Towels for Your Bed and Breakfast Guests
- Created: Thursday, 20 February 2020 11:54
As a bed and breakfast owner or Airbnb host, you want to provide plush and absorbent towels for your guests. But what type of towels should you have, and how many should you offer guests? Knowing the answers to these and other questions will help you give your guests the best overall experience, right down to the linens.
At Towel Super Center, we know linens, and we know what guests want. Check out our recommendations below — from the type of towels we offer to how to display and care for them — and give your guests the ultimate experience.
What Type of Towels Do You Need for Bed and Breakfasts?
Get the best linens for your guests, and they're sure to appreciate your attention to detail. The decorative touch will enhance your bathroom decor and give your guests the luxurious and essential comfort they're looking for.
Bath Towels for Bed and Breakfasts
A bath towel is an essential guest towel to offer. Your guests need to dry off after a bath or shower, and that's practically impossible without a bath towel. Don't make guests bring their own linens — they want to be able to get away without needing to pack everything from their home. Instead, give them fluffy and absorbent bath towels to use during their stay.
The bigger the bath towel, the more luxurious your guests will feel. When guests use bath towels to wrap up after a bath or shower, they often want something like a bath sheet, which is a larger bath towel. Some guests may use a bath towel to dry or wrap their hair up as well, so offer varying sizes to suit different bath towel needs.
For the hotel feel, opt for white bath towels and add color with other linens. If you'd rather have bath towels with color, you can get a classy yet homey feel with neutral colors like black, grey and brown.
Hand Towels for Guests
You may not think too much about hand towels, but guests will likely miss this linen's convenience and importance if you leave it out of your guest bathrooms. Guests will use these to dry their hands or face after washing instead of needing to use a bath towel. You can save on laundry too because hand towels dry faster than larger ones, meaning guests can easily reuse them.
As you do with bath towels, you have a variety of hand towel sizes to consider, including:
Base your choice on how much space you have in a guest bathroom for towels. Sometimes, a smaller size towel is better suited for a smaller area and more convenient to handle when drying your hands or face. No matter what you think your guests will prefer, though, you have plenty of options.
If you'd like, you can also use hand towels to add some color to your bathroom decor. Choose a color that matches other items, your bed and breakfast's logo or the feeling you want guests to have as they get ready in the morning and clean up at the end of the day. Colored hand towels come in a rainbow of shades, all of them evoking different feelings:
- Light or aqua blue for calming and refreshing decor
- Beige for a cozy option
- Black for a contemporary and elegant look
- Navy blue for something timeless and traditional
- Hunter green for a lush, natural feel
- Yellow or orange for a cheerful and exciting ambiance
- Burgundy for luxurious style
Of course, you can always choose white hand towels for a fresh, clean look that goes with white bath towels and other linens. Because white is a versatile neutral, they'll work with any existing bathroom decor, which you can even make changes to while knowing that your towels will still suit the decor.
Washcloths for Bed and Breakfast Guests
You may not think washcloths would be as necessary as bath or hand towels, but they provide guests a way to wash themselves in the bath or shower. Guests can also use washcloths to wash or dry their faces if they prefer a smaller linen to a hand towel. The small, square shape of these linens makes them a versatile option for guests, and they come in sizes such as:
Washcloths are another great way to incorporate some color and even pattern into your bathroom decor. You can choose white options, as you can with the other linens for a cohesive look, but a small pop of color may be what your guest bathroom needs.
Monogrammed Linens for Bed and Breakfasts
While monogrammed and embroidered towels aren't necessary, they do add a charming touch to your decor. You'll also be able to emphasize your brand and enhance the overall luxury feel of your accommodations when you embroider any of these on your linens:
- The logo of your bed and breakfast
- The initials
- The name itself
Whatever you'd like to embroider on your towels, be sure to do so in the center of the towel and several inches from the bottom. You can embroider any type of linen with your bed and breakfast's logo or name, but it may look the best on a hand towel, depending on how you display them.
How Many Towels Do You Need for Guests?
When you stock the guest room in your bed and breakfast or Airbnb, towels need extra consideration. Too few, and your guests will feel like they have to ration the linens. Too many, and the bathroom could look too crowded with towels and washcloths, and you'll end up doing more laundry than necessary. Find the perfect balance and provide the right number of towels for your bed and breakfast guests:
- Bath towels: If you can, offer one to two bath towels per guest with each replenishing. Two towels are ideal because some visitors may use one to wrap around their body and one to dry their hair after a bath or shower.
- Hand towels: One to two hand towels for the bathroom will suit everyone's needs. Your guests likely share a hand towel at home, so doing the same in your guest bathroom won't be out of place. Offering an extra will ensure they can use one hand towel for drying their hands after washing and have a backup just in case.
- Washcloths: One washcloth per guest is a good start, especially if you replace the linens for guests every morning. Some guests may require more, especially if they like to use one washcloth in the shower or bath for washing and another for drying or washing their face.
Offering a couple of towels per guest shows that you're anticipating their needs. Be sure to have other useful linens as well, like bath mats or rugs, for the best experience.
How to Display Towels for Guests
A guest towel serves a distinct purpose, but it can also be a decor element in the bathroom. Display towels to show that you keep your linens clean and arrange them in eye-catching ways. Make guests feel more welcome with stunning stacks of plush towels or drape them elegantly with:
- A towel bar: The extra space allows you to display layers of towels. Start with the bath towel then add on a hand towel and washcloth or other small towels. Play with color or show off monogrammed linens, and be sure the towel bar is in the right place — close to the shower or tub.
- A warming towel rack: Is there anything more comfortable than wrapping up in a warm towel after a bath or shower? Give your guests that luxury at your bed and breakfast or Airbnb with towels on a warming towel rack. Display towels on the rack or simply have one installed for guests to use as they like. Heated towel racks also allow guests to dry towels quickly if they'd like to reuse them.
- A towel hook: A sturdy towel hook may be the most convenient way to remove and hang towels from their display. If your guests wish to reuse their towels, they can hang them on these hooks, so ensure they are strong enough to hold a wet towel as it dries.
- A towel ring: These are most often used for hand towels and are usually near the sink for the most convenience. You can layer a hand towel and washcloth on the towel ring for when guests first check-in so they know everything is freshly laundered.
- A decorative basket or shelves: If you don't have room in your bathroom for racks or hooks, use a basket or shelves to hold the towels for guests. Roll linens for a luxurious, spa feeling or fold them for a convenient stack. Even if you have towel racks in the bathroom, a basket or shelf lets you offer extra towels but keeps them out of the way.
To ensure guest comfort, offer clean towels in the bathroom but also let guests know extra linens are available. Post a small sign near the towels and assure guests that if they need anything, they are welcome to ask.
You can also use how you display your towels as a way for guests to communicate their needs. Post a note that if a guest hangs their towels on the hooks or racks, that means they'd like to use them again. Towels on the floor indicate that the linens need laundered.
How to Maintain Towels for Bed and Breakfasts
You offer a cozy and luxurious getaway at your bed and breakfast, and you should provide towels for your guests that are fresh and clean to complete that experience. The best way to launder and maintain your towels is:
- Check the tags for proper care.
- Do not use too much detergent.
- Use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.
- Separate colorful linens from white ones.
- Separate different types of linens if you have enough for a full load of laundry.
Proper laundering will help your linens last longer and maintain their color and absorbency. Over time, any linen can need a bit of a refresh, so do so with white vinegar to keep your bed and breakfast's or Airbnb's towels fresh.
Temperature for Washing and Drying Guest Towels
One key component to maintaining a guest towel is washing it in the right temperature water. Unless the label on your linens says otherwise, you should:
- Use warm water for the first few washes, no matter the color. After those first few washes, you can continue using warm water for colored towels.
- Use hot water for white linens and lighter colored towels after the first few washes in warm water. Their light colors will stay brighter, and that means you may be able to use less or no bleach on your linens unless they have stains that won't come out with normal treatment.
- Use cold water for decorative or delicate linens. Monogrammed towels will last longer with gentle, cold washes, but if they are more soiled, you may have to use warm water to get them clean.
Be careful of the temperature setting you use when drying linens as well. High heat will work for certain materials, but too much exposure to high heat can wear out the fibers of your linens. Dry delicate and decorative linens on a cooler setting to avoid damaging the fabric or the design.
No matter what type of linens you're drying, make sure they are completely dry before folding and putting away as moist towels can develop mildew or a musty smell, which your guests won't enjoy. Shake and fluff towels before putting them into the dryer to help them fully dry, and make sure you don't dry them too long, as that could also damage the fabric.
Shop for Guest Towels at Towel Super Center
Whether you need to restock your guest towel supply or you're opening an Airbnb and need linens for visitors, find what you need at Towel Super Center. Our plush, absorbent towels will transport your guests to a luxurious and cozy stay. You'll be the best host when you offer a basket of freshly laundered linens from Towel Super Center, and with our bulk buying options, you can easily offer a bit of luxury to every guest.
Shop our wholesale towels today to find what's right for your bed and breakfast or Airbnb. You'll find the bath towels, hand towels, washcloths and more that you need to let guests wrap themselves in plush comfort.
