Episode 167: What Linens Should You Use For Your Bed? (and What I Use)

How to build an Airbnb Business: What Linens Should You Use For Your Bed? (and What I Use)

Coziness goes a long way when it comes to guest experience in your STRs. If there is one other important thing you should consider focusing on, it would be something relatively timeless: COMFORT. We are talking about linens, towels, mattresses and pillows. Having a superb quality of these coupled with proper care and some nice presentation can totally enhance the guest experience!

As traveling has been redefined, we see more inclusive stays across short-term rental properties lately. But some guest expectations remain the same. Regardless of the main reason why our guests are traveling, they are still coming to your short term rental to relax, so make sure you’re providing them the space to just do that!

So in this week’s episode, we will talk about how to provide guests with a quality and comfortable stay in the form of these amenities. Tune in as I give you extra bonus tips straight from Airbnb Host Plus! We will discuss:

  • Keeping quality comfort in mind
  • Caring tips and when to replace them
  • What I personally use and where to get the best
  • Bonus Tips for making a welcoming bed – Airbnb Host Plus!

If you want to checkout the recommended video from a bedding expert see it here.

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You can find all of our links here including our website, recommended resources, upcoming live events, short-term rental playbook, Instagram, and more!

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Well, there is just a mind-boggling amount of options when it comes to Linens. What we should be putting our short-term rentals? Is it worth it? How do we care for them all? Things Lennon’s? That’s what I want to break down this week. My team and I have managed tens of thousands of guests and I personally have a passion for some good linen. So, I want to talk about all the things that I’ve learned this week.

Welcome to short-term rental riches will discuss investing in real estate. With a specific focus on short-term rentals. Quick actionable items to acquire manage and scale your portfolio. I’m your host Tim Hubbard.

Welcome back to the short-term rental riches podcast. We’re talking about Linens this week But Not Just Linens. We’re talking about Comfort which is super important for a short-term rentals. Our guests come to our short-term rentals for lots of reasons, but one of those reasons is to relax, right? If they’re not having a good night’s sleep, well, then they’re not going to have a good stay and then we’re going to get a bad review. So, I want to talk about Linens before. Do though, this is one of those areas where we don’t want to skim, right? We want to make sure that we have some quality. If you caught last week’s episode, we talked about a consumable item that you’re very likely putting in your properties that you probably don’t need.

And I would argue that if you don’t put it in there no one’s going to give you a one-star review because you didn’t have it in there. So go back and check out that episode. If you missed it this week, let’s get into Lennon’s. I think when we think about Linens, Lot of times I think about thread count, right? The higher, the better, right? Well, not necessarily the thread count. Technically is how many threads per square inch or in your Linens or makeup your Linens. And I am not an expert on Lennon’s but a lot of people are including a very good YouTube video that I want to share with you.

It’ll be in the show notes from an expert whose family has been making Linens for over 20 years. It’s a great great video from architectural digest, where he actually does a blind feel test and he’s super, super knowledgeable, he knows everything about types of Linens, thread counts, all that. So I’ll give you a couple tips from there, but I highly suggest you go out and check it out yourself.

It’s not a very long video. The first thing is that the thread counts according to him a professional who’s been making Lenin’s for decades. If you’re buying Linens, that are 600 thread count or higher well, well, you’re probably getting scammed in his words, he uses gimmick, because the reality is, once you get up to even 300, those are excellent. Excellent sheets, right? And a lot of times you might see, there’s excellent sheets out there. One set might be 300 dollars and it’s 300 thread count, but then you can go on Amazon and you can buy 800 thread count for 20 bucks.

Yeah. It’s a bit of a gimmick and I’ve got to say, I’m passionate about sheets. I Passionate about comfort. And our sheets are one of those things that we spend a lot of time in, right. More time than we spend driving our car, same goes for our mattress. We want to make sure that we get good ones. So, the first thing is you don’t need to be buying sheets that are 600 plus thread count. If you have a Quality Sheet, that’s 2 to 300 thread count. Well, that’s probably going to be a really good one. I’m going to get to the ones that we use in just a bit. So, the higher we get with our thread count and again, this is up to like that. Three 400-point the sheets actually are going to feel a little cooler, but they’re also better constructed, right? Which means that they’re going to last longer which means you will be able to use them longer. So, he goes into materials as well.

I recommend cotton and I think that’ll work well for pretty much everyone, but if you want to explore other materials while we have synthetic and a basically goes synthetic is not a natural material, right? So that’s going to be our cheapest. In Cotton is going to be the next one up and then all the way up to things like Silk and the natural materials are always going to cost more than the synthetic ones. And if we can make sure that we have sheets in that 252, maybe tops 400 thread count, well then, they’re actually going to feel better, right? If you think about it, a square inch comprises, the thread count, the more threads are there, the less gaps there are, so it’s just more of a smooth sensation, so that’s just a bit on sheets. We don’t want to skimp on those again. I’m going to get to the ones that were using and resource for you to get the same ones if you want. But remember that you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg but you do want to match to your guests’ expectations. Actually, I would say you want to go slightly higher than your guests’ expectations.

So, if you’re running out some luxury Villa that’s ten thousand dollars a night, your guests are probably going to have higher standards and you want to make sure that you have good sheets and good Linens and that everything is top-notch right. Maybe, you know, a lot of my apartments are mid-level apartments that are charging average rates and we have great sheets because we know how important they are. But they don’t cost hundreds of dollars a set. So, check out that video. I think he’ll be surprised at the mpo as it’s really a fantastic video.

Okay, so how do we care for the sheets and, and which sheets should we actually have? Well, we definitely always want to have a fitted sheet. We’re always going to have a flat sheet. We use duvet. Purrs and so the duvet is the sheet that goes, well, it’s not really sheet, it’s a duvet, but it goes around the comforter, the fluffy part, which means that we can take it off and we can wash it easily. So, you want to make sure that you have a good quality duvet as well. Because that’s something every guest is going to be feeling along with the sheet, a couple other things to go along with Comfort. We want to make sure that we have good pillows to, right? And a good tip is just to have two pillows her guests. Now, ideally you can have multiple Types of pillows to write some people like more firm pillows. Some people like soft or pillows that is up to you. I would say again, the more luxurious your property, the more options you should be providing. We get our pillows, most of them anyways, from Costco. And I just, I gotta say they have really good options at Costco.

That’s for those of us here in the US, we’ve actually got a lot of people listening outside of the us as well. Now in over 50 countries, but most of those are English. Speaking, of course, So Canady Australia, shout out to you guys. And then you know we’ve got some random spots in Europe and stuff like that where people are tuning in. So, thanks again for tuning in, by the way and if you haven’t yet left us a review on iTunes or Spotify or whatever you listen in for those of you listening to the podcast, I would really appreciate it.

If you’d head over there and give us are view. Give us a shout out. You can also head to Str riches.com, where you can request a topic and I am open to Seen whatever it is. That revolves around short-term rentals. So, if you’re getting synthetic pillows from Costco, for example, they’re really only going to last, you know, 18 to 24 months before I need to replace them. Luckily, they’re not that expensive. So, make sure that you don’t have really old pillows in your place.

It’s an easy thing to change and it’s something where our guests are spending a ton of time with it. There’s also the question about down pillows and I personally think they’re fantastic. But there are some people that have Valor G’s, and they will ask you about that sometimes, you know, right off the bat. So, if you can have options, well, of course, the more options we have for our guest, the better it’s going to be

We covered a lot of topics on this podcast and a quick action will bite size format so you have the tools to acquire and improve your short-term rentals on your own, but if you want to go deeper, I have a special invite for you. Join us once a month and are rested investor Clubhouse, where we go in-depth on an individual topic, everything from analyzing properties to improving operations and our bottom line, we cover it all the clubhouse members and myself are sharing best practices to earn. The most Revenue with the least amount of headache and I would love to have you there as well. That’s restmethods.com/rich. Our lives are shaped by those. We spend the most time with. Want to take your STR to the next level. Come join us. I hope to see you on the inside.

a couple other things when we’re talking about caring for Linens and our bedding and making sure, Sure, it’s comfortable. Obviously, everything’s got to be clean. Super clean, right? If you’ve got one little stain anywhere, get rid of it, get rid of it. What does someone think about when they see a linen with a stain on it? They think about someone else. And they start thinking about what that stain could be, that is not a good image, right? So just get that out, hotels, don’t do that.

We shouldn’t be doing that either. But we want to use mattress protectors. We want to use pillow protectors as well. These are going to help prolong the life of our Lennon’s in our bedding. You’re also going Want to include a blanket, right? I mean, the duvet can be nice. You don’t have to, but we like to do this and there are blankets that quick dry, so they’re very light, but it’s a nice touch to go on there. Something we can wash every time that dries quickly.

So, look into those, especially if you’re in a place, that’s cold to make sure you have a little more comfort for your guests. So where do we get our Linens? Well, it depends. I’ve got some cities with just a few properties in those cities, and then I have another one in Tennessee, for example, where I have a lot of properties and in that location, I work with a hotel supplier and we buy their premium Linens, their 250-thread count, but I’ve slept on them myself and they are fantastic. And they also wash really well and they hold up.

Well, so if you want that resource, you can grab it for free at our recommended resources at rest methods.com. We’ve also got a bunch of other resources on there for you as well. That company does ship Nationwide by the way, but I believe they Have a minimum. So make sure you check with them for the cities where I just have a few properties. Well, we order off Amazon again. Remember there’s 5,000 options on Amazon, so make sure you’re getting one. It’s got good reviews. It’s not going to be the cheapest option. Another good option is Costco, they have great Lenin’s as well.

And so if you have someone there locally, they can pick those up from you, those will be a good option. So, me personally, I’ve been exploring this linen area for quite a while. Land. I bought some Linens from Brooklyn. It’s a US company and I’ve discovered them after staying in a short-term rental, I stayed in one in Rio de Janeiro, it was really nice and I laid in these sheets, and I was just like, oh my gosh, I gotta have these. So, I messaged the host and fortunately, they weren’t available there in Brazil. I guess they imported a more brought them in a suitcase or something, but I ended up getting a set and I’ve got him in my property. Now in Brazil, which I will be going back too soon and I’m excited to be back. They’re really excited to be back there. It’s been several months, so those linens are fantastic. And I did spend quite a bit more. Those are not Linens that I’m using in all of my short-term rentals. But again, my short-term rentals are not super luxurious properties. The Linens that we are using, we get great feedback on.

So just make sure that whatever Lenin’s, whatever amenities, whatever you have in your property is slightly exceeding your guests, expectations, then you’re always going to get good reviews. Use. Okay. Just a couple last bonus tips for you to make sure that you have a very warm welcoming cozy space. The first thing is make sure using all white linens, there’s a reason why hotels use all white linens and we should be following suit, right? They’ve been doing this for a long, long time. But the main basic reason, is we know that they’re clean when we’re sleeping in them. And it’s easier for us to wash them and we can bleach them. So, make sure using all white linens, the mattress, protectors the fitted sheets, your flat sheets, your duvet cover, everything should be white, your pillowcases make sure using all white, the second thing I noted on is make sure you have at least two pillows / gas. If you can provide those options, that’s even better. Use a duvet cover. This is our preferred method allows us to take the duvet off. We don’t have wash the comforter inside because the duvet is covering it on the outside. Of course, you always want to Specht the comforter. After you take the duvet off to make sure there’s nothing wrong with it, make sure it doesn’t need to be washed but we use the duvet cover. It helps protect that. You can tuck your sheets like they do at the hotels. Where it’s real nice, where it’s like you’re just nice and snug in the mattress are after you jump in bed.

Check out some YouTube videos if you’re not doing that that way right now is if your housekeepers aren’t doing that way and send them a simple quick video. It’s a little difference, but it goes a long way. The last Quick tip here is just make sure you have some Decorative throw pillows on your bed. So, when I guess, enters the bedroom, they see a real nice elegant looking clip and clean bedroom with white linens and some decorative. Throw pillows, make sure your decorative throw pillows, don’t ever have stains on them either.

That’s something you’re probably going to want to change out every once in a while. It’s also something that can really change the look of your property. So it’s nice to have quite a few on hand just to change those up. And then lastly, if you don’t have a blanket on the bed as well, consider getting some of those quick dry blankets that you can wash easily and I’ll provide your guests a little bit warmer. Until next time, I hope that provided you some good Insight. If you haven’t explored sheets yet, I definitely would they’re super important for a short-term rental, but we don’t have to go extreme. But if you want to splurge on your personal sheets while I did and I would say it was a fantastic decision. I hope you have a wonderful week and look forward to catching up with you next time.

Want to get on the fast track to Financial Freedom through short-term rentals what all starts with the properties you acquire. But you want to make sure that you acquired the right properties, I want to give you my e-book. That will show you how to do just that. There is no charge. It’s my gift to you for being one of our subscribers. Just go to restmethods.com. That’s REST methods.com
 
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