Do you provide linens in your short term rentals?

Question

My first property is going on the market next week (!!). I'm thinking whether to provide linens/towels. I do have them but someone told me it creates additional hassle for cleaning personnel (my house sleeps 20 = lots of laundry). Someone I know said he only provides it when requested, $10 per bed. What's your view on that? 1) Do you think providing linens/towels add a lot to the guests' experience and would guests be disappointed if this wasn't provided and 2) What do you do in your rentals? Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Luke Carl · Answer

@Julia R. It sounds to me like you have a case of the "What the heck did I get myself into"s.   It's only natural.

Every market is different. If I didn't provide high end top shelf linens I'd be out of business before I started.

Obsess over your neighbors listings for days and days and days. Find the ones with the most/best reviews and copy them. If they provide 4 bath towels per bathroom, you provide 4 full body size bath towels that are nicer than your neighbors (Sams Hotel towels are the best and cheap).

Best advice I can give you..... Take that sucker live and learn as you go.

John Underwood · Answer

@Julia R.

Yes we provide Linens towels, paper products (not just a starter amount) basic spices and condiments, coffee, coffee filters, beach towels (lake house).

Think of it this way, if you and your family were going on vacation would you want the hassle of having to pack sheets and make beds? Not a great way to start a vacation in my opinion.

You could have your cleaning crew take the sheets and put on another set and wash the dirty ones offsite.

Leigh Ann Smith · Answer

You have to provide linens, in my opinion.  Yes, it's a hassle and an extra expense (a significant extra expense!), but it is expected.

Imagine if you were renting a place and the family was traveling in from everywhere and then you found out that everyone had to bring their own sheets & towels.  I think it would be a deal-breaker for lots of guests.

What you could do would be to offer a discount to guests who bring their own linens and towels.  Maybe not $10/bed, but whatever you think it would cost you in time and money.

Julia Bykhovskaia · Answer

Thank you everyone!! I'm very glad I asked and I took your advice and will provide linens/towels in my rentals, without any additional fees.

Garry C. · Answer

A reasonable amount of extra linens, yes. I do 2 sets per bed. In the most recent rental that I purchased, there were 11 blankets for 3 beds. Way too much, and definitely a hassle for housekeeping, because some tenants will use them ALL.

Whomever told you not to provide them... I would not look to them for advice again. You're renting memories of great vacations, not a place to stay and maybe some extra linens. If your guests don't have what they need, they aren't going to think favorably of your rental nor recommend it to their friends and family.

And a housekeeper should never feel 'hassled'. You aren't creating problems for them, you're creating work, which they are paid to do. If it's a flat rate for the clean, they might not like having extra work, but it all comes out in the wash, so to speak. There will be stays where people do a lot of tidying up after themselves, leaving housekeeping with not much to do other than the laundry.Regardless, this should be a pass through cost to the guests, so it shouldn't affect you that much.

Paul Sandhu · Answer

To answer your two questions:

1. Providing linens and towels would add nothing to your guests experience.  It is something that is expected.  Tell me this, when you go to a restaurant to eat dinner, do you bring your own silverware and drinking glass or do you expect the restaurant to provide silverware and a drinking glass?  After your meal, suppose you need to use the restroom.  Do you expect the restaurant to provide toilet paper and soap or do you bring your own?  If you are wondering whether or not to provide sheets and towels, I wonder what else you may be skimping on and not realize it.  Perhaps this sort of rental is not for you.

2. What do I provide in my rentals?  Living room with an HDTV BluRay and access to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon with the renters own account; several recliners, end tables, lamps and guy oriented artwork.  Kitchen has all appliances and utensils.  I usually leave a fancy knife set that rests in a block of wood.  Bedrooms have an old style television, guy related artwork, and a complete bedroom set.  Extra things like horseshoe pits, fire rings, kegerators vary on a house to house basis.

William Heilbron · Answer

I would definitely keep extra linens. My guests would always ask for towels. I would also recommend getting white towels and sheets so you can bleach them. Guests will use the towels to clean up things like wine that they’ve spilled. I’ve even had that rub in tan stuff people like to use, turned my sheets orange. So just be cautious with the color.

Bill Cereske · Answer

There is no question about it, it's absolutely essential to provide everything you would expect checking into a hotel.  And more, like fine cooking utensils' and spices.  Speaking of cooking equipment, some people make the deadly mistake of placing their old pots and pans in a vacation rental.  Bad error!  Put the new stuff in your rental and rotate the old stuff to your home.  Same thing with the towels.  This summer, I took a shower and the towel I used was rough and scratchy - cheap.  It turned out that it came from ANOTHER property in the system and got mixed up by accident.  I looked up the other property, and they have few repeat bookings.  Lesson of the day:  Going cheap in this business DOESN'T WORK!

Do you provide linens in your short term rentals?

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