In this article
Short answer: renting bundles linen and laundry into one price per room night and removes the upfront cost. Owning needs cash at the start and someone to manage stock, and is usually cheaper over three years if your loss is under control. The right answer depends on your local rental quote, so run the sum with real numbers.
What each route includes
| Rent (linen hire) | Own | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | None, or a deposit | Full opening stock |
| Laundry | Included | You pay a laundry, or run one |
| Replacement | Included, within limits | You buy |
| Choice of quality | From the hire company's range | Whatever you specify |
| Your logo or colour | Rare | Yes |
| Loss charges | Billed to you | You bear them |
| Stock management | Theirs | Yours |
The sum for a 60-room hotel
These inputs are examples. Replace them with your own quotes.
Assumptions: 60 rooms, 70 percent occupancy, so about 15,300 room nights a year.
| Renting | |
|---|---|
| Hire and laundry, per room night (example quote) | $6.00 |
| Per year | $91,800 |
| Three years | $275,400 |
| Owning | |
|---|---|
| Opening stock of towels, sheets and robes at par 3 (example) | $14,000 |
| Freight, duty and clearing (example) | $4,000 |
| Laundry only, per room night (example quote) | $4.20 |
| Laundry per year | $64,260 |
| Replacement, 25 percent of stock a year | $4,500 |
| Three years | about $224,300 |
In this example, owning saves about $51,000 over three years. If your laundry-only quote were $5.50 instead of $4.20, the saving would disappear. The gap between the hire price and the laundry-only price is the whole question.
How to get the two numbers that matter
- Ask a linen-hire company for an all-in price per room night, and ask what loss and damage charges apply.
- Ask a commercial laundry for a wash-only price for your own linen, per piece or per kg, and convert it to a room night.
When renting is the right call
- You have no cash for opening stock.
- You have no store room and nobody to count linen.
- Your occupancy swings a lot between seasons.
- You are testing a new property and may sell it.
When owning is the right call
- Linen quality is part of what you sell.
- You want your own colour, weight or logo.
- You already have a laundry, or a laundry-only quote that is well below the hire price.
- You count stock monthly and keep loss low.
A middle route
Own the items guests notice, such as bath towels, robes and top sheets, and rent the rest. Or own everything and outsource only the washing.
If you run a linen-hire business
You are the other side of this sum, and wash-life is your margin. See our page on supply for linen rental businesses.
To price your opening stock, use the hotel linen budget calculator, then ask us for a quote to put a real figure in the "own" column.
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Written by
Dr Abin Babu
Founder & Chairman, Anabyn Global Ventures
Anabyn exports hotel and home linen from Kerala, India. These guides come from the questions buyers ask our desk. About the team
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