What towels should a vacation rental buy, and how many?

Towels are the linen guests touch most and complain about first. A thin or grey towel shows up in reviews faster than a worn sheet. They also wear out fastest, so the right towel is one you can rebuy in a year and still match.

How many towels a rental needs

HostCalmly counts towels per guest, per bathroom and per laundry cycle:

• Bath towels = guests × 1 × cycles. Cycles are 3 with on-site laundry (one in use, one in the wash, one spare) and 4 with off-site laundry.
• Hand towels = bathrooms × 2 × cycles, two at each sink so one can dry.
• Washcloths = guests × 1 × cycles.
• Bath mats = full bathrooms × cycles.

These are our planning counts. Change them in the linen calculator if you put two towels out per guest or keep a bigger spare stock.

Full counts for one group size, with the cost: 2 guests · 4 guests · 6 guests · 8 guests. For 10 or more guests, the linen calculator counts any size.

What to look for

• White, in one line. White washes hot and matches across years of replacements. A line sold in packs lets you buy 6 today and 6 matching ones next year.
• Read the care label before you bleach. Many white towels, IKEA's VÅGSJÖN among them, say no bleach. For those, treat stains with an oxygen-based stain remover instead. If you want to bleach, pick a towel whose label allows it; our product cards show each towel's care line.
• Cotton for bath towels. It absorbs well and handles hot washes. Quick-dry or lighter towels dry faster on a line or in a humid climate but feel thinner.
• Size. About 27 × 54 in is a standard bath towel; 30 × 54 in is oversize. Mixing sizes on a shelf looks untidy in photos.
• Weight (GSM). Grams per square meter. Heavier towels feel plusher but take longer to dry. Many listings don't state it, so check the retailer page; heavier usually means a higher price per towel.
• Sold in packs. Packs of 4, 6 or 8 cut the cost per towel. The buying list below works out how many packs cover what you're missing.

Hypothetical example: a 6-guest home with 2 bathrooms

On-site laundry, so 3 cycles.

• Bath towels: 6 guests × 3 = 18, so 3 packs of 6
• Hand towels: 2 bathrooms × 2 × 3 = 12
• Washcloths: 6 × 3 = 18
• Bath mats: 2 × 3 = 6

If you already own 10 bath towels in the same white, you buy only 8, so 2 packs of 6 leave 4 spare. Enter what you own in the list below and only the gap is counted.