Hi @Thea-and--Keith0,
This is frustrating, but I think, mostly a cost of doing business. The question is, how to keep the cost down?
I started out with linens in the $75-100+ plus range, shopping around to try to match the quality at high-end hotels.
The problem? At least in my experience, they get stained rather quickly. (I'll try Huma's Oxi suggestion; Shout! doesn't seem to do it-- and there's the issue that most of our laundry gets done by a service, so it's hard to catch).
At this point I've moved to $30-40 synthetics from Amazon (which, frankly, I'd never use for myself), in relatively dark colors. If you're losing a set in 1 of 10 stays, that's at least not so bad.
Perhaps on the high end, you could use very darks and dye occasionally. Beyond my free time availability at this point.
In the situation you outline, where multiple things were damaged, I might have bothered with a claim-- but as others note, ABB hardly makes it easy for hosts, alas.
It's always possible your guest has a medical or neurological problem, which makes them more likely to to leave a pen open or the like-- part of being a good host, as well, is serving individuals across the spectrum, courteously and graciously.
(Even my current difficult/problematic guest).
Otherwise, I'd really like to hear any other suggestions, which might keep the loss rate on linens down.