This discussion of how to increase par levels hotel laundry tips may be too late to help you for Spring Break, but we hope it jumpstarts your preparations for the summer high season.
Memorial Day and the Fourth of July will mean not only more occupied rooms but more guests per room as families and groups of friends gather to seek out the sunshine and pool time. More guests + more pool time = more sheets and more towels.
Is your property ready? If not, or if you’re not sure, here’s our take on how to increase par levels hotel laundry tips.
First Things First: Inventory
Before we get to how to increase par levels hotel laundry tips, there’s an important first step that too many properties skip, and that’s the inventory.
An effort to increase your par levels will be more effective once you have an accurate count of how many pars you have on hand right now.
You may want the excitement of another Spring Break season to fade before you start, but give yourself enough time for a full accounting. You can find guidance on conducting linen par stock calculation here.
Your goal is to have four pars per guest room:
- 1 in the room
- 1 in the closet to be used next in the room
- 1 dirty that just came out of a room
- 1 with the laundry getting washed
Invest in the Best
Your guests may rave about the luxe look of your Instagram-worthy hotel bedding and the softness of your robes and towels, but if they aren’t built to stand the test of time, they probably aren’t worth the investment.
While some towel turnover and sheet replacement is expected, linens that aren’t battle-tested for guest wear and tear and commercial laundry equipment cycles will head to the ragout pile prematurely, no matter how attractive they are.
It’s worth asking around to multiple linen manufacturers, commercial linen consultants and/or properties of similar size to yours to see what brands and materials stand up the best.
Protect Your Investment
Once you settle on linens you like, take steps to lengthen their lifecycle. Having the right quality fabrics will help, but how you care for them is equally important.
To minimize linen losses:
- Keep items stored in a locked central location that’s far from where chemicals are kept
- Make sure laundry carts, chutes and equipment are free of damage, sharp edges or dirty parts
- Wash and store dyed cleaning rags separately to avoid accidental color transfer
- Provide housekeeping staff with enough rags and cleaning materials so they don’t turn to your guest towels to turn rooms
If you’ve made the wise decision to partner with a commercial laundry service – congratulations! – there are additional steps you can take to keep your losses to a minimum.
The easiest to implement involve weighing your linens at all points in the pick-up and drop-off process. Your laundry provider should have provided you with a scale, and if they didn’t, either ask for one or get one yourself.
You’ll need it to weigh your laundry when it leaves the property and when it arrives back. Your provider should also be tracking weight when linens arrive at the plant, during the laundry process and when it leaves the plant.
Remember Why Par Level Management is So Important
We get it: You hear the words par level management and think of the time and money it will take. But the alternative – not having enough pars – will cost you more in the long run.
Remember these reasons for keeping in mind how to increase par levels hotel laundry tips. Without enough pars:
- You can’t turn rooms efficiently
- It’s expensive to have labor waiting for laundry
- It’s expensive to have labor having to go back to a room
In no time, you’ll be ready to hit high season on a high note.
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