The 3-Year Cost of One Hotel Bed: Where the Money Goes

When you buy sheets, you look at the price of the set. But over three years, the sheets are the smaller part of what one bed costs you. This post shows the sums with simple numbers, so you can swap in your own.

The example

Everything here is an example. These are not our test results or a quote.

Laundry for the bed over three years is 765 x $0.42, which is $321. It is the same whichever set you pick.

What it adds up to

The blue part of each bar is laundry. The gold or navy part is what you spend buying and replacing sheets.

For 100 beds, that last case is about $4,700 over three years.

What this tells you

1. Laundry is about eight or nine dollars in every ten. In every case above, laundry is the big number. The sheet price is the small one. That is why a $3 cut on a set rarely changes your total much.

2. Sheet life is the lever. The gap between buying A or B moves from a $11 saving to a $47 loss depending on how long the set lasts. The price on the invoice did not change. Only the life did.

3. Weight matters twice. Laundries bill by the kilo. A heavier sheet costs more to wash on every cycle. A heavier sheet should earn that by lasting longer, not just by feeling thicker.

4. A bad sheet costs more than money. The example leaves out the cost of a thin or pilled sheet on a guest's bed. Reviews that mention sheets affect bookings. See the ROI of better sheets and guest reviews.

How to use your own numbers

Change four inputs:

1. Washes a year: work it out from your occupancy and par level.

2. Laundry cost per set: weight of the set in kilos x your laundry's rate per kilo.

3. Price per set: from your quotes.

4. Wash life: from your retirement records or a wash trial.

Then run the numbers, or let the cost per wash calculator do it. The hotel linen budget calculator turns room count and par level into a full opening budget.

What to do about it

We quote bed linen in sets at published bands. Send us your room count and par level and we'll come back with a quantity list and a price range.