What Kind Of Bedding Do Hotels Use?

One of the things that you expect a hotel to always get right is the bed. After all, the main reason you book a hotel is to have somewhere to sleep when you’re travelling, so the bed needs to be a place that you can count on to get a good night’s sleep. Ultimately, a great night’s sleep is a big part of the hotel experience and a key factor in ensuring strong customer retention. In the age of TripAdvisor, a review that says that the bed is terrible is going to put people off ever staying at that particular hotel.

So, we’ve established that the bed has to be good, but to do that the actual bedding should be of a good enough quality. It’s all well and good having a comfortable mattress, but if the bed sheet has a prickly texture, then it’s going to give someone an uncomfortable night’s sleep. So, the question is, what kind of bedding do hotels use? How do they ensure it’s of sufficient quality so that bleary eyed guests don’t complain about what a terrible night’s sleep they had? This article has the answer.

But first, let's find out where hotel quality bedding comes from.

Where do hotels get their bedding from?

While most of us may pop to the shops for some new bedding, hotels usually look to specialised retailers that can supply bedding in large quantities. So, hey, that’s retailers like us – Vision Linens!

We live and breathe hospitality, having supplied hotels and hospitality establishments around the world for decades. We know exactly what makes quality bedding and what will help hotel guests get a night’s sleep that they’ll always remember. We also offer bulk buy prices, so businesses can get the lowest cost when buying in bulk.

So, if you want the same quality bedding that you’ll find in hotels then you should try us. We don’t just supply businesses – we're more than happy to fulfil your home bedding needs too! Order here at Vision Linens and you’ll be sleeping on hotel quality bedding within a few days!

What are hotels looking for in their bedding?

Whether you buy bedding from feeling it first, or you’re looking for certain key terms such as ‘thread count’, hotels are evaluating bedding quality in a similar vein. Of course, the level of quality also depends on the type of hotel. A budget hotel isn’t going to go for the most expensive and most luxurious bedding available, while a 5-star luxury hotel will want bedding that helps maintain their luxurious image and ensures guests get more for their money.

Here are the main things that hotels look for:

Quality feel: Scratchy polyester bedding is a no-go, so you’ll find that the majority of hotel bedding is made from cotton (sometimes it may be polycotton, which combines the best parts of polyester and cotton together as an easily affordable and durable option). Cotton is breathable and soft to the touch, which ensures it feels great on the skin and doesn’t leave you sweating throughout the night.

Durability: Hotel bedding will be used by dozens, if not hundreds, of guests over the course of its life. As such, it needs to be constantly re-washed so that it can be used again and again. This means that the bedding hotels buy has to have a durability that will give it a long enough life that hotels aren’t constantly having to spend money on replacing bedding.

Easy care: They need to be easy to stick into the washing machine, which are often commercial sized machines such as when they’re shipped to a laundry, with no or few special requirements during the washing process. Turnover of bedding at hotels needs to be quick, as housekeepers don’t want to end up with a shortage, so things like coloured tags on duvet covers helps housekeepers quickly identify which duvet cover goes with a particular size of duvet (you can find out what our coloured tabs mean here).

Good value: Because, after all, everyone wants good value for money whenever they buy something. Quality, durability and a great price help hotels maintain their bottom line. But the same goes for buying bedding for the home, as we all have budgets we need to stick to.

What thread count do hotels use for their bedding?

The first thing to remember is that while thread count is often taken as an indicator of quality, the quality of the material being used is far more important than the thread count, which is why 100% cotton is the ideal choice. As we’ve talked about before, it’s a myth that a higher thread count automatically means that the bedding is better quality. Hotels will generally go for thread counts that are above 180, with the sweet spot being between 300-600.

Don’t forget that exceptionally high thread counts, such as 1,000 thread counts, sacrifice a lot of durability to get to that stage, as they’re often made up of multi-ply threads that give a reduced strength.

What colours do hotels use for their bedding?

The majority of hotels generally use one colour for their bedding: white. There are some good reasons for that, such as it being easier to keep clean as well as guests immediately being able to see if the bedding has been cleaned. We’ve covered all the reasons in this article.

If they do use any other colours, they tend to be quite muted. So, you may see the odd cream or grey, but white is the standard. Of course, that doesn’t mean that hotel quality coloured bedding isn’t available (we sell some here at Vision Linens), so if you do want coloured bedding in your bedroom then there are plenty of choices. But if you’re wanting to make your bedroom feel like a hotel room, sticking to white bedding is one of the tips that we suggested here.

But why do hotel sheets immediately feel so nice?

Putting aside the quality of the material that we’ve already discussed, the reason that climbing into a hotel bed can feel so good is that the bedding will have recently been laundered (well, you’d hope so, as the alternative is a hotel that you should never stay in again) so you’re sleeping on fresh linen. The obvious way to replicate this at home is to make sure you regularly wash your bedding. We’re not saying that you should wash your bedding every couple of days, but don’t leave it on their for weeks as, regardless of the quality of the bedding, that build-up of grime will make sure that it’s not going to feel good.

By the way, there’s a quick trick that hotel housekeepers have to smooth out hotel sheets. They simply spray the sheet with a fine mist of water then use their hands to smooth our any wrinkles. Give it a try yourself!