A good night’s sleep can make or break the guest experience, which is why luxury hotels invest time and money in getting it right. From the mood lighting to the crisp white bed linen and fluffy towels, every element of a five-star hotel room needs to strike the perfect balance between style, comfort and practicality. It also needs to offer long-lasting luxury. So, to create this aesthetic in your home, linen brand Tielle Love Luxury shares tips on buying comfortable linens like the experts.
Select the right bedding materials
Cotton is much more than a style statement. Soft and breathable, cotton bedding looks as beautiful on the bed as it feels against the skin. Add to that its ease of maintenance and it’s easy to see why cotton bedding is favoured by five-star hotels. Other luxury bedding materials have gained popularity in recent years, including pure linen and silk. Elegant and lustrous, silk bedding is expensive but can require a saint’s patience when laundering, especially if it acquires fake tan or other stains. Similarly to cotton, pure linen is breathable and has an intentionally crumpled look, unlike cotton’s smooth timeless appeal. However, some people find linen bedding a little rough and scratchy on the skin. It can also be prone to shrinking in hot water.
Understand thread count and fabric density
Thread count (tc) is often touted as a measure of bed linen quality. However, factors such as yarn quality, fabric construction and finish are just as important when evaluating overall quality. The term thread count refers to the total number of horizontal and vertical threads per square inch of fabric. In general, the higher the thread count the softer, and more sumptuous the sheet. Most hotels prefer their luxury bedding to sit under 600tc as this provides the perfect balance of bedding durability, luxury and practicality. Creep higher and the fabric density – the number of warp and weft yarns arranged per square inch – can make the bedding less breathable and harder to launder due to the tightly packed threads.
Understand weave and texture
Pure cotton is the most popular choice for a luxuriously soft sleep experience. However, the way the threads are woven together will influence its look and feel. The most common bedding weave types are percale and sateen. Both can create a luxury bedding texture, but sateen offers additional elegance due to its subtle sheen. Cotton percale is a plain weave in which a single horizontal thread passes over and then under a vertical thread. This basic construction gives the fabric a fresh, crisp feel that’s soft to the touch. Cotton sateen is a more intricate weave that creates a fabric with a soft, flowing look. Its luxuriously smooth and silky appearance creates a luxury bedding texture favoured by 5-star hotels.
A buyer has many factors to consider when procuring bed linen for a hotel, but ultimately it needs to provide long-lasting luxury at the right price. High-quality bedding, bedding made by artisans using superior materials is engineered to withstand regular use and will provide the perfect balance of luxurious comfort and exquisite style. This enables hoteliers to elevate the guest sleep experience night after night.
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