Hotel Linen Rental 101: Everything You Need to Know
Running a small or stand-alone hotel requires constantly meeting your guests’ needs and running your company smoothly. This includes managing your hotel linens, from selecting comfortable and high-quality items to maintaining hygiene for your guests.
Are you happy with your current linen arrangements? Whether you’re curious about your options or actively seeking a change in hotel linen rental, here’s what you need to know.
Quality Hotel Linens Improve Guest Experiences and Staff Satisfaction
Guest and staff satisfaction levels are extremely important in the competitive hotel industry. According to the 2023 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), the average hotel satisfaction score is 75 out of 100, and even some of the world’s biggest and most popular hotels score 80 out of 100.
For a smaller or regional hotel, staying competitive means ensuring guest satisfaction and delivering remarkable experiences that set you apart in the market. Show your guests and staff you care by providing high-quality linens with superior comfort, fabric, and style.
Premium linens have a luxurious look and feel to enhance the overall experience.
- Crisp bed sheets
- Clean curtains
- Plush robes and towels
- Stylish, freshly laundered staff uniforms
- Hygienic linens that look, feel, and smell great
Evidence shows high-quality linens improve satisfaction. ImageFIRST studied eight healthcare facilities after they switched to the exclusive Comfort Care line. Customer perception soared from 48% to 91%, expressing favorable to very favorable views of the new linens.
Outsourcing Your Laundry is a Cost-Effective Solution
By outsourcing your hotel linens and laundry maintenance, you ease the burden of managing this aspect of your busy company. This choice relieves stress and improves your cost management because your linen inventory remains stable and affordable.
Traditionally, in-house linen management comes with unpredictable cost fluctuations. When a washing machine breaks down, you suddenly have an unexpected replacement cost. As linens become worn out or are misplaced, your inventory levels vary, and your costs spiral out of control.
By contrast, outsourcing your linens allows you to pay a steady and predictable rate while ensuring you always have the right level of fresh linen inventory. Your service partner monitors your linens to prevent missing items while ensuring each piece looks clean and professional.
The right partner will also share ideas for containing costs and helping you get the most out of every dollar. At ImageFIRST, we improve your cost management equation by the following:
- We customize your service to maintain an inventory based on your needs.
- We continuously analyze your inventory levels to avoid out-of-stock items.
- Every item can be tracked with individual barcodes and RFID monitoring.
- Billing is clear and transparent, matching what you have on-site.
- Prices are fair and reasonable, with no unexpected changes.
Hygienically Clean Linens Exceed Industry Standards and Increase Safety
A linen management partner should meet or exceed standards for cleanliness and safety. Laundering processes should comply with CDC guidelines for laundry infection control, OSHA standards for safe workplaces and public environments, The Joint Commission’s sustainable healthcare practices, and guidelines from HLAC, which regulates healthcare laundry.
A hospitality hygiene study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on guest perceptions of hotel hygiene. The study showed that 90% of hotel guests consider hygiene to be an “extremely important” issue.
In another study of perceived hygiene in the hotel industry, certain factors influenced guest perceptions of the hotel experience. Hygiene was found to impact whether they had a positive impression of the staff, would plan to revisit the location later, and intended to provide positive word-of-mouth recommendations about the hotel.
Does your hotel have the following linen hygiene protections in place?
- Triple BioShield Protection® to kill 99.999% of common pathogens
- A 5-Point Product Quality System to ensure proper sanitation and disinfection
- Bacteria-inhibiting softeners
- Plastic wrapping for added protection
- “Bright white” standards
Hygienically clean linen keeps your guests safe and presents a luxurious look. Reassure your guests that you always maintain high standards for the cleanliness of everything from in-room linens to employee uniforms.
Partnering with a Dedicated Service Representative Frees Up Staff Time
A dedicated linen management service representative serves as an extension of your team and provides ongoing, proactive inventory management. You gain the benefits of quality assurance as they monitor your inventory levels, replace worn and missing items, and keep your staff looking professional.
At ImageFIRST, we maintain a strong customer focus to ensure you receive the desired service level. You’re our client and partner in effective linen management, which is why ImageFIRST maintains a 97% customer retention rate.
A Single-Source Linen Partner for Small and Stand-Alone Hotels
ImageFIRST is your single-source linen partner, providing an all-in-one solution for worry-free linen management. This is an ideal method for small and stand-alone hotels to solve many challenges: following high safety standards, finding competitive pricing, maintaining strong inventory management, and providing excellent customer experiences.
We provide hospitality services in select markets, so please contact us to discuss creating your optimal hotel linens program today.