1 PAR means the home is fully provided with sheets, towels, blankets, and pillow cases — one complete set for every bed and bath in the property.

The comparisons between the two are always interesting.

Hotels typically store 2½ to 3 PAR in towels, linens, covers, and pillow cases.

Why so much? Because at any given moment, one set is on the bed or in the bathroom being used by a guest, one set is in the laundry being cleaned, and one set is in reserve — ready to go. That buffer is what keeps operations running smoothly even when laundry turnaround is delayed or occupancy spikes unexpectedly.

Vacation Rentals provide ½ a PAR — and in many cases ZERO PAR.

That leaves Vacation Rental Cleaners having to wait for delivery, or having to pick up needed linens and towels from vacation rental company home offices or warehouses. The private homeowner should have a code-protected lock-up closet where they can leave extra emergency items.

Cost. Damage. Theft. Tracking.

I wrote an article on this topic on HospitalityNet.org. Here's the link to a related piece: Thou Shall Steal — Hotel & Vacation Rental Towels

Vacation Rental companies are storing sheets, pillow cases, and towels at their home office or warehouse. That means when a housekeeper finds an unremovable stain (after a second wash) or damage, they then have to call over and either pick up what is needed or have those items delivered.

This is especially challenging when the reservation is a back-to-back — also known as a TURN — where the next guest checks in the same day the previous guest checks out. There is no margin for error, and no time to wait for a delivery.

In some cases, homes have a code-protected lock-up closet with a few items kept there — perhaps a full King and Queen set. Depending on the size of the home, perhaps a few of each size. This is the smart move for any homeowner who wants to protect their cleaner's ability to deliver a perfect turnover every time.

I ran two full vacation rental-owned laundromats. They were each open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Each morning, cleaners would stop by and pick up what was bagged for each home. At night they would drop off all soiled laundry, separating the soiled items for heavy-duty cleaning. I'll do a separate blog feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly of running your own laundromat — it is a story worth telling.

I was also the General Manager at a hotel that used a laundry service. Everything was delivered early in the AM and picked up in the PM. Some Vacation Rental companies do this — and it is very expensive.

The challenge in using a laundry service is knowing what you're sending out… and knowing what you're taking back in. We used scales and counts to accomplish this. A lot of time. A lot of attention to detail. But it works — if you are disciplined about it.

• 1 PAR = one complete set of linens and towels for every bed and bath
• Hotels maintain 2½ to 3 PAR to keep operations running smoothly
• Vacation Rentals often have ½ PAR or zero — creating real challenges for cleaners
• Back-to-back reservations (TURNs) are where low PAR hurts the most
• A code-protected lock-up closet with emergency linens is a best practice every homeowner should consider
• Running your own laundry operation is an option — but requires discipline and infrastructure
• Third-party laundry services work but come at a significant cost

If you have questions about how to set up your vacation rental for cleaning success, reach out to us. We have seen it all — and we know what works.