An Executive Housekeeper's Pre Opening Linen Guide for 5 to 7 Star Hotels

When it comes to designing an unforgettable experience for guests in hotels, the little details count. Among these, linens play an important role not only in providing comfort but also in setting the tone for a welcoming and stylish ambiance. Beyond mere functionality, the quality and appearance of linens also can significantly impact the perceived luxury of a hotel room.

Imagine stepping into a meticulously arranged room where every type of linen is spotlessly clean, perfectly pressed, and free from any stains. This attention to detail can beautifully enhance the overall experience and leave an impression on guests, and a memory to revisit.

In summary: Navigating the intricacies of pre-opening linen preparation for luxury hotels can be a complex task. To assist hoteliers in this endeavour, this comprehensive guide offers expert insights to ensure that your hotel's linen strategy is meticulously planned and executed. The guide below is thoughtfully crafted, to help hotels present an ambiance of premiumness and sophistication.

Jump to:

1. What is Linen?
2. Hotel Linen Types & Purposes
3. Investing in Buying Premium Linens
4. Thread-Count (TC), GSM, Fabrics
5. Linens, and The Colour in a Hotel
6. Clockwork Processes: Linen Management
7. The Bedding Experience
8. The Bath Experience
9. The Dining / Banquet Experience
10. Linen Care, Maintenance, & Management
11. Staff Training
12. Suppliers & Manufacturers
13. Your Hotel Pre-Opening Checklist

1. What is linen?

Linen is a multi-purpose fabric, traditionally obtained from the fibres of the flax plant. However, in today’s modern market, the term “linen” often includes fabrics made from various other materials, the like of Cotton, Hemp, Ramie and Synthetic Fibres (Polyester, Rayon, and so on).

The Gentelle selection of of bed linen fabrics are primarily manufactured from Cotton, and Cotton & Polyester. This approach ensures a range of choices that align with certain market preferences. The selection of linens is made to be hypoallergenic, and is crafted particularly for hotels in their quest for providing a premium bedding experience to guests, and goes through several processes including sanforization and mercerisation.

2. Hotel Linen Types & Purposes

For a smart housekeeper, understanding the differences between the various types of linen, and knowing their technical specifications and where they're to be used, is all a part of making intelligent buying decisions. The types of linens serve different purposes, beyond just serving and enhancing the guest experiences of comfort and luxury. Beyond guest use, linens used in hotels are sent through industrial cleaning/washing processes that are harsher on the fabrics than simply a washing machine process at home.

Some of the basic categories of hotel linen include:

• Bed Linen - Which in a hotel's catalogue would include Bed Sheets, Pillow Cases, Duvets & Duvet Covers, Pillow Protectors, Mattress Protectors, Pillows, Throw Cushions, Bed Runners, Blankets, Bedroom/House Slippers, and so on. Each piece would be suitably manufactured depending on it's purpose. Some to ensure softness, breathability, and comfort, some to ensure coolness like choosing between a 100% Cotton Sheet vs a sheet with a mix of Cotton & Polyester, some to ensure pillow life-span prolongation with a 100% Waterproof Pillow Protector. And so on.
• Bath Linen - Which would include Bath Towels, Hand Towels, Face Towels, Bath Mats, and so on. Like bed linens, bath linens have different technical specifications. One of them is the GSM (Grams per Square Metre), which helps understand the thickness of the towel or mat in simple terms. A good bath towel has to be considerably thick, thereby the higher GSM, resulting in a higher price point. Other details include the feel of the towel, the loops whether they're twisted/untwisted on a terry fabric towel, the well-craftedness of the towel's edges, etc. The end goal is to have an excellent towel that doesn't feel like sandpaper, but is lovely to feel for guests, while having considerable softness to it, and being absorbent. The end goal, of course that the guest should feel the hotel's hospitality through the towels, through the linens, thereby providing a good experience and service, and helping in obtaining good reviews, and increasing re-bookings.
• Banquet Linen - These linens likewise are manufactured for purpose. The most prominent linen in this category would include Table Cloths, Napkins, and Chair Covers, with each having it's own technical specification. Just taking the napkins, it's important to understand that napkins also act as accent pieces to the banquet rooms decor, and thus have to be chosen smartly. At the same time, they are the tool guests would use to wipe their hands on, and thus are a stain-magnet. A good hotel supplier will help you to pick the right napkin (fabric) in a beautiful accent colour that aligns with the room and the hotel brand in particular. The fabric needs to slightly rough, but still soft, yet when folded into unique shapes can stiffen up to those shapes, and so on. A popular chair cover material is a spandex-elastic type material that "hugs" the chair with ease and is a quick fix in some banquet halls that often may use the chair covers to cover up good, but older furniture that's seen better days.

Whether it's the invite to a restful night's sleep, the experience of a premium 5 star hotel bath towel, or the refinement of a dining setting, the understanding of these basic linen types ensures that each piece aligns with the world-class standards expected in a choice hotel establishment, whether that be in terms of elegance, comfort, all the way to standing up to the commercial industry-standard laundry processes, and so on.

3. Investing in Buying Premium Linens

To put a few points in quick-fire format,

• The look & feel:
  • Quality, presentation and intelligent procurement can significantly influence how luxurious a room appears to the naked eye.
  • For example, a good hotel pillow is manufactured to certain exacting standards. In presentation, a premium hotel supply solutions company can help hotels in purchasing a "menu" of pillows. Where some premium pillows will be longer, some smaller, all for a single king sized bed. This delightful assembly can make a bed look more fluffed up, more sink-into-bedding-friendly.
  • Then there's the type of polycotton sheets, which can make a bed look less crumpled, but neat and smart.
  • A selection of bath towels for each room, with rolls of face towels by the washbasin placed in a small heap, to the luxurious bath towels neatly arranged.
  • Gentelle's hotel-grade towels for example, are designed and manufactured to a specific requirement to ensure an incredible experience. Some of these requirements include being soft, but not too silky, being absorbent and comfy, ensuring it wipes well, and isn't too rough as to feel like sandpaper. And so on.
  • Likewise sheets. A sateen striped sheet can bring about a delightful feel to the sleeper.
  • A 100% Cotton Sheet can feel cooler in bed to the sleeper than a Polycotton Sheet.
  • Also read: Why are hotel beds so comfortable?
• A management point of view in a nutshell, (for Executive Housekeepers, Procurement Managers, C-level Executives, Business Owners, etc.):
  • Premium hotel-grade linens are designed to better withstand commercial washing.
  • Designed for experiences, these are linens that are manufactured with hotel guests in mind.
  • With intelligent linen technical factors alongside intelligent pricing structures, hotels can better forecast linen life-spans, and thereby better calculate and estimate linen procurement periods, and therefore make smarter decisions with cash flow. For example, a premium quality Gentelle 250TC 60% Cotton Sheet can endure about 100 commercial washes, while a 300TC 100% Cotton, around 80 commercial washes. What is TC in Linen?
  • Gentelle's linens go through multiple processes including Sanforization and Mercirisation. Sanforization for example is where fabrics are are sent through a process of stretching, shrinking, so as to reduce the shrinkage that could occur after washing.
  • A quality hotel-grade waterproof pillow protector can help ensure a pillow stays super dry, and stain free. Thereby ensuring longer use in a better condition. Also read: How a waterproof pillow protector helps your pillow keep stain free, and last longer.
  • Attract guests who prefer a finer, delightful experience.

4. Thread-Count (TC), GSM, Fabrics

Choosing correct and suitable linens for a hotel is a crucial decision for any hotelier aiming to provide guests with a premium experience. Some key considerations in the procurement process is choosing the right GSM & thread count. So what is GSM & Thread Count?

"GSM in fabric, also known as grams per square metre is simply the metric measurement of the weight of a fabric. This measurement helps one decide on the best weight to buy, considering the usage of the material at hand. The higher the GSM number, the denser the fabric will be."

Source: https://sa.gentelle.com/en/blog/news/what-is-gsm-in-fabrics

Thread count, on the other hand, refers to the number of horizontal and vertical threads woven into one square inch of fabric. This is often in the hotel linen industry to bring some clarity as to the quality and density of the fabric used in bed sheets. A higher thread count can indicate a thicker fabric. However although many people believe that a higher thread count means a better quality product, this is not exactly the case. For example, buying a 1000 TC bed sheet that isn't 100% cotton, or the yarns used are not of good quality, will likely mean that the sheet will not give sleepers a good experience in bed. Rather, picking a 300 TC 100% cotton sheet can sometimes outperform, or outshine the 1000 TC bed sheet.

5. Linens, and The Colour in a Hotel

From the white and cream of neutral colours, to rich earthy tones of greens and browns, to coastal blues and sandy hues, the feeling of a property's ambience plays a role in attraction, and guest bookings, and then re-bookings. Hotels, resorts, villas, every property has a target audience that it attracts, be it NEOM's upcoming Trojena, project featuring sci-fi inspired architecture and an outdoor ski resort, to the Al Balad hotels that fuse together a tapestry of rich history, heritage, and modernity, or Jeddah's Earth Hotels (scheduled for a 2025 opening), each hotel a project of immense deliberation from the size of the a door knob, to the colour of the walls and curtains.

In a hotel's pre-opening checklist, a prime item would be ensuring that everything in the space of linens from the colour and texture of the sheets, to the curtains, the bed runner and even the shape and length of the pillows all play their roles with regards to the style and ambience of the hotel. A hotel's lobby, living spaces, rooms, etc.. are important touchpoints for guest engagement, and thereby should be paid great attention to.

6. Clockwork Processes: Linen Management

Excellent linen management goes a long way in ensuring established functionality in a hotel. That means, knowing how to assign linens to rooms in a hotel so that there's always linens to cycle. So for example, one set of bedding and bath linens would be "in use", one set being "processed by laundry", and one set ready to go and "in stock" so as to change sheets every 3 days, or 1 week or so on, depending on the hotel's standard cycle and procedure. The clockwork like process is an important part of linen management, as it helps ensure the hotel runs well without hiccups like guest rooms not being ready due to a shortage of linens, and so on.

7. The Bedding Experience

As a prime experience driver for guests, attention to the hotel bed and bedding is important. From investing in good supportive mattresses, to choosing a mattress topper for added softness, to choosing between fitted or flat sheets. The decisions made can really tweak the guest experience up a few notches.

Some hotels could for example, use fitted sheets as the bed's primary sleep-on linen, which can keep the sheet "fitted" over the mattress and in place. Why some hoteliers may prefer this is because it might reduce the time it takes to make the bed for hotel housekeepers, and secondly, due to it's elastic edged design, and it's made-to-fit form, the fitted sheet might tend to stay on better than a flat sheet does, this ideally keeping the bed looking pretty fine after a rough night's sleep.

Keeping the sheet fitted over the mattress will require a specific measurement where the sheet would be manufactured for the general type/size of the mattress of that bed.

Then there's the mattress protector that keeps the mattress from getting soiled by sweat stains, accidental spills and so on, and can be considered a hotel's investment tactic that helps a mattress live longer.

And in the similar vein, the waterproof pillow protector is designed to keep the pillow dry and last longer. So instead of trying to wash and dry a pillow, the hotel would perhaps find it much more convenient and cost effective to wash the pillow protector instead. Thus keeping the pillow nice and dry.

Certain hotels that want to go beyond will offer guests a Pillow Menu. A pillow menu is designed to offer a choice of pillows for guest preferences, and up the service offerings of the hotel. Imagine sampling the best pillow to sleep on! After all, having guests leave reviews about their experience is always nice, and can positively steer public perception of the hotel.

Everything little thing counts. And for an Executive Housekeeper to pay close attention to these little things on the pre-opening checklist is important.

8. The Bath Experience

For an Executive Housekeeper's pre-opening checklist, the guest's bath experience is likewise something to pay close attention to. From the selection of shampoos, and other bath essentials, to the placement of towel.

When it comes to towels, and other bath linens, the various sizes, thicknesses, types, manufacturing quality, etc, of the bath linens are designed for very particular purposes.

A sensual after bath experience can bring guests back, get them talking, and inspire more people to want to stay at such a promising hotel. Therefore, the fragrance of the bath, the softness of the towels, the thick bath mat to sink their feet into after a bath, everything plays a role.

A Gentelle hotel-grade bath towel is designed to be soft, thick, luxurious. And at the same time, have a bit of coarseness to it to ensure it does the job well. The towel is manufactured to be not overly coarse as sometimes experienced in certain hotels, as to not be "scratchy" on the skin, thereby sinking the guest experience.

Hotels can feature rolls of the Face Towel by the washbasin while stocking the guest's bath closet or bath rack/shelf with ready-to-go, aesthetically, and beautifully folded Bath Towels. Hand Towels can like wise be layered atop the bath towels so as to give height and depth and thereby enhance the look of comfort.

With soft and comfy Bathrobes, a hotel can give the guests a choice of product and experience, the like of soft terry fabric bathrobes, or waffle-style bathrobes. Each with it's own distinct look and feel.

Some hotels in order to enhance the guest experience, would prefer the hotel's bath towels, hand towels, face towels and bathrobes to carry a rich embroidery of the hotel's logo. Bringing not just a bathrobe to a guest, rather bringing a "hotel-brand" bathrobe.

9. The Dining / Banquet Experience

Needless to say, an important part of a guest's experience is dining. As the saying goes, food is usually tasted by sight first, and fine dining restaurants make this an important part of the dining experience/process.

From the style of dishes, to the perfect lighting for the occasion, to investing in the right banquet table cloth, to picking the right table runner to add to the vibe. Everything plays a role in enhancing the dining experience.

When it comes to table linen, picking the right table cloth fabric, at the right size is important. Working with a seasoned banquet linen supplier can help hotels determine the right size and fabric of table cloth to fit the table, the vibe, and occasion.

Napkins or serviettes act as functional guest tools for the dining experience, and also play a crucial role in the ambience and striking accents with table setting.

When choosing napkins, choosing fabrics that are a cross between softness, and coarseness is important, while colour and pattern add to the vibe.

Napkins can be folded and placed in a variety of ways to pique the guest experience, set the table vibe. For example, an envelope fold can be a simple, classy, and sophisticated way of presenting cutlery.

10. Linen Care, Maintenance, & Management

An important part of running a hotel is the management of the linen.

From the expert laundry processes that involve various stages of washing, drying, stain-removal, and so on, to stocking of linens in seasons, to the clockwork schedule of housekeeping tasks, a terrible linen management process can send a hotel into a frenzy when it comes to the changing of linen after a guest leaves, or the preparing of a room or suite before the next guest arrives.

To give you a brief example, when guest One leaves, the bedding, and bath linen have to be removed from the room, and sent for laundering immediately, that means, for guest Two's arrival, the room needs to have a fresh set of linen.

If the entire laundry process (in batches) takes a minimum of 2-3 days, that means that room needs to have a fresh set of linen on standby. If the average guest stays only a single night, then everyday, is a new fresh set, which means, 2 sets on standby.

In other words, hotels need to know and to ensure that they understand how many sets of linens per room are required to ensure the efficient running of the hotel.

It is recommended that a hotel procure 2 sets of linen per room at minimum. Again, this could depend on the guest churn rate at the particular hotel.

When it comes to the laundry part of the process, particular to the type of linen, it's fabric, it's GSM, and so, there is a number of commercial washes the manufacturer would recommend.

So for example, Gentelle would recommend 100 commercial washes for a 250TC, 60% Cotton sheet.

A commercial or industrial wash can be loosely defined as the type of chemicals a hotel would use, to the type of washing machines they use, and so on. These are typically not the usual domestic machines or chemicals used in homes. An expert laundry specialist for hotel linens will be able to offer their expertise in washing and technologies used in the modern day.

With systems and technologies in place, the linen care and management process could make it easy for a hotel to manage the processes like clockwork.

And that's important, because a bad business process, can affect the entire running of the hotel, and cost the hotel as well with considerable unpredictable expenses.

11. Staff Training

Team players are important. And the proper running of the team means that the team needs to know what each ones clear role is, what is expected of each player, what to do and what not to do when things go wrong. Most importantly, they need to be experienced, knowledgeable, and well trained in their particular roles.

When it comes to linen handling, some important factors to pay due attention to, is the using of efficient technology and systems for keeping up to date and ready to execute roles. So for example when a guest leaves, suitable reporting systems must inform the relevant team player directly (maybe through an app) or through a chain of command (the Housekeeping Manager for example), of "changing the linen in Suite 1307".

Then there is the processing of that linen. How it's sent for laundering, whether that be down a chute, or down a lift, and what times the batch of linen is processed, to what quantities are require per batch. And so on. Let's say a hotel processes linen laundering as they come through instead of in batches. This can increase the cost of running the hotel with a higher cost for water and electricity. Thereby eating into the profits of the hotel.

Then there would be the drying process. Some hotels may choose to air dry them, perhaps not in a smog-filled or polluted city of course.

It's important to note that not every hotel would have their laundry processes in-house. Some would delegate the washing, drying, and ironing to professional third-party laundromats. Which could help them manage costs more effectively.

When furnishing a room with a fresh set of linen once more, there are certain standards and methods that a hotel would adhere to.

Some of them include the way the sheet is tucked in, and how the corners should be folded in. There is the layering to know which linen comes first on a bed, or which towels should be placed folder on the rack, and which towels should be hung and how. All of this is proper procedure, and executing the standards of the hotel, and of course requires training.

Housekeepers sometimes take part in competitions for example, to see who would be fastest at "making the bed". Thus timing is also an important factor to consider.

There is the proper placement of a welcome tray, the proper amenities to be stocked in the bath, and so on.

A good hotelier would identify the hotel's brand portrayal and align everything from the look of the room, to the amenities and offerings with the brand.

Part of the management process is conducting regular assessments, inviting feedback from the staff, to help ensure things work to a standard and work efficiently.

12. Suppliers & Manufacturers

Like we've made clear, it's not just a sheet, it's not just a bath towel. It's a tool for the hotel business. And a bad tool can affect the running of the business.

Let's take towels as an example. A towel at certain retail stores would at about 400 GSM. And it would look amazing. That's a good towel definitely. However it's made for a retail buyer. For typically home use.

To give you persepctive, a Gentelle Hotel Towel would be about 550 GSM. That gives it more thickness, and which also means it would generally be expected to last longer than a 400 GSM towel, if put through the same number of washes. Now that's only a single component.

There would be other components like the type of yarns used, to the type of processes, where the hotel-grade linen is manufactured for purpose. Likewise retail linen are manufactured for purpose as well, but not always for hotel purpose.

When procuring hotel linen go choose reputed brands and suppliers. There are a ton of really good brands and suppliers. And if you understand the linen you're buying and their purpose, you're on your way to making intelligent buying decisions.

Gentelle's hotel-grade linen is basically just that. 5 star quality products, made for purpose. Not just for the laundry process, but for guest experiences too.

And guest experiences matter. That's exactly, a part of what a good hotel sells.

13. Your Hotel Pre-Opening Checklist

1. Ensure the suitable technologies and systems are in place for a seamless linen process. Read more about linen handling.
2. Ensure the appropriate number of linen is procured so the hotel doesn't suddenly run out of bedding while there's a new guest without a room. Go to preparing of a room or suite before the next guest arrives.
3. Procuring top of the mark linen that is made for purpose. Go to the section on Suppliers & Manufacturers.
4. Understand what you procure and why you're producing it. It's important for procurement teams and purchasing executives to make intelligent linen buying decisions.
5. Understand the hotel brand the linen is being purchased for. For example, picking appropriate throw pillow covers, napkins, and bed runners means they have to run with the hotel's overall theme and offering.
6. Delegate responsibility to specialist teams. For example, in a smaller hotel or resort, it would be ideal to perhaps delegate the responsibility of the laundry to a third-party. This can help efficiently manage and budget for costs, and lower the initial investment of opening the hotel by not buying commercial laundry washing, ironing, and folding machines on day one.
7. Have appropriate systems in place to understand the overall running of the hotel, not just in terms of accounting and financial management, but also in terms of guest churn rate, seasons, linen management, and so on.
8. Have appropriate reporting systems for obtaining and understanding guest sentiment. This can be done with purpose designed systems for obtaining direct guest feedback, or with less direct systems, more advanced systems like heat maps that would display for example, which areas in a lobby guests spend more time in over a period of a month.

This pre-opening checklist is simply to help you get started with the running of the hotel. It's recommended that executive housekeepers, and other decisions makers read through the article fully.

For questions on premium hotel linens, flooring solutions, and mesmerizing porcelain & accessories, Gentelle's team would be invite you to reach out. We're here to help hotel decision makers, make intelligent buying decisions. Pre-opening, or post-opening.