Holiday Guest Surge: A Linen Par Checklist for Hotels

Short answer: Count your linens now, about four weeks before Thanksgiving, while there’s still time to reorder. Compare what you have on the shelf against your busiest holiday nights, not your average night. Then order the gap early enough to cover the lead time plus transit. Small orders typically ship 3–5 days after receipt of order (ARO) and medium orders 7–14 days ARO, so a count done in late October leaves room to fix shortfalls before the Thanksgiving travel week.

This checklist is about the holiday surge: what to count, how to size backup stock for peak weekends and when to place the order. For the basics of what a par level is and how to set yours year-round, start with our guide to hotel linen par levels.

Why the holidays break a normal par

Most hotels set par for a typical week. The holidays aren’t typical. A few things change at once:

• Occupancy jumps on specific nights. Thanksgiving week, the weekends around Christmas and New Year’s Eve can fill rooms that sit empty in early November.
• Stays get longer and families get bigger. More rollaway and sofa beds, more extra pillows, more towel requests per room.
• Laundry slows down. Staff take time off, outside laundries run holiday schedules and a dryer that breaks on a Friday may not be fixed until Monday.
• Linens wear out faster. More turns per week means more items pulled for stains and tears.

If your par was set for a quiet Tuesday, it won’t survive a sold-out Saturday with one dryer down.

Step 1: Count what you actually have

Do a physical count, not a guess from the last order. Count clean stock on shelves, items in the laundry and items on beds, and write down anything you’d pull from service today.

What to count:

• Flat and fitted sheets, by bed size;
• Pillowcases;
• Duvet covers or top sheets, if you triple-sheet;
• Bath towels, hand towels and washcloths;
• Bath mats;
• Sleeping pillows, including extras for guest requests;
• Blankets and comforters;
• Mattress protectors and pillow protectors.

Count by bed size. A shelf full of queen sheets doesn’t help a king room. If you run more than one property, count each one separately before you combine the numbers.

Step 2: Pull what shouldn’t be in service

The holidays are the worst time for a guest to find a stained pillowcase or a thin towel. While you count, pull:

• Sheets with stains that don’t come out, holes or frayed hems;
• Towels that feel rough or have lost absorbency;
• Pillows that are flat or lumpy;
• Protectors with torn seams or worn backing.

Subtract those from your count. What’s left is your real usable stock. Our guide to how often hotels should replace linens explains the usual signs that an item is done.

Step 3: Plan for your peak nights, not your average

Look at your forecast for the busiest nights between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. For each item, work out what you need on those nights:

1. Beds in use on your busiest night, by size;
2. Plus a full laundry cycle in progress;
3. Plus clean backup for same-day turns and early check-ins;
4. Plus a holiday buffer for slow laundry, extra guests and items pulled mid-season.

Your normal par already covers the first three. The holiday buffer is the part most properties skip. How big it should be depends on your laundry setup: an in-house laundry with spare capacity needs less buffer than a property that relies on an outside service with holiday hours. Our par level calculator can help you run the numbers by room type.

Step 4: Check your timing before you order

Once you know the gap, work backward from the date you need linens on the shelf:

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026, and travel that week starts days earlier. Counting in the last week of October gives you room to quote, order and wash new linens before the rush. Counting the week before Thanksgiving doesn’t.

Factory tip: Wash new sheets and towels before they go on beds. New linens often feel stiff and towels absorb better after a few washes, so build that laundry time into your schedule.

Step 5: Stage backup stock where housekeeping can reach it

A buffer locked in a basement storeroom won’t help a housekeeper on the fourth floor at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Before the rush:

• Put a small reserve of sheets, pillowcases and towels on each floor or linen cart;
• Label the reserve by bed size;
• Tell supervisors who can release reserve stock and when;
• Keep extra pillows and blankets ready for guest requests.

Holiday par checklist you can copy

Common holiday linen mistakes

1. Ordering the week before Thanksgiving. By then, lead time and transit can push delivery past your busiest nights.
2. Counting only sheets. Pillowcases, bath mats and washcloths are the items that run out first.
3. Ignoring extra beds. Rollaways and sofa beds need their own sheets and blankets.
4. Keeping worn linens in service to save a count. Guests notice, and holiday reviews stick around.
5. No plan for a laundry breakdown. One broken dryer on a peak weekend can empty your shelves.

What hotels order from us before the holidays

We’re Paradise Pillow, Inc., doing business as The Linen Factory, a bedding manufacturer in Philadelphia. Hotels and motels commonly restock:

• Hotel sheets and pillowcases;
• Hotel towels and terry;
• Hotel sleeping pillows;
• Blankets and bedspreads;
• Mattress and pillow protectors.

You can browse the full hospitality collection. Not sure which sheet tier fits your property? See Choosing a Sheet Tier for Your Hotel.

Frequently asked questions

When should hotels order linens for the holidays? Count in late October and order soon after. Small orders typically ship 3–5 days ARO and medium orders 7–14 days ARO, plus transit and a day or two to wash new linens.

How much extra linen should a hotel keep for the holidays? It depends on your busiest nights and your laundry. Start from your normal par, then add a buffer sized to your peak occupancy and how much your laundry slows down over the holidays.

What runs out first during a holiday rush? Usually pillowcases, washcloths, bath mats and extra pillows for guest requests. Count those as carefully as sheets.

Can I get a sample before a larger order? Yes. Samples are available on request; sample fees and shipping may apply.

Request a hotel quote

Send your room count, bed sizes, the items you’re short on and your need-by date. Quotes typically take 24–48 hours. Minimum order quantity varies by product.

Request a hotel quote · Call (215) 225-8700 (press 1 for sales) · Email sales@paradisepillow.com · Government-run lodging can order through GSA MAS 47QSMS26D002G, SIN 314120