How many towels do you leave for guests?

[Jenny]

Hello everyone!

Today, I’m here to discuss towels.

They come in all shapes and sizes, some are soft and fluffy, some are rough and worn, and the bathing experience would be pretty uncomfortable without them.  Unless you like air drying!

As we all know, guests come in all shapes and sizes too, and they all have individual needs and expectations when they book a listing. Some might bring their own towels, but others might prefer the convenience of having towels provided at the listing. After all, they’re bulky and take up valuable packing space.

I’m curious to know if you leave towels out for your guests!  How many?  What kind?  If you don’t provide towels for your guests, feel free to chime in and let us know more!

I’m looking forward to hearing your answers!

Jenny

[Trude0]

I leave loads of bath towels, hand towels and face cloths - baskets of them. And I host max 2 people, and short stays (typically 3 nights).

I think it feels a bit luxurious to many - even if they don’t use them all. 

I used to tumble dry them to make them softer - but that is definitely not an option anymore, for all of the obvious reasons. 

[Michelle1851]

@Jenny 

I provide 

2 bath towels, a basket of washcloths, 2 hand towels, makeup wipes, terry robes, and spa hair towels per person. 

The secret to not having everything be used are the spa hair towels. By providing the slightly smaller yet quick drying hair  towel, guests aren’t using both large bath towels. I put a little note next to the towels explaining “ to twist and flip.”

[Z-2]

@Jenny we only have one house provide towels (one set of bath towels per guest). On other houses, we provide sheets/bedding only. The towels are not expensive and we can always buy them. But providing  towels make the turn over time much longer. If the cleaner take home wash them, it is not always reliable as in that particular location, labor is hard to find. The cleaner will clean at least 2 or 3 houses (as I know, some even take 4 or more houses) on weekend. Even like that, we always have extra clean sheets in our owners closet for cleaner in case they don’t have enough time to wash all on time). The guests can rent/buy them themselves.

[Mariann4]

I leave one bath towel and one face clotch per guest. For stays for four or more nights I leave two towels. The bathroom is shared and I change the hand towel once a day when having guests. More often if needed/many guests.

Laundry is extremely resource demanding and I don't want to contribute to excessive usage of water and energy. Washing linen that has been slept in for one night is already extremely wasteful and reducing laundry is necessary. If towels are left out, they will be used. I don't want to encourage such usage. I also see this from many European guests: families tend to share towels with their kids and tell me which towels have not been used (everything left out gets washed anyways). Many don't shower every day. And except from one European group everyone knows to hang their towel to dry after use.

Others expect free reign on my towels. But when I tell them to hang them they often thank me for learning them to be more conscious about energy saving. Of course I don't deny them towels. I have plenty. I just nicely hang my own towel to dry when I understand that they are oblivious and careless, speak around it and they are learning something new.

I also don't have a dryer. Everything is air drying on a rack, over doors (duvet covers and stretchy sheets) and chairs in my shared home when it's raining. Which it does between 230 and 280 days every year here... And I won't hang all this when having guests. They get the tidy home-version.

But on the good days I have i big drying rack in the garden. So I try to dry all the Airbnb fabric in the sun, giving me actual laundry-days. 😊

[Ana2038]

@Jenny , my listing is set up more for short stays.  We provide each guest their own bath towel, hand towel and face towel and one bath mat. Our towels are white (yikes) but I also provide fragrance free individually wrapped make up remover towelettes. Just recently, we added a towel warmer which guests absolutely love. At times, the towels aren’t used, (guest bring their own), but regardless of use, we always wash the towels and bedding (bedspread, sheets etc….) after every stay. 

If we get someone staying longer, we do offer fresh towels/linens during their stay.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Jenny 

In most Korean homes, use of large fluffy bath towels is rare.... probably because of limited storage space, plus dryers are not yet a common household appliance so laundry is air-dried on racks. During our humid summers, large thick towels don't dry well, but frequent showers are a must, so most people (including Henry and myself) will use several small towels rather than one large big towel. 

Since we hosted only foreigner guests, we decided to get a few bath towels and provided 1 bath + 2 hand towels per week - this always seemed to be enough. We preferred not to leave a lot of extras out so only 1 extra hand towel in the bathroom cabinet, but instead, we let our guests know that they could always ask for more towels if needed. 

[Jenny]

I often prefer an air dried towel myself @Jessica-and-Henry0! I live in Scotland where we hang out our washing all year round, unless it's snowing or raining!  Saves on bills and I love the smell of freshly line-dried fabric.

Do many of your guests ask for the extra towels?

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Jenny 

Only guests with long hair seemed to need an extra towel every once in a while 😃 For most, what we provided always seemed to be sufficient~ 

I've recently started looking into a full body dryer for my own personal use. I keep a small box fan next to the bathroom all year round and Henry thinks it's time to upgrade 😂

https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/ozwind-body-dryer-review-1146283/

[Jenny]

Oh wow!  Today I learned about the existence of the body dryer!  Thanks @Jessica-and-Henry0 - one of these would be amazing for the summer months here.  Not that Scotland has a very long summer, but it's so cold for the rest of the time that when it gets very hot, I never feel prepared!

If you end up buying one of these I'd love to hear your feedback!

[Lorna170]

@Jenny   1 bath sheet, 1 bath towel, 1 hand towel and 2 washclothes per registered guest.  Additional hand towels are left hanging on the rail in the bathroom(s).  4 sets extra bath towels, hand towels and washclothes stored in the bathroom closet.  

Guests are of two varieties.  Some guests will use 1 towel during their stay, while others will use every towel and washcloth they can lay their hands on, including the stack of kitchen hand towels and dish clothes.  

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Jenny 

For a one or two night stay I leave two bath towels, a hand towel and a washcloth per person. I also leave three more sets of the same in the cupboard in the bathroom, plus 2 extra bath mats. I like a bath towel and a hair towel (same as bath towel) for myself, so my guests get what I personally prefer. I also leave a 4 pack of extra toilet paper and a roll of paper towels, plus 2 boxes of extra facial tissue in that cupboard. On the toilet I leave 3 extra new rolls of toilet paper. Extra sets of bed linens are in that cupboard, and 2 bathrobes hanging. I leave 4 extra bed pillows and 3 extra blankets and quilts. All my linens are plush, oversized and highest quality available. We provide a king bed for guests, so all bed linens, quilts and blankets are oversized. Linens are natural fiber as are quilts and blankets. Mattress and pillows are double covered with waterproof, dust and bug proof covers under the linens. 

[Ruth413]

@Jenny 

I'm the same as @Huma0.  A set of 1 Bath towel, 1 Hand Towel, 1 face towel per guest.  If they are staying a week, I offer a change of towels & bed linens halfway through the stay.  Some take this offer, others decline it.

They also get a hand towel in the kitchen & a dressing gown each for the Hot Tub and a dog towel if they are bringing a pet.  And yes, I do have to have 2 washing machines ! 

[Huma0]

@Ruth413 

I forgot to mention tea towels in the kitchen. These are a must. I have a huge stash of them and, as a homeshare host, I can just swap them out and wash them as necessary. We got through a lot! 

As the bathrooms are communal, I also have hand towels in each one (and of course bathmats) so guests can either use the ones I give them or the ones that are already there. It's up to them. For sure, they have to be washed frequently. It always grosses me out when I'm at friend's or somewhere where there is just one manky, crusty hand towel in the bathroom 😞

How do people feel about robes and slippers? I don't have a hot tub or anything like that, but is it worth providing these things for a bit of luxury in an inexpensive listing, or just a waste of money/needless increase of laundry?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 @Jenny 

I provide hotel slippers and also bathrobes. Potholders and towels in their kitchenette - Terry towels, hand towels, dish and glassware towels as well as washing dishes cloths. In our own kitchen which guests are able to share, we provide a lavish amount of everything. They also get to use our hand forged Dalstrong Shogun series knives,  and amazing cookware, with choice of gas or induction. 

[Huma0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

As a homeshare host, I have pretty much everything guests need in the kitchen. It's easy for me as I would have this stuff anyway. However, guests do tend to ruin pans. That's another topic though...

The robes I can see being appreciated but also maybe not expected and adding a lot to the amount of laundry, especially when someone hosts a lot of short stays. I'm still undecided about that one. I guess there are more lightweight versions that would reduce the bulk of washing/drying costs, but they are not the same as the thick, fluffy, hotel style ones...

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 

I'm a home share host as well, and we have everything in the kitchen that anyone might want, and more. We rarely eat out of the house since it is so far to get to town. 

Our guests are so excellent in the kitchen - they are at least as - or more than - we are with respect for our pans, knives etc. This is a very foodie region and we get folks who are appreciative. They also clean the kitchen better than we do, so we love it when our guests use our kitchen. We also get cooking lessons! Our guests are extremely culturally diverse, so we get so many good cooking lessons. 

Our robes and other linens are the fat fluffy hotel style ones. True we pump our water from our very deep well, and do all that laundry. We figure that our guests are worth pampering. Unexpected is good. Pampered is better! Spare nothing to make our guests feel like royalty. 

We may not qualify for the fancy categories on the platform, but we supply all those goodies anyway. And we are Sustainable, green and solar. 

Now, if they would just put us and our FL Wright design house in Design category, we could raise our rates!

[Huma0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

It sounds like you get a really high quality of guest. My guests don't intentionally mistreat the pans but, as the vast majority of them are quite young, I am guessing they are either not that used to cleaning up after themselves yet or just not used to having nice kitchen stuff. Who knows?

That being said, a current guest bought me a new pan for Xmas to replace one that had been wrecked, only she bought a much, much smaller one and I already have enough of those! She also bought a plate to replace a couple she had smashed, but rather than a dinner plate, she bought a very pretty small decorative thingy. I guess it's the thought that counts though. Most guests do not bother replacing damaged stuff at all.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 

My guests are all amazing, not really young, and appreciate what is in my kitchen. I provide Cordon Bleu dishes for them, in their kitchenette, none has ever  broken. Very occasionally a wine glass breaks, they are so fragile anyway. I polish their glassware to a bartender's shine with the correct cloth. I'm more likely to break stemware. 

We have Zojirushi electrics, hotpot/shabushabu and even my heirloom cast iron is respected. My guests really know their way around a cook's kitchen. I've no worries!

Sad that you've had crazy things happen to your pots. And it is the thought that counts. We were staying with a family in Taipei, broke a plate, and had so much fun cruising the market stalls and shops to find a perfect replacement. A great day out and about.

[Huma0]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

Yes, I definitely appreciated the thought. She thought about the colours and what would go with the decor in my kitchen, so it was very sweet of her.

I want to have high quality pans, but each time I buy one, I just know it's not going to last. These pans come usually with 5 or 10 year warrantees, sometimes lifetime ones, but they get trashed pretty quickly.

My mum bought me a set of lovely copper pans a few years ago, but they are still stashed away in the dresser as I don't want my guests going anywhere near them!

One thing I will say though is that the guests never seem to touch the Le Crueset, or other cast iron pans, probably because they are so heavy and look very posh, so those are still unscathed after years. I only have a couple of them but have ordered a third...

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Huma0 

My bestie is a chef, and has all the finest everything. He is a sushi chef, does private events and cooks up a storm in a dozen ethnicities at home. Yes, they wear out! He gets new pans about once a year. He turned me on to the Dalstrong knives. They are hand forged in the traditional fashion, and are well balanced in the hand. When well maintained, they are effortless to use, they are so sharp.

My guests get huge smiles when I offer the use of my good stuff in the kitchen. It is just stuff, and I can buy more if needed. So far everyone honors and respects the fine craftsmanship that produced them. That is pay ack enough.

I feel sorry for the excellent cookware that is stored away.  

I use all the good dishes that are "special" and also the handmade ones. If I don't they'll end up in the Senior Center thrift shop when I'm gone. I just hope whoever gets my "left behinds" doesn't stash them away, but uses and enjoys them.