This post series will discuss the best practices for managing hotel beds & bath supplies (also known as hotel inventory).
Par Levels
The first and most important task in managing an Inn, Motel, or Hotel supply is to determine the par level of each supply item. PAR refers to the minimum number of inventory items required for daily hotel room cleaning. PAR level is a system to stock and measure inventory levels necessary for housekeeping to function. Par level is a numeric value that can be used to support daily functions. The hotel’s laundry cycle determines the par level of linen.
Linen:Linen-like staff is one of the most important responsibilities of a housekeeper. Hotel linen (also known as hotel towels and bedding) can be among the highest costs in housekeeping. To manage the hotel’s linen supply, it is important to have a set of policies and procedures. Responsible housekeepers will create and maintain guidelines for the storage, issuing, use, and replacement of all linen inventory.
Types of Hotel Bedding and Towels
Three types of linen are generally managed by the head-housekeeper: top of bed, bath sheets and bath terry. You can find bedding in a variety of styles, including comforters, covers, blankets and waterproof covers. Bed sheets come in two types: flat and fitted. They are available in twin, full, queen and king sizes. You can find bath towels, hand towels and specialty towels as well as washcloths and fabric mats in bath terry.
Establishing Par Levels
One of the first tasks for a new hotel owner is to establish the correct inventory level for all bedding in the hotel. To ensure that the housekeeping department is functioning properly, the inventory level must be adequate. If a property is not adequately stocked for laundry, it can disrupt your housekeeping team, cause guests to complain, and force you to sell less guestrooms. Intensified laundering can also affect the life expectancy of linens. While housekeeping operations can be run smoothly if inventory levels are not too high, excessively tied-up resources will cause problems that could affect the return on investment. One Par of linen is the amount of bedding needed to outfit all the hotel rooms simultaneously. The house setup is often referred to as one Par of linen.
One Par of linen is sufficient to make a bed in an efficient operation. Bath supplies usually cost more than what is required to supply the hotel rooms. Two Par refers to the number of sheets of each type required to furnish all guest rooms twice, while Three Par refers to the number of sheets needed to furnish all guestrooms three times. This blog will help you figure out how many towels and bedding are needed to maintain efficient housekeeping. When determining a linen par number, there are three things you should consider:
1. The laundry cycle
2. replacement linens & terry
3. emergencies
The most important factor in determining linen prices is the hotel’s laundry cycle. The best hoteliers wash and dry linens every day. Housekeeping carts transport large quantities of linen from guestrooms to the laundry every day. Your executive housekeeper should consider the laundry cycle for the hotel’s busiest days, when it is 100 percent occupancy for multiple days. Imagine housekeeping runs a reliable laundry service on premises. Housekeeping must maintain three sets of linens , One set for cleaning, one for the shelf and one for the bed. Guests will often request extra linen, a rollaway, or a sofa and/or crib. This should be considered when making a purchase decision.
Motels that have commercial laundry services will experience a longer laundry cycle than properties with their own laundry equipment. How often laundry is picked up and dropped off will impact how much linen the facility must stock. A lower inventory will be required for those days if the laundry service is more frequently performed.
Replacement linen The second thing to take into account when setting linen par levels are the replacement of damaged, stolen, or worn-out linen. The amount of linen lost will vary from one property to another, so an executive housekeeper should determine what a reasonable replacement level will be based on its history. You can determine the rate of linen replacement by looking at monthly, quarterly or annual inventory reports that track losses and replaceable needs. One rule of thumb is to keep one par of new linen in your replacement stock every year.
Emergencies: Finally, any executive housekeeper can be thrown off their feet by an emergency. Executive housekeepers must be ready for any situation. A power outage or equipment damage could cause a hotel to be unable to run its laundry operations. Covid-19 threats could cause disruption to supply chains and make it difficult for hotels to continue service. Your head housekeeper might decide to keep one Par of linens in reserve to ensure that they can continue their operations during an emergency.
A hotel should maintain a minimum five-par annual supply of bath towels and bedding. To cover linens during transit, properties that use outside commercial laundry services will need to add six percent.