01What a par level is
In hotel housekeeping, a par level is the number of complete sets of linen you own for each bed, or each bathroom in the case of towels. One par is exactly enough to make every bed once. Two par means you own two full sets for every bed, three par means three, and so on.
The term comes from the idea of a standard amount that should always be available. If a hotel has twenty double rooms and runs at three par for sheets, it owns sixty double sheets: twenty on the beds, twenty at the laundry or being washed, and twenty clean on the shelves. The same logic applies to every item: duvet covers, pillowcases, bath towels, hand towels, bath mats, robes and so on.
Par is not just a stock number. It is a promise to housekeeping that a clean set will be there when a room needs making up. When par is right, housekeepers move from room to room without waiting, the laundry has a steady, predictable flow, and linen wears evenly because no set is overworked. When par is wrong, everything else in housekeeping starts to bend around the shortage.
Par is set per item, not per room
It is tempting to think of par as a single number for the whole hotel, but in practice each item has its own par. Pillowcases are often held at a higher par than sheets because there are more of them per bed and they are lost and stained more often. Towels are usually held higher still. Bath mats and robes may be held lower if they are changed less often.
Par in a guest house
Small guest houses and B&Bs use exactly the same idea, even if they never use the word. An owner who keeps "three of everything per room" is running at three par. Writing it down, item by item, turns a rough habit into a plan that can be checked and adjusted.
02Why getting par right matters
Par affects money, time and the guest experience all at once. Both too little and too much linen cost a hotel more than it realises.
When par is too low
- Rooms cannot be made up until the laundry returns, delaying check-ins.
- Housekeepers waste time searching floor cupboards and other floors for sets.
- Linen is rushed back into use before it is fully dry, causing smells and mildew.
- Each set is washed more often, so it wears out faster.
- A single late laundry delivery can leave rooms unsaleable.
When par is too high
- Money is tied up in linen sitting on shelves.
- More storage space is needed, which in London is expensive.
- Stock that is rarely used yellows or goes stale in storage.
- It becomes harder to notice losses, because there is always something on the shelf.
The sweet spot
The right par is the lowest level at which housekeeping never waits for linen, even on the busiest day of a normal week, with a small safety margin for the unexpected. Finding that level takes some arithmetic and a few weeks of watching what actually happens.
03Typical par levels
Many hotels work on three par for bed linen as a baseline: one set on the bed, one at the laundry, one on the shelf. From there, they adjust up for items that wear or disappear faster, or for laundry schedules that hold linen longer.
| Item | Common starting par | Why it may be higher |
|---|---|---|
| Sheets | 3 | Slow laundry turnaround, high occupancy |
| Duvet covers | 3 | Same as sheets |
| Pillowcases | 3–4 | Stains, losses, more per bed |
| Bath towels | 3–4 | Stains, losses, mid-stay changes |
| Hand towels and face cloths | 4 | Changed often, stained by make-up |
| Bath mats | 3–4 | Changed every departure, wear fast |
| Bathrobes | 2–3 | Used less often in some hotels |
| Mattress protectors | 2 | Changed only when marked or on a cycle |
These are starting points, not rules. A hotel with daily laundry collection and very reliable returns may manage on slightly less. A hotel with collections twice a week, long weekends and a high rate of towel changes may need four or five par for towels.
Why three is the usual minimum
Two par sounds efficient but leaves no room for anything to go wrong. If a laundry delivery is late by a few hours, there is nothing on the shelf. If a set is stained and pulled out of service, a bed cannot be made. Three par absorbs those everyday problems.
04A worked example
The figures below show how a small hotel might work out par for one item. The hotel and numbers are illustrative.
| Item | Example figure |
|---|---|
| Rooms | 20 double rooms |
| Pillowcases per bed | 4 |
| Pillowcases needed for one par | 80 |
| Chosen par for pillowcases | 4 |
| Pillowcases to own | 320 |
| Safety stock (about 10%) | 32 |
| Total pillowcases to own | 352 |
The same calculation is repeated for every item. For bath towels, if each room has two bath towels and the hotel runs at four par, it needs 160 bath towels plus a safety stock. For bath mats, at one per room and three par, it needs 60 plus a safety stock.
Turning par into an order
Once each item has a target, compare it with what you actually own. The difference is your order. If you own fewer than the target, buy the shortfall. If you own more, you can hold off on replacements until stock falls to the target. Keeping a simple table of target, current stock and difference for every item makes the whole thing easy to review.
05What pushes par up or down
Several things about how a hotel runs decide whether three par is enough.
Laundry turnaround
The longer linen spends away from the hotel, the more of it you need. If linen collected on Monday returns on Wednesday, two days of used linen are always in transit. If collection is daily and returns are next-day, less linen is tied up. Before setting par, find out exactly how long linen is away in a normal week, including weekends and bank holidays.
Collection days
Collections twice a week mean used linen builds up for three or four days before it leaves. That linen counts as part of the "away" stock. Hotels with less frequent collections need a higher par.
Occupancy pattern
A hotel that is full every night uses more linen than one that is busy only at weekends. Par should cover the busiest normal week, not the average.
Departures versus stayovers
Most hotels change all linen at departure and less on stayover days. A hotel with many one-night stays changes far more linen than one with long stays. Look at your ratio of departures to stayovers when setting par.
Towel and linen change policy
Hotels that change towels only on request, or change sheets every few days for long stays, use less linen than hotels that change everything daily. A clear policy, explained to guests, can lower par noticeably.
Losses and write-offs
Items that are lost or stained beyond use reduce the working stock. If you lose or write off a steady share of towels every month, par needs a buffer to absorb it until replacements arrive.
06Matching par to the laundry schedule
The laundry schedule is the biggest single factor in par, so it is worth setting it out on paper.
Draw the cycle
Write down, for a normal week, when used linen is collected and when clean linen comes back. For each day, count how many sets are on beds, how many are in the used bags waiting for collection, how many are at the laundry, and how many are clean on the shelves. The day with the fewest clean sets on the shelf is your pressure point. Par must be high enough that, even on that day, every bed due for a change can be made up.
Weekends and bank holidays
Weekend collections are less common, and bank holidays can add a day or more to the cycle. Many hotels find that their real pressure point is a Sunday or Monday after a busy weekend, or the day after a bank holiday. Plan par for those days.
A reliable laundry lowers par
A laundry that collects and returns on fixed days, counts linen in and out and does not miss deliveries lets you run a lower, more efficient par. An unreliable one forces you to carry more stock as insurance.
07Safety stock: the buffer above par
Even with a well-calculated par, things go wrong. A safety stock, usually a small percentage above par, covers them.
- A late or missed delivery.
- A sudden spike in occupancy, such as a large group booking.
- A batch of linen stained or damaged at once, for example after a burst pipe.
- A slow period of replacement while new stock is on order.
How big should it be
Many hotels hold around ten per cent above par as a safety stock, more for items that are lost or damaged often. Keep the safety stock separate and sealed, so it is not quietly absorbed into everyday use. If housekeeping regularly needs to open it, par is too low.
08Where the linen lives
Par is only useful if linen is in the right place when it is needed. In small London hotels, space is tight, and where linen is stored affects how efficiently housekeeping works.
Main linen room
A central linen room holds most of the clean stock, the safety stock and new items waiting to go into service. It should be dry, cool, away from direct sunlight and off the floor. Shelving labelled by item and size makes counting quick.
Floor stations
Many hotels keep a small stock on each floor, in a cupboard or on a trolley, so housekeepers do not have to return to the main linen room for every room. Floor stock should be set to cover a typical shift, then topped up from the main room each morning.
Trolleys
Housekeeping trolleys hold enough clean linen for a run of rooms. Overloading trolleys leads to linen being dropped, crushed or left in corridors, and makes it harder to know how much stock is really in use.
Used linen
Used linen should go into bags or carts kept apart from clean stock, ideally in a separate area. Mixing clean and used linen, even briefly, risks contamination and confuses counts.
09Issuing linen to housekeeping
How linen moves from the linen room to the rooms decides whether par stays accurate.
Issue by count
At the start of each shift, issue each floor or each housekeeper a counted amount of linen, based on the rooms they will clean. At the end of the shift, count what comes back unused. This sounds slow but takes only minutes once it becomes a habit, and it makes losses visible immediately.
Exchange system
Some hotels use a simple exchange: housekeeping hands in used linen and receives the same number of clean items. This keeps par steady at floor level and highlights shortfalls right away.
Keep it simple
The best system is the one that housekeeping will actually use on a busy day. A clipboard on the linen room door with columns for item, issued and returned is often more reliable than a complicated digital system nobody updates.
10Measuring how much linen you really use
Par should be based on real use, not guesses. A few weeks of simple measurement gives far more reliable numbers than a rule of thumb.
Daily usage count
For two to four weeks, count how many of each item go out to the laundry each day, and note occupancy. Divide usage by occupied rooms to get usage per occupied room. Multiply by your highest normal occupancy to get peak daily usage.
Days away
Measure how many days linen is typically away from the hotel between collection and return. Multiply peak daily usage by days away to see how much linen is tied up in the laundry cycle at any time.
Putting it together
Add one par on the beds, the linen tied up in the laundry cycle, the clean stock needed on shelves to cover the pressure day, and a safety stock. The result is a par based on how your hotel actually runs.
11Adjusting par through the year
London hotels see clear seasonal patterns: summer and the run-up to Christmas are busy, January and February often quieter, with spikes around major events and trade fairs.
Before the busy season
Review par before peak periods. If occupancy will rise, check whether the linen tied up in the laundry cycle will grow beyond what you hold. Order extra stock in good time, because suppliers can run short in peak months too.
In quiet months
In quiet months, you may have more linen than you need. Use the time to rotate stock, retire worn items, deep clean the linen room and do a full count.
Event weeks
Major events, exhibitions and holidays can push occupancy to the limit for a few days. A temporary boost to safety stock for those weeks avoids running short.
12Wear, losses and replacement planning
Linen wears out, gets stained and goes missing at a steady rate. Planning replacement as a regular cost, not an emergency, keeps par where it should be.
Tracking write-offs
Record every item taken out of service and why: worn, stained, torn, lost. Over a few months, you will see how many of each item you lose per month. That figure tells you how much to reorder regularly to hold par.
Wash life
Each type of linen survives a certain number of washes before it looks tired. A higher par spreads washing over more items, so each one lasts longer in calendar time. A very low par concentrates washing on fewer items, which then wear out faster. This is one reason a sensible par can save money overall.
Replacing in batches
Replace items in batches rather than one at a time, so new and old linen are not mixed in the same room. Many hotels introduce new stock floor by floor, or room type by room type, so every room looks consistent.
13Par for different room types
Few small hotels have identical rooms. A typical London property might have doubles, twins, a couple of singles, a family room and perhaps a suite. Each room type uses a different mix of linen, so par has to be worked out by size and item, not by room.
Count by bed, not by room
A twin room has two single beds, which means two single sheets, two single duvet covers and at least two pillowcases per bed. A family room may have a double and two singles, or a double and a sofa bed. Count the beds of each size across the whole hotel, then set par for each size of sheet and duvet cover.
Size mix-ups
When single and double stock run low at different rates, housekeepers are tempted to make do with the wrong size. A double sheet folded under a single mattress looks bulky; a single sheet on a double is impossible. Separate par for each size, and separate shelves, prevents this.
Suites and premium rooms
If suites use a different linen range, such as a higher-quality sheet or a heavier towel, they need their own par. Because there are usually only a few suites, a single stained or lost item has a bigger effect. Holding premium items at a slightly higher par protects the rooms that earn the most.
Extra beds and cots
Rollaway beds, sofa beds and cots are often missing from par calculations because they are used only occasionally. Give each its own small stock, stored with the bed, so it is ready when a booking asks for it.
14Par for restaurant, spa and gym linen
Hotels with a restaurant, bar, spa or gym need separate par levels for those areas. Mixing them with bedroom linen leads to shortages and contamination.
Restaurant and bar
Table linen, napkins, chef whites and aprons follow the restaurant's service pattern, not room occupancy. Par is usually set per cover or per table, with enough to cover the busiest service plus the linen at the laundry.
Spa and gym
Spa towels, robes and treatment covers are used heavily and often stained by oils. They need their own par, usually higher than bedroom towels, and should be washed separately from bedroom linen.
Keep them apart
Store, issue and count each area's linen separately. Different colours or labels help staff tell them apart at a glance.
15When the laundry is late
Even reliable laundries are occasionally delayed by traffic, breakdowns or extreme weather. A short written plan means housekeeping knows what to do without waiting for a manager.
The plan
- Open the safety stock for rooms with arrivals first.
- Prioritise departures over stayovers; offer stayover guests fresh towels only.
- Use floor stock from quieter floors, and record what moved.
- Contact the laundry for an expected time and update reception.
- Replace anything taken from safety stock as soon as the delivery arrives.
After the event
Once the delay is over, look at whether par held. If the safety stock ran out, consider raising it. If it barely dipped, your par is probably right.
16Setting par for a new hotel
A new hotel has no usage history, so par has to be based on estimates. Start slightly higher than you think you need, then adjust down once you have real numbers.
- Estimate occupancy for the first months, including opening events.
- Agree the laundry schedule before opening, and plan par around it.
- Order linen in good time; new stock should be washed before first use.
- Plan for higher losses in the first months while systems settle.
- Review par after two or three months against real usage.
17The par level checklist
- List every linen item used in bedrooms and bathrooms.
- Count how many of each item one par needs.
- Measure daily usage per occupied room for a few weeks.
- Find out how many days linen is away at the laundry.
- Set par for each item, starting around three and adjusting up where needed.
- Add a safety stock of around ten per cent, kept separate.
- Compare targets with current stock and order the difference.
- Store linen in a dry linen room and floor stations, off the floor.
- Issue and return linen by count.
- Record write-offs and reorder regularly to hold par.
- Do a stock-take monthly or quarterly.
- Review par before busy seasons and after any change to the laundry schedule.
How ArkLaundry helps
We collect and return hotel linen on fixed days, counted in and out, so you can plan par around a reliable schedule. Hotel bed linen washed from your own stock starts at £0.80 a pillowcase, excluding VAT.
