How many pillows do you provide?

[Denise80]

We host our holiday home remotely and live 2 hours away which sleeps 6 people.

We have a lovely lady who cleans for us, but she does not iron. At all. At the moment I am ironing hundreds (or so it seems) of pillowcases and leaving them for her to use for the beds, but  I just had an epiphany on how I can reduce this. I could reduce the number of pillows to one per person rather than the two at the moment.

Would this look stingy/mean? I would be very interested to hear how many pillows do other people have per person. My pillows are commercial ones and very comfy (in fact I have had people comment on them!)  and all the same. 

[Ann783]

Twin beds get two pillows. Queen beds get four. 

[Nikki39]

4 pillows per double/king bed. Recently it occured to me that was excessive if only one person per bed. However, it is not the pillow cases that I mind ironing as much as the rest of the bedding. I find the quick shake out of the dryer doesnt do it and some bedding looks worse than others unironed.

[Denise80]

Thank you @Sarah977 @Nikki39 @Gabriella40 @Ann783 , at the moment we provide 2 pillows per person and it looks like that is the norm. I was just trying to think of a way to keep ironed cases on them 🙂 Never mind, I will have to get our cleaner to lay them flat when they come off the line and see how that goes. Thanks for all your comments !

[Lisa723]

@Denise80 @Gabriella40 @Sarah977 @Emilia42 @Nikki39 

I can't sleep with just one pillow, and I don't give a rip whether the case (or anything else) is ironed. We don't iron anything and haven't had any comment or complaint about it. But my listings are relatively "rustic" I guess.

[Nikki39 · Accepted solution]

Another possibility is to give one pillow but provide extras in the wardrobe or somewhere similar. Those that want two get two but if they dont those stay in reserve for next time.

[Emily487]

I ironed while in grad school for a family of 7. Every kid had Catholic school uniforms to iron (soooo many cargo pant pockets and skirt pleats!!) and every kid had a queen bed with sheets that
had to be ironed. It was....a lot. 

I am a total cheapskate, I guess. Our Airbnb has two queen beds and a double (full). Each bed gets two pillows. Extras are in the closet. I've never had any negative feedback about the (lack of) pillows and it's less laundry for me. Also, I can never get four pillows on a bed to look good...stack them? prop up one row against the other? 

[Sarah977]

@Emily487  My best friend in junior high lived with her single dad and 4 brothers. Her job was laundry. She always had an unending, huge mountain of clothes to wash, dry and iron. I, meanwhile, wasn't required to do any household chores except keep my room reasonably tidy. I've not seen her in all these years, but I wouldn't be surprised if as an adult, she doesn't iron at all 🙂

[Matt682]

@Denise80 When I first started I spoke to some local hosts and the advice was, “Make sure you invest in a good iron.”

I decided I wasn’t going to start the precedent, and in a year with almost 200 stays and over 700 room nights booked not a single person has even made a passing comment on my un-ironed sheets!

In terms of pillows I put two per berth, so four on the king and two on the singles. One thin one on the bottom (matching the sheet), and a thick one on the top (matching the duvet) which seems to stop any problems with them looking untidy. Both are hollow-fibre, rather than down, so I don’t have to swap them or provide a lower service to those with allergies or are more ethically-minded.

If I were you: provide two pillows per berth and stop ironing them; fold instead.

[Emilia42]

I agree that the vast majority of guests don't even consciously know whether the sheets are ironed or not. But it is that feeling that you get when you slide into bed at a nice hotel vs. sleeping at your Aunt Susie's house. There is a notable difference. 

[Trina17]

Try “wrinkle release” . Dollar General brand is best. I think Downy makes one also. 
Im a cleaner in Dallas/Ft. Worth, I NEVER iron.

[Delwyn3]

As per the motel I work at part time, Queen beds 4 pillows, single beds one pillow.  I actually wonder if I should put 2 pillows on my single beds but have not done so.   I do not iron.

[Melodie-And-John0]

One of our moto's for Bearpath Lodging is "Looks good for its age"  After all is ts over 200 years old.  It is neither a high end hotelier nor flea bag central, obviously clean and well maintained is our goal, mints on the pillow and bottled filtered water not a basket full of food and a bottle of wine. I remember as a kid my mom using our monstrous and scary Mangle Iron to iron sheets and never could understand why, they lay flat and we sleep on them, they arent clothing and if they were, I would be buying perm press for sure!!!!!!

My wife and I share clean out responsibilities based on availability and we never, ever Iron sheets or pillow cases, we put 3 pillows on the queen and full sized beds and 2 on the twin.  There are extra's in the closet and sometimes people use them.  We have considered 4 pillows per but extras that people haven't actually asked for aren't really things that will allow us to stay highly competitive in the niche that were consistently  dominating in our area.    We don't really want to own a place where people expect more provided than what they are willing to pay for, I leave that of others, John