linen and towels are among the things a guest notices most directly in the room. That is why choosing the quality is not purely a question of logistics but a question of how the property positions itself. How furnishings and comfort can be reflected in reviews is shown in our article Better reviews & more bookings as a hotel.

Does quality pay off?

The obvious concern: better quality costs more. At the purchase price, that is true. As a hotelier, however, Jens Liebhauser calculates differently – not by the price per piece but by the cost per use over the entire service life.

In his experience, a thicker towel lasts longer. And bed linen made from long-staple cotton of decent quality withstands more wash cycles than basic goods. Long fibres can be spun into a more even yarn. The higher purchase price is therefore spread over more uses.

“In my experience, a thicker towel lasts longer. In the end, in my calculation, the cost comes out about the same – only the guest has a much better experience.”

Jens Liebhauser

What the calculation looks like for your property depends on many factors: in-house or external laundry, billing by the kilo or by the piece, change frequency, occupancy. That is why it is worth going through the figures for your own hotel instead of just comparing purchase prices.

The honest drawback: creases and the ironer

To be honest: high-quality sateen bed linen made from long-staple cotton creases more than an easy-iron blended fabric. That means more work for housekeeping. The linen should be run through the ironer and taken out of the dryer while still slightly damp. Dry it for too long and you get more creases and therefore more reworking.

This extra effort needs to be planned for – in time, staffing and laundry equipment. It is no reason against quality, but it is a reason to involve housekeeping early and agree on the workflow together. Tips for smooth cotton sateen can be found in our guide Drying bed linen.

When making up the beds, the product can help the team: for hotels, we make the hotel closure (envelope flap, no buttons) on request – for quick bed-making in housekeeping. You can read more about the options in Types of closure for bed linen.

Who should decide – and how

If you come into a hotel as a supplier or consultant, talk to the owner or the hotel management – the people who have a feel for what the guest should experience. And if you make the decision in the hotel yourself, the same principle applies: listen to everyone, but decide for the guest.

This checklist helps with the decision:

• Involve housekeeping early: the questions of the executive housekeeper and the team are the best test criteria.
• Test samples in your own workflow: several washes in your laundry, drying, ironing, bed-making.
• Plan drying and ironing: who takes the linen out while still slightly damp, when is it ironed, how much time does it take?
• Check how the laundry bills: by the kilo or by the piece – and work out the machine load.
• Think in cost per use: purchase price divided by the number of uses, not just the price per piece.
• Clarify repurchasing: will you still get the same quality and the same colour in a few years?
• Finally, look at the room: what does the guest feel?

Our hotel bed linen is always white, woven from cotton sateen with 300 thread count, single ply, from extra-long-staple cotton (34–38 mm) from the Indian highlands, pre-washed and does not shrink. It is certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100. The piping in Anthracite, Bronze or White is yarn-dyed and chlorine-resistant and withstands hotel laundering; all three piping colours are covered by our 10-year repurchase guarantee. The First Class duvet cover is available from 135 × 200 to 240 × 220 cm. You can read more about white hotel bed linen in White bed linen: what hotels know.

For the bathroom, there are our First Class towels made from 100 % premium cotton with 600 g/m² and our terry bathrobes made from 100 % premium cotton with 700 g/m², both certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100. You can find the full range in the Towels collection.

Do you run a hotel and would like to test bed linen or terry in your own workflow? On our For hotels page you can request a sample package. For hotel partnerships, Jens Liebhauser is your contact: +49 7258 210.

Frequently asked questions

How heavy should a hotel towel be?

There is no fixed value. The grammage in g/m² (GSM) describes how dense and heavy the terry is; the weight per piece results from grammage and size. A heavier towel feels fuller, but fewer pieces fit into one machine. Our First Class towels have 600 g/m².

Who should decide on bed linen and towels in a hotel?

The experience of housekeeping and the executive housekeeper belongs in every decision, because they work with the linen every day. The final decision should be made by the owner or the hotel management, with a view to what the guest experiences in the room.

Does sateen bed linen made from long-staple cotton crease more?

Yes, high-quality cotton sateen creases more than easy-iron blended fabrics. For housekeeping this means: run it through the ironer and take it out of the dryer while still slightly damp. You should plan for this step from the start.

Jens Liebhauser – founder of Cottonbabe, 5-star hotelier and interior designer, family tradition since 1870, among other things a master upholsterer/interior decorator with a certified examination in textile science