How many towels per person per stay?

[Eileen4]

This isn't a biggie, but how do hosts handle the towel issue? I have luxuriant towels that take ages to dry in the dryer. I've noticed that if I put out 8 for 4 people--even for 2 nights--usually more than 4 will be used. However, if I just put the 4 for 4 people, that seems to work.

I've had a couple of 2 night stays (3 people each time) and they both mentioned having more towels.

I have a lot of towels, so that's not the problem. It's the time it takes to do a load (and even then I can't do many at a time). I also want to keep the ones I have nice for as long as possible, hence I'd rather not wash them and wear them out too quickly. I don't cheap out on them--I get very high quality--but I don't want them to wear out quickly.

Personally I think 1 big towel and hand towel for a 2 night stay is fine. Any thoughts?

[Ale113]

Totally Agree, @Jillie1 

I do actually explain why I only give a small towel per person. If I give more, I have to put two laundries instead of one (+ soap, more consume). 

Some guests have complained about this. Only couples, never solos.

A.

[Marcus33]

Yep, just one set per guest: bath sheet, hand towel and face washer per stay. My place is not a serviced apartment.  To do otherwise would increase costs, and therefore price, considerably..  

A problem I have with AirBnB is that I can’t charge multiple cleaning fees for extended stays (over one week).

My place comes with full (included) laundry facilities.

[Tony134]

Wat?!  No way!  I leave out one towel for each guest. If they are staying longer than a week, I'll leave two towels.

Just make sure they are in a spot that says "look how organized this all is!"

I leave them on table near door with the house manual on top.

Rarely get any complaints.

[Kelli81]

Nicely done! I enjoyed reading, and agree completely! 

[Patricia2183]

In my case that would mean 84 towels. @WOW! Six people for seven nights.

[Dede0]

@Eileen4 Our apartment allows a max of 2 guests. Regardless of the length of stay, we leave 4 towels visible (one on a towel bar, 3 stacked on a very obvious shelf). We have a folded card on that shelf that says something like "We're happy to provide all the towels you need, just ask. But we're even happier if you choose to re-use your towels a time or two. If you're here for more than 3 days, we'll contact you about refreshing the towels regardless." And we keep an extra stash in a chest in the closet, which we can point the guests to if they ask for more. Most 2-3 day guests never ask for more, making do with the original 4 towels.

One related issue... we use white towels, because our whole scheme is white. Because of that we've had issues with weird, faint gray/brown stains on the towels. We think it's mostly due to makeup removal. So we include a supply of makeup removal towelettes in the bathroom and we have yet another folded card asking guests not to use towels for makeup removal, shoe cleaning, mustache-waxing, or bike polishing. It seems to be working.

[Louise0]

@Dede0 that's exactly what I do, and my experience mirrors yours.   Though, even though I provide grey face washers to remove makeup and makeup removal wipes AND make it a House Rule to use them, I still get the dreaded makeup stains.  The worst of the worst is fake tan.  That **bleep** does NOT wash out.

[Eileen4]

I've used some coloured towels, but occasionally they get white streaks in them...no idea why. 

[Carrie1]

I offer one set (bath, hand & wash) per person, per stay. I host in my own home, and most of my stays are 2-3 days. When I have guests for longer (one week or more) I offer to wash or switch out their towels once/week. Also, if the weather outside is damp, towels may not dry on the rack, so I'll ask guests if they'd like me to toss their towels in the dryer. 

[Bridget8]

Hi @Eileen4

I put one towel per person in the bedroom and leave a few spare in the bathroom too 🙂

[Marcus33]

Sorry, some hosts raise the bar for no real reason.

My rates, if the townhouse is fully utilised, costs about the same or less per person than the local backpacker hostels.  For this you want limitless towels, make up remover and, from other conversations, food in the kitchen!!?   This is BnB, not, as called out by others, a luxuary hotel.

If you provide a luxury service, with attendant pricing, by all means do so, but dont assume your practices apply to all.  One towel per person per week is it.  Its what most people do at home.  If more are required by all means supply on request, but not as a norm.  I agree with many comments above (especially the need to wash whether they were actually used or not) with the added observation that many guests will use as much "stuff" as you provide, whether needed or not.  They see it as their right to extract maximum value for money just because.

As always, cleanliness is the key to guests' enjoyment of your space, not fripperies.

[Aaron119]

I just had the "I can't believe two towels for 3 days" and "The towel should be bigger" (they're standard size). I leave out a lot of spare amenities and still had one comment which given the review process is now public "bare bones amenities". Can't really please everyone. There's an in-house washer dryer that they could have used. When using Airbnb myself, I take it that my experience includes washing the towels. As for amenities, I try and leave anything from disposable emery boards, travel size lotions and even disposable slippers and I still got that comment. 

[Jay120]

Poor you to have to tolerate such bare-faced cheek! So ill-mannered. It is also so mean-spirited and spiteful to make such comments, but it is what people are doing more and more. I blame the uncouth nature of reality TV and the aping of prima donna "celebrity" conduct. Cool to tear people apart and slag off everyone. Not! I'm still smarting from a down-grading to four stars "overall experience" for no apparent reason... I suspect because I asked them to stop spraying the ceiling in the shower. Because I have so few comments, one star less makes a huge difference to my stats! 😞

[Sarah977]

I have a minimum 3 day booking, 1 guest only, but most of my guests stay for a week-2 weeks. I leave a guest 2 bath towels, a hand towel and a washcloth and offer fresh ones at the one-week mark, but my guests tend to be the environmentally aware types, so they usually say they don't even need clean ones after a week, maybe a clean hand towel amd washcloth. 

Women with long hair tend to use one towel to wrap around their hair if they have washed it, and one for their body.

Myself, I go 2 weeks on a towel- if you just use it to dry off after bathing, and hang it up to dry,  it's still clean, right? It blows me away that people will use a towel only once, throw it on the floor and take a fresh one off the stack for the next shower. I was co-hosting for my neighbor and his 2 male guests went through 17 bath towels in 6 days.

I also ask guests to bring their own beach towel, as those get run over by kids and dogs at the beach, are filled with sand, and can often get slung over a chair at a beach restaurant and forgotten, especially after a few margueritas 🙂

But with the tinier and tinier luggage restrictions on planes, I know guests don't want to take up space in their luggage with towels, so have a couple non-luxurious beach towels to offer them if they are just traveling with a carry-on.

[Cody96]

We leave one towel visible per guest and then have an extra per guest in the cabinet.  No complaints.  We also purchased reasonable quality towels that dry much quicker than the thick 'luxury' ones.  Then laundering 2 towels doesn't become the issue.  

Best of luck!