A soft fluffy white towel can make all the difference to a customer’s experience of a hotel. Customers’ expectations have increased greatly over the past few years. No longer satisfied with a second-class bathroom at home or away, they want strong, hot showers and good, clean towels.

Hotels have responded by improving the towels they provide. But in the past couple of years, as the economy declined, they have had to put a squeeze on costs. As a result, the market is currently driven by price.

“Three to four years ago, the market was demanding better quality products but in the last 12 months it has been tough times for business, so price is now king again,” says David Hill from Stalbridge Linen.

This has caused some to move to cheaper products. Stalbridge, however, has taken a different route. It decided to maintain the quality of its products and its margins and to invest in equipment and stock, ready for when the market comes out of its slump.

“By not trying to match the cheap suppliers, we have had to walk away from business we could have won. But if laundries run on too tight a margin, they can’t afford to reinvest,” Hill comments. However, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom. “We have worked hard at gaining new business and controlling our losses – and, as a result, we sold more last year than in 2008.”

Stalbridge’s towels are all 100% cotton. Hill says many suppliers would like to move to polycotton but “customers say no”.

“The biggest challenge is to make sure the quality of the product is high enough and to maintain supply,” Hill adds. The demand at the top end of the market for higher quality towels led the company to introduce 600gsm towels last year but with the credit crunch, customers shifted back to wanting less expensive 550gsm towels. Now, however, the 600gsm towel is back, Hill says, reintroduced for 2010.

For Linen Connect, 2009 was also a good year, with “massive” sales, according to national account manager Richard Yates.

Hotels continued to demand high quality towels, with the 500gsm 100% cotton towel the standard in most mid-range hotels. Yet one of Linen Connect’s biggest sellers was a more expensive range of towels, the 650gsm 100% cotton Tuscany.

Despite being a more expensive towel, Yates says its sales were not confined to the 4- and 5-star hotels. “A lot of middle range hotels are trying to upgrade their linen, to make the experience more luxurious for the end user,” he says.

Shortage of cotton

Whether this trend will continue this year, however, is anybody’s guess. A shortage of cotton and a falling pound led to significant price increases early this year, forcing suppliers to increase their prices, which will inevitably be passed on along the supply chain. It has created some uncertainty in the market.

However, Yates remains optimistic, hoping that the low pound will, like last year, lead British and overseas tourists to choose Britain as the place to holiday, bringing revenues – and a greater demand for towels – to UK hotels.

Linen Connect sells a broad range of 100% cotton towels and bathrobes, ranging from 450 – 500gsm at the budget end of the market to 500 – 650gsm Turkish cotton at the luxury end.

Although many customers associate heavier weights with better quality towels, Yates believes that a good quality 500gsm towel, such as Linen Connect’s Nimbus, can be just as pleasing as a 650gsm towel and be more cost effective.

Desmond Johnson from Floringo UK agrees. In fact, Johnson says that a 550gsm towel is probably the best choice for most top-end hotels.

“If you move up to a 650gsm towel, it will take at least 10% longer to dry because of the compacted weaving, increasing energy costs,” Johnson explains.

“The humidity controller in the dryer turns off the dryer after a given period of time. But when the heat is too fierce, the loop of the towel will dry but the ground will still be damp so the dryer will stay on and the towel will be overdried. It can then become harsher and will also go off colour in time.”

“Somewhere along the line you have to compromise between what works best for the laundry and looks and appearance,” Johnson adds.

One way to make towels more economical is to integrate polyester into the ground.

It can significantly reduce drying time and helps prevent shrinkage. Floringo currently only offers 100% cotton towels but it is investigating putting polyester into its full range, and is currently testing the drying time of cotton-rich towels.

Johnson says there is still resistance to cotton-rich towels in 5-star hotels but he thinks it is often due to a lack of expertise about raw materials, and the word “polyester”, that puts them off.

“I think it is only a matter of time before these prejudices evaporate,” he suggests. “If you were to show me a towel with 15% polyester in the ground, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

Raj Ruia from Richard Haworth also believes that a cotton-rich towel can compete with 100% cotton towels, even at the top level. Richard Haworth is currently developing a range of cotton-rich towels with polyester in the ground, which it will be marketing to 4- and 5-star hotels. The new Prima towel range should be out in April or May. Ruia says that towels are highly visible so the company puts a lot of energy into the way they are stitched and finished. The durability has to be there so it can stand up to today’s pressing and finishing processes.”

He adds that when putting in a top-quality product – such as Richard Haworth’s Calgary towel which is made from microcotton, “the softest you can buy,” – you “need to be talking to the operators about how to treat it”.

Ruia is working with the Textile Services Association on putting together guidelines for best practice for laundries on how to treat finer quality linen.

They are currently focussing on bedlinen but the project will inevitably also help to bring better practices into the treatment of high-quality bathlinen.

In response to the demand for heavier weight towels, Richard Haworth is also introducing a 650gsm towel.

It also has a range of bathrobes in weights from 380 – 400gsm to 500 – 550gsm at the top end. The range includes a Designers Guild-designed robe with piping and a bathrobe that combines a polycotton outer with a soft 100% cotton terry lining.

Despite resistance in some quarters to towels with polyester, Sherry Textiles’ 500gsm cotton rich Advant towel has proved very popular, according to operations director Gary Lomas.

The company offers a wide range of towels starting with 400gsm towels, made from open end woven cotton, at the budget end to 500gsm Turkish spun-cotton towels at the luxury end.

While white remains the standard colour for hotels, Sherry Textiles also has a range of 500gsm Egyptian cotton towels in 16 colours, filling the needs of smaller businesses such as nursing homes where stock is washed on premises.

With the focus on price, one thing that has suffered has been towel size. As recently as four years ago, Lomas says, the standard size of bath sheets was 100 x 178cm. It then shrunk to 100 x 170cm and has now fallen even further, to 100 x 150cm.

It is here that there are clear differences between towels targeted at the top end of the market and those supplied to the middle and lower end.

Luxury towels of 550gsm and upwards are often still in the larger 100 x 170cm size, while even within the same supplier’s ranges, lower weight bath sheets are smaller in width. Lomas believes that the current high prices will not decrease until at least September or October – but it is difficult to say whether they will fall even then. It all depends on the supply of cotton and on the value of the pound against the dollar. With price hikes at the beginning of this year of around 15%, suppliers may be reluctant to order an excess of stock as they do not want to be left with a surplus of expensive stock if prices should suddenly fall.

Yet, they need to ensure that they maintain sufficient supplies to meet the needs of laundries and hotels.

Attracting consumer’s attention

As Rod Nutter, sales manager for Hilden, says the towel is one product that attracts consumers’ attention so hotels have to have good towels. They want better quality towels to impress the customer.

Hilden has six different ranges of towels, starting with a 450gsm cotton-rich towel and moving up to a 600gsm luxury range.

Despite the move to smaller size bath sheets – Hilden’s 600gsm bath sheet is the only one in its range that is available in the larger 100 x 170cm size – Nutter says there is a move away from bath towels and towards bath sheets in most hotels, with a hand towel and bath sheet becoming the standard.

Nutter says its towel sales are growing, helped by improved sourcing and pricing. More cost-effective sourcing for its bathrobes has also resulted in increased sales, offered in three ranges: terry robes in 400gsm, 500gsm and 600gsm weights, velour robes in 400gsm and 500gsm and 380gsm waffle kimono robes. It is also bringing out a new 600gsm towel in Egyptian cotton yarn – the Renoir range – which should be out in April or May.

The general view is that terry continues to be the most popular textile for bathlinen and nothing has effectively challenged it since it was introduced in the late 19th century.

Microcottons provide a good, soft product but may not stand up to commercial laundry processes as robustly as terry towels.

Bamboo is currently more expensive than cotton, although, as it is often marketed as a better option environmentally, it may be something to watch out for in the future.

At the moment, however, the challenge for suppliers and laundries is to maintain both supply and quality in a time of high prices and uncertain economy, in order to meet consumers’ and, consequently, hotels’ ever increasing expectations for bathlinen.