How important are towels to your guests’ experience?

Very.

One recent survey of American and British travellers found that they “care quite a bit about the towels they use during hotel visits. Cleanliness, followed by softness, is the top criteria for judging the quality of a towel.”

In fact, a commanding 94% of all respondents consider towel quality to be “important” to their satisfaction with a hotel, while fully 73% took the “quality of towels” into account when deciding whether to return to a certain property in the future.

And we’re not necessarily talking about high-end luxury towels - the much-discussed thread count ranked dead last in the travellers’ estimation of what made for guest-pleasing towels.

On the other hand, you don’t want towels that feel cheap. Bath towels with a GSM weight of above 300 are acceptable. Around 600 or 650 is perfectly fine for all but the highest-end luxury hoteliers.

What your guests do want are cleanliness and softness. So in addition to laundering your towels regularly and thoroughly, it’s a good idea to keep replacing them regularly, once the wear and tear starts to show.

Obviously you want a sufficient variety of towels in your guest rooms, including hand towels, face cloths, bath mats and spa towels if necessary, in addition to bath towels. Makeup remover cloths are appreciated and can save your more expensive towels from staining.

Consider making a positive impression by spicing up the room with coloured towels instead of plain white - or even striped towels. Just be sure not to provide towels that match your guests’ home bathrooms too closely.