Towels and bed linen for the rental market

Just about to enter the short term rental market and any advice on the amount of towels and bed linen needed for a two bedroom 2 bathroom apartment would be most appreciated.

We looked into this a while back & the general opinion was 3 sets of linen for each bed as a minimum & a set of towels per person.

This allows for changeovers that happen one after the other, where one set will be "in the wash"

Noreen

Sorry, for some reason I can't edit my last post.

I meant to say a set of towels per person & the same as spare.

Noreen

Thanks Noreen.

Paul

I haven't decided yet whether to use duvets or throws yet on the beds and would like advice on the best option also how many would I need for each bed.

Hi Paul, how's my favourite chipmonk ?

I know if I was renting from someone who presumably had rented out to many, I'd certainly want a throw as duvets should be cleaned regularly & I bet no one does.  They harbour all kinds of bugs.  So definitely throws, ones that can be washed regularly. Imagine if someone was sick over a duvet, you'd need to throw it out. (Get the pun, throw it out !) So early in the morning for me too but white van man got me up 7.30am, ugh ).

hi there

I would say quilts for Nov to March throws rest of the year the quilts dont need to be big thick ones like we use in UK ,ours are 4.5 tog so can be easily washed the management company wash them for us as part of the laundry service etc

If you don't have duvets for the winter months then you are going to have to buy blankets and at least two for each bed.  I've been over in April and it's still cold then in the evenings.  Easter can always be a bit hit and miss with the weather.

You definately need something to put over the bed to hide the ugly bed legs, either a throw or a bedspread.

You can get some good quality bedspreads in the markets for about 20e.

Suggest you have a look at other peoples photographs of their rental properties to give you an idea of which seem more appealing to you.

It's a competitive market out there and you want to grab peoples interest from the onset.

Thanks everyone for info, there seems so many little items you have to think about when renting. So will probably be asking for more advice.

Thanks More me fine busy as always and looking forward to putting the finishing touches to the apartment soon.

Paul

Hi everyone

Just had to have my two-pennyworth on this.  Have had quite a lot of experience of renting, both my own property and also helping friends.  Have posted on towels, sheets etc thread about sheets, but here is my take on duvets vs throws, for what it is worth.

After much discussion with experienced renters and agents we went for blankets.  Not just because of More's well-made points but because long term it is actually cheaper and more practical.  If you go with duvets you have to buy covers, but you still need top sheets for the summer as that is all that is required - we felt empty duvet covers didn't look quite right- and you need two different togs of duvet because although in January and February you may need something really warm, in October, March and April and even into November and December in our area you don't need that much.  With two blankets and a throw on top you cover all the options and blankets and throws can be bought relatively cheaply in the markets. 

Although you need to do the photos with a throw on the bed, there is no need to leave anything on the bed other than sheets in the summer.  If you do, you will have massive laundry bills as they often get covered in sun oil and goodness knows what else as people just flop down on them straight from the beach, not to mention, in some cases, actually taking them to the beach to lie on.  I swear!  Which means of course that you need as many as you have sets of sheets - more expense.

Finally, don't forget the throws for your sofas, of which you need at least two sets, very washable - best in cream as colours fade very quickly when washed and harder to get the stains out.

Forewarned is forearmed!

Jane

At the risk of flogging this thread to death, just a few thoughts about towels.

If you buy lovely matching sets of coloured towels for rental I can promise you that by the end of the season you will be missing at least one, possibly more if you are relying on an agent taking them to the laundry as they are rarely checked - they simply don't have time to keep track of everyone's towels and linens.  When you try to make up the set you have more chance of winning the lottery than finding the exact same shade - manufacturers seem to change them subtly every few months and in any event the older ones will have faded somewhat.

There are two solutions if you want your place to have great eye appeal:   If you buy all white,  stains can be bleached out and they are easily replaced, although I have to say that there is a risk of going a bit grey over time.   If you buy coloured, it is best to stick with darker shades if possible as although they do fade a bit they tend to survive the dirt (makeup, sun oil and general grime) better than pastels and creams.  Creams, incidentally, rapidly become dirty white for some reason.     If you buy coloured sets but in a range of shade of the same colour, or two contrasting colours which match the bathroom or bedroom, you have lots of flexibility for mixing and matching and any replacement just slots in nicely and increases the designer appearance.  The great advantage of doing this is that you can shop at your local market for bargains.  The one in Vera has a great towels stall - a real jumble but incredible prices.  The prices are always the same regardless of quality: €6 for bath sheets, €4 for small bath, €1 or 2 for hand depending on size.  There is a huge variety of shade depending on the week, and within each size the quality varies enormously but if you root around you can get some really nice ones.  Careful because they are seconds and some have quite bad pulls.

Finally, you have to decide whether you are going to put in bath sheet or smaller bath towels.  If you put in bath sheets there is a good chance that they will get taken to the beach/pool unless you provide beach towels.  Bath sheets are dearer to wash.  Talking to renters it became apparent to us that they really appreciated big towels so we took the view that bath sheets were a necessary cost of doing business and we also put in pool towels which is great as it saves on packing, so important now that baggage restrictions are getting tighter.

Sorry - another lengthy post - hope someone finds it helpful!