Hotel linen par levels: how much linen a small hotel or villa really needs

What does "par" mean for hotel linen?

Par comes from stock control. Some suppliers say it stands for "periodic automatic replacement". In a hotel it simply means "one full set for every room".

Here is what one par usually covers for one room. A large linen supplier, Standard Textile (opens in new tab), lists a typical set like this:

• one set of sheets and a duvet cover per bed
• pillowcases for each pillow
• one mattress protector per bed
• bath towels, hand towels and face cloths for the room

You can change the set to fit your rooms. A villa with a pool may add pool towels. A hostel dorm may skip hand towels. The idea stays the same. Write down what one room needs, and that list is your 1 par.

So if you have 10 rooms with one double bed each, 1 par of flat sheets is 10 sheets. 3 par is 30 sheets.

Why is 3 par the usual starting point?

Think about where linen is on any normal day.

1. Par 1 is in the rooms. Guests are using it.
2. Par 2 is in the laundry. It came off the beds this morning and is being washed.
3. Par 3 is on the shelf. It is clean, rested and ready for tomorrow's changes.

With only 2 par, linen goes straight from the dryer to the bed. One slow laundry day and rooms cannot be made up. Standard Textile says most properties should aim for 3 par. An executive housekeeper quoted by Hotel Management (opens in new tab) also describes an average of three turns. For how linen fits into the wider job, read what housekeeping in a hotel covers (opens in new tab).

Some items change less often. Pillows, duvets and mattress protectors are not changed after every guest. Standard Textile says about 1.25 par is a common rule for these, so you have a few spares when one gets stained.

Par levels by laundry setup: what the sources say

Your laundry is the biggest factor. Linen that leaves the property takes longer to come back.

Within the 3 to 5 par range, count how many sets are away at the same time. If the laundry brings linen back the next day, one extra set is out, so 4 par. If it takes 2 days or more, two sets can be out, so 5 par. Rainy weather with no dryer, many check-outs on the same day in peak season, and long stays with fewer changes also move the number. Watch for a few weeks and adjust.

Here is a local example. Many villas in Bali send linen to a laundry vendor. In the rainy season, drying slows down. A villa that is fine on 4 par in August may run short in January. Adding one extra par before the rains is cheaper than a guest waiting for their bed. If you use an outside vendor, our guide to choosing an Airbnb cleaning service (opens in new tab) has questions to ask about turnaround times.

How to calculate your linen par level, step by step

Use this simple formula for each item:

Items needed = number of beds (or rooms) x items per bed x par level

Work through it like this:

1. List one room's set. For each room type, write how many sheets, pillowcases and towels it needs.
2. Count your beds and rooms. Beds matter for sheets. Guests matter for towels.
3. Choose your par. Use the par table above, then count the sets your laundry keeps away.
4. Multiply. Beds or rooms x items per room x par.
5. Add a small spare for damage and loss. Some linen will tear, stain or go home in a suitcase.
6. Check against your storage. If it does not fit, you may need a faster laundry, not more linen.
7. Write it on one sheet. This is your par sheet. Tape it inside the linen room door.

Example 1: a 6-room villa complex with an outside laundry

Each villa has one king bed, two pillows per guest (four pillowcases), and towels for two guests. The laundry brings linen back the next day, so the owner picks 4 par.

Example 2: a 20-room hotel with its own laundry

Each room has a queen bed, four pillowcases, and towels for two guests. Linen is washed on site the same day, so the owner picks 3 par.

These are worked examples to show the maths. Your own set per room will be different. Swap in your numbers.

A worked example in Rupiah: what one extra par costs

This example uses made-up prices. Ask your own supplier for real quotes and put them in.

Go back to the 6-villa complex in Example 1. Imagine the owner wants to move from 4 par to 5 par before the rainy season. One extra par is one more full set for every villa:

At these example prices, the full 4 par stock costs about Rp32,400,000. So one extra par adds about a quarter to the linen bill.

Now compare that with the other choice. If the laundry vendor can promise same-day return in the rainy season, the owner may not need the fifth par at all. Ask the vendor first. Then buy only if they cannot help.

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How do you keep par levels right over time?

Buying the right amount once is the easy part. Keeping it right is the real job.

Count once a month. Pick a quiet morning. Use a daily hotel report (opens in new tab) to choose a day with few check-outs. Count clean stock on shelves, linen in rooms, and linen at the laundry. Add them up and compare with your par sheet.

Track what goes missing. Write down torn, stained and lost items each week. A pattern tells you something. If pillowcases vanish on the same laundry run, ask the vendor.

Rotate stock. Put new or freshly washed linen at the back of the shelf. Use from the front. Every set then gets used and rests evenly.

Let linen rest. Many suppliers suggest linen should rest on the shelf after washing before it goes back on a bed. That is one more reason for the third par.

Replace on a plan. Do not wait until you are short in peak season. One textbook rule from hotel training notes is to keep about one par of new stock each year for replacement. Treat that as a starting idea, and use your own monthly count to decide.

Signs your par level is wrong

Common mistakes with linen stock

• Buying for the quiet season. Par that works in a slow month fails when every villa checks out on the same day. Plan for your busy weeks.
• Counting only the shelf. Linen in rooms and at the laundry is still yours. Count all three places.
• Mixing sizes. A queen sheet on a king bed wastes time. Keep sizes on separate shelves with clear labels.
• No spare for stains. Some sets will be ruined each month. Keep a small spare, or rooms will wait.
• Using linen as cleaning rags. Old towels go missing from the count this way. Mark retired linen so it never goes back to a room.
• Not linking linen to bookings. Busy check-out days need more clean sets. Look at your occupancy, ADR and RevPAR (opens in new tab) numbers to see which months are full.

How does linen planning connect to your bookings?

Linen use follows check-outs. A day with eight departures needs more clean sets than a day with two. If you can see tomorrow's departures today, you can plan the laundry run.

Kiyo does not count linen for you. Your par sheet still does that job. What Kiyo shows is the bookings side the par sheet depends on, and room cleaning status once housekeeping is switched on for your property.

• Tomorrow's departures in one list. In the Kiyo mobile calendar, the day sheet lists arrivals, departures and in-house guests. The departures tell whoever books the laundry how many sets will come off beds.
• One calendar for every channel. Bookings from your connected OTAs (Kiyo connects with 75+ OTAs) sit next to your direct bookings, so the departure count covers every channel. WhatsApp and phone bookings count once someone enters them.
• Room status for the clean (Business plan). The housekeeping module is rolling out property by property, so your account may still show it as coming soon. Where it is on, rooms show as dirty, cleaning, inspection or ready, so clean sets go to the rooms due next. Cleaning status does not change what you can sell. If those labels are new to you, see our guide to hotel room status codes (opens in new tab).

How Kiyo onboarding works

When you start, we sit with you and add your villas, prices and OTA channels together. If you already track bookings in a spreadsheet, they can be imported from a CSV or TSV file, so upcoming departures are in the calendar from day one. Your property also gets a WhatsApp group with our team, and we can help in Bahasa Indonesia.

For daily routines around the calendar, see our guide to hotel operations (opens in new tab). For the clean itself, see our Airbnb cleaning guide (opens in new tab).

Kiyo costs from Rp40k per room per month (opens in new tab), and housekeeping is on the Business plan.

Frequently asked questions

What is a par level in housekeeping?

It is the number of full linen sets you keep for each room. One par makes up every room once. Most hotels aim for about 3 par.

Why do hotels use 3 par?

One set is in the room, one is in the laundry and one is clean on the shelf. That way a slow laundry day does not stop room changes.

When do I need 5 par?

When your linen goes to an outside laundry and takes two days or more to come back. Standard Textile notes that outside laundry often moves properties from 3 to 5 par.

Do pillows need 3 par too?

No. Pillows, duvets and mattress protectors change less often. About 1.25 par is a common rule, so you have a few spares.

How often should I count linen?

Once a month is a good habit. Count shelves, rooms and laundry together, and compare with your par sheet.

What if I have no space for more linen?

Then speed up the laundry instead. A faster turnaround lowers the par you need.

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Linen par level steps

1. Write one room's full set for each room type
2. Choose par from your laundry turnaround (3, 4 or 5)
3. Use about 1.25 par for pillows, duvets and protectors
4. Multiply beds or rooms x items x par
5. Add a small spare for damage and loss
6. Tape the par sheet inside the linen room door
7. Count shelves, rooms and laundry once a month
8. Log torn, stained and lost items weekly
9. Add one par before rainy or peak season if needed
10. Plan laundry runs from tomorrow's departures