It’ll Be All White On The Night

Have you ever wondered why sheets in hotels are almost always white?

The first thing that springs to mind is the fact that any marks, stains or dirt will immediately show and how hard it must be to get the sheets back to pristine, bright white.

But that is one of the main reasons hospitality bedding is in fact white. The perception of clean. White represents cleanliness and you can’t get cleaner than an immaculate, white sheet. It makes guests feel reassured that the sheets are clean, which in turn leads to a better nights sleep. It also, according to industry sources, denotes luxury, even if the hotel is not such an expensive one.

With today’s laundry technology it’s much easier to retain the bright white of the bedding whilst also minimizing any damage to the fabric. And the reason that towels and bathrobes are white too is that they can all be washed together, so no colour runs to worry about.

Go back twenty of thirty years though and there were a lot more coloured bedding themes about. It was the Westin Hotel chain that is credited with the introduction of the all white bed, introducing their ‘heavenly bed’ in the late 1990s.

You can actually buy their world-renowned bedding for your own home along with the actual bed, from their Westin Hotel Store.

There is no denying that white bedding makes the room seem brighter and you can accessorize anything with white. It’s also often refreshing to have clean, simple lines when many decorative elements in a hotel can be bright and busy.

Aside from an amazing view, the bed will generally be the focal point of a guest room so it also needs to make a big impression.

Accents of colour can be introduced in several ways for a more individual style, to add personality and a hotel’s particular stamp. One popular way of doing this is with a bed throw, however there is always the suggestion to guests that it might not have been washed.

One way around this is with a colour strip as part of the actual duvet along the bottom or some colour added into the duvet or bed cover design.

Adding cushions or a coloured headboard is another way to inject a point of difference. But with all these items, the guest needs to feel they are clean, so they should be easily washable and feel clean to the touch.

For now, white bedding looks here to stay. But there will always be the boutique hotel or the newby on the block wanting to stand out and who knows, it might be their particular take on the most appealing bed that sets off the next trend. Leopard print anyone?