Awe-inspiring guest rooms are at the heart of your property’s success, and your unforgettable beds – along with the accompanying luxury hotel bedding – are the stars of the guest room show. Investing in the best bedding is the first step, and maintaining it is a close, and perhaps more important, second.
Luxury hotel bedding is so central to the overall guest experience that it’s become its own consumer industry, with hospitality chains offering guests the opportunity to buy their proprietary brands and retailers offering hotel-themed bedding collections.
To keep guests well-rested and your property well-rated, here are six steps you can take to maintain your property’s luxury hotel bedding:
Start with the Best Bedding
You need your sheets, duvet covers and comforters to be soft enough to leave your guests feeling pampered but sturdy enough to stand up to the test of time and hotel laundry machines.
Properties with the most rave-worthy bedding typically have sheets that are:
- 300-thread-count or higher;
- 100% cotton; or
- A cotton-polyester blend smooth enough to pass for completely cotton.
Try a Two-Stage Laundry Process
While it’s tempting to throw everything into the hottest temperature possible and call it a day, when laundering luxury hotel bedding, it’s worth it to take your time because patience will pay off.
Have staff start bedding off with a five-minute cold soak cycle and plenty of detergent that’s strong but gentle. Hot water can cause some stains to set, so it’s important to start out by staying cool. If you’re a green hotel or just looking to be more eco-friendly, there are some great sustainable detergent options available that are non-toxic and biodegradable.
For phase two, use warm water or water heated to a temperature that’s most appropriate for your bedding.
Don’t Use Bleach
Not only will bleach break down your fabrics faster, some guests may have allergic reactions to bedding bleached with chlorine. Chlorine-based bleach can also form dangerous gases when mixed with other cleaning products and pose a risk to staff.
Instead of bleach, enhance your wash cycle with a booster of the “Oxi” or “Oxy” variety. The active ingredient in most Oxi/Oxy products breaks down into hydrogen peroxide when dissolved in water, a much greener alternative.
Don’t Neglect Your Mattresses
Your luxury hotel bedding and your mattresses are working together to ensure guests are getting a great night’s sleep. Maintaining your mattresses is a less frequent but equally important step in the overall upkeep of your guest rooms.
Every three months or so, have staff strip mattresses down, air them out for a few hours, then flip them over or around. Some properties also swear by vacuuming mattresses at least once a month.
Know When to Let Things Go
A durable set of luxury hotel sheets will last about a year before it’s time for them to be retired and either disposed of or converted into cleaning rags. For mattresses, the life expectancy can be up to five years, even with regular airing and flipping. Any longer than that, and you risk incurring the kind of wear that guests will notice.
Consider Leaving Laundry to the Professionals
If you’re finding that maintaining your luxury hotel bedding is more than you bargained for, it may be time to consider an off-site laundry provider. The right commercial laundry service will be built with your luxury linens in mind, and they’ll handle all of the details such as water temperature, products and environmentally friendly practices.
Knowing how to maintain your luxury hotel bedding can make sure you’re getting the most out of your investment. Both you and your guests can rest easy knowing that you’re doing everything you can to turn their dreams of a great night’s sleep into a reality.
{{cta(‘d023df5e-9bec-4f38-97d2-98acff84ce4d’)}}