Bennington Properties' Vacation Rental Linen Program

Housekeeping is one of the most critical aspects of any lodging business. Without clean homes we have nothing to sell.  Prior to November 2006 all of our housekeeping was managed by independent contract housekeepers.  As 2006 came to a close we saw a need to have more control over the quality of our housekeeping and hired several housekeepers to work as employees of Bennington Properties.  At this time we also started an in-house laundry service at the request of many of our homeowners.  The number of homes our housekeeping department managed steadily grew until March of 2008 when we took over the housekeeping for all of the properties we managed.

In September of 2008 we hired a nationally recognized housekeeping consultant, Steve Craig (www.proresort.net), to tell us what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong and to keep us informed of any changes in the housekeeping industry.  The most important thing we learned from Steve’s analysis is that a housekeeping department cannot achieve a high level of quality cleaning without a linen service.

In June of 2009 we purchased 4 high grade commercial washers and dryers and switched the remaining 20% of our homes to our linen program.

Why is a linen program so important?

Linens that are not properly cared for make a house look dirty no matter how clean it is.   The attention needed to properly care for linens cannot be accomplished in a residential washer and dryer and therefore requires the bleaching and high heat drying capabilities of commercial washers and dryers.  They also require daily oversight to ensure ripped, stained or damaged linens do not return to a home.

Here are some of the benefits of joining our linen program

♦  Linens provided to guests are more consistent in quality and condition.

♦  Housekeepers have more time to clean your home instead of doing laundry.

♦  A centralized laundry facility provides a more efficient, consistent and sanitary method for cleaning sheets and towels.

♦  Wear and tear of your washer/dryer is decreased.

♦  Cost of water and electricity for property owners is decreased.

♦  Attrition costs for replacement of linens is controlled and more predictable.

♦  Owners no longer have to worry about the replacement of linens that become soiled, damaged, missing or just worn out.

But I can't stand hotel towels, is this really better for the guest?

Colored towels fade quickly and look terrible so the favorite guest standard in the country is still white towels.  When we started our linen program we did not want the scratchy linens or thin towels so common in hotels.  We invested in higher quality, thick fluffy white towels and a 300 thread count sateen/cotton blend sheet.  The sateen/cotton blended sheets are much softer and more comfortable that a 100% cotton sheet so even though it is a lower thread count, they have been very popular among our guests and owners.

What is the cost of the linen program?

We designed our linen program to be more cost effective than purchasing and managing the linens yourself.  We only ask that our property owners reimburse Bennington Properties for 1 1/2 the cost of linens and towels required to outfit your property.  We recoup any additional costs via the cleaning fee we charge the paying guest.

How much it could cost you to not be on our linen program?

We asked Midstate Electric, an appliance distributor, and Sunriver Water to supply us with figures to determine what it costs to do a load of laundry.  We estimate that it costs you approximately $1.00 per load.  It takes the average home 3-4 loads to complete the laundry and with 30-40 reservations per year it costs you approximately $90 to $160 to do your laundry annually.

We also analyzed the cost to purchase and replace your own towels and linens by using Costco prices.  There needs to be at least 3 full sets of towels and linens in a rental property so it would cost you approximately $1297 worth of linens (3 x $432) to supply your home.  A conservative attrition rate is about half of one set, once a year.  That equals an average of $216 worth of replacement costs per year (1/6 x $1297 = $216).

So you would be spending approximately $300 ($216 + $90) more per year by not being on our linen program.