The best towels for your Airbnb and vacation rental
The best towels for your Airbnb and vacation rental, recommended by experienced STR hosts. Covers best overall, budget, luxury, boutique hotel-style, pool and beach, and makeup towels, with hospitality-grade picks from Standard Textile and Parachute.
Towels are one of those things guests notice immediately and remember. A thin, scratchy towel can tank an otherwise great review. A plush, hotel-quality one? Guests mention it by name.
Our team at HostGPO consists of experienced short-term rental hosts who have tested towels across every type of property. After years of trial, error, and a lot of laundry, we landed on a clear list of the best towels for Airbnb hosts and vacation rental operators, organized by category, budget, and property type.
If you’re only going to read one section of this article, make it this one. The Gradient is our top pick because it hits every mark: soft enough to impress guests, durable enough to survive commercial laundering, and priced well enough to stock an entire portfolio.
Made from soft ringspun carded yarns, the Gradient features a 33-loop gradient design where the pile is thickest in the center, exactly where guests feel it most. The thinner edges keep the overall weight down, which means faster drying times and lower operational costs.
What really sets this towel apart is Standard Textile’s Centium Core® technology. A durable polyester thread is wrapped in cotton, giving you the softness and breathability of cotton with the structural integrity of a synthetic. The result is a towel that holds up wash after wash without losing its feel. They also ship pre-laundered with Tide, so they’re ready to go right out of the box.
Material: 90% cotton / 10% Centium Core®
Things to note:
- Thickest pile in the center for a premium feel at a lower product weight
- Pre-laundered with Tide — ready to use immediately
- Built for high-turnover, commercial laundering environments
Why hospitality-grade towels make a difference for Airbnb and STR hosts
Most hosts don’t realize that the towels at Target or even Pottery Barn aren’t built for what you’re putting them through. Consumer towels are designed for a household doing laundry once a week. Your vacation rental towels get washed multiple times a week, every week, indefinitely.
Hospitality linens are engineered specifically for that kind of use. Standard Textile supplies Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and The Ritz-Carlton, and through HostGPO, those same products are available to short-term rental hosts at competitive pricing. That’s a big deal.
Not every property needs the top-of-the-line option. If you’re managing a high-volume rental, a budget property, or you’ve been dealing with guests who treat your towels like they’re disposable, the Express Cam is your answer.
It’s not flashy, but it does exactly what a towel should do. The classic cam border gives it a clean, polished look, and it holds up well through repeated laundering. It won’t last as long as a Centium Core® towel, but at this price point, that’s a reasonable tradeoff.
Material: 86% cotton / 14% polyester
Things to note:
- Most affordable option on this list
- Classic flat cam border
- Good durability for the price point
Why white is the only color for vacation rental towels
Colored towels feel more personal, but hear us out.
Consistency: White towels look the same across every property and every reorder. No mismatched sets, no color drift after washing.
Easier to clean: Stains are visible on white, which means they get treated. You can also use bleach when needed, which isn’t an option with colored towels.
Longevity: Colored towels fade. White towels don’t. You can replace individual pieces without anyone noticing, which is a bigger operational advantage than it sounds.
When guests are paying premium nightly rates, the details matter, and the Lynova delivers. Crafted from 100% ring-spun cotton, these towels are noticeably plush and absorbent in a way that guests pick up on immediately.
The detail that makes the Lynova stand out is the dobby border. Instead of plain cotton edges that are prone to the “hourglassing” effect where the towel bunches and narrows with repeated washing, the Lynova uses a synthetic polyester border that holds its shape. It also provides 60 lbs of tensile strength.
Worth noting: the Lynova is not ideal for commercial-grade industrial laundering. If you’re using a laundry service that runs heavy-duty cycles, they’ll break down faster. Keep that in mind if you’re managing a large portfolio.
Material: 100% ring-spun cotton
Things to note:
- Dobby border prevents “hourglassing” and maintains shape
- 60 lbs of tensile strength
- Better suited for in-unit or standard laundry than commercial laundering
Walk into any well-designed boutique hotel and you’ll notice the towels immediately, not because they’re the thickest, but because they feel intentional. That’s exactly what the Parachute Waffle Towel does for your vacation rental.
The honeycomb waffle weave is inspired by the world’s finest spas, and it reads that way to guests. It’s visually distinct, tactile, and nothing like the standard white terry they’ve seen everywhere else. Made from 100% long-staple Turkish cotton, these towels are lightweight and quick-drying, which means faster turnovers and lower energy costs. They’re also OEKO-TEX® certified and get softer and more absorbent with every wash.
One thing to set expectations on: waffle towels don’t have the immediate plushness of terry. The three-dimensional weave absorbs just as effectively, but the feel is different. And that’s exactly why boutique hotels love them. While big hotels stack bathrooms with thick, anonymous terry, the waffle weave signals that someone thought about the details. Guests who travel frequently recognize it immediately, and it photographs beautifully, which matters when your bathroom is part of what’s selling your listing.
Material: 100% long-staple Turkish cotton, made in Turkey
Things to note:
- Lightweight and quick-drying — great for turnover efficiency
- Gets softer and more absorbent with every wash
- OEKO-TEX® certified
- Hang on a towel bar, not a hook — hooks stretch the waffle weave
- Retail price: $29 (hand towel) / $49 (bath towel).
Pool and beach towels take a beating. Sun, saltwater, pool chemicals, sand, and then they get tossed in the wash and do it all over again. You need something that can handle that environment without fading into a sad, worn-out version of itself.
The Cabana Stripe is built for exactly this. The classic blue stripe pattern is fade-resistant, so it stays sharp even after heavy rotation. It’s engineered for hospitality use, which means it was designed from the start for the kind of high-frequency laundering that vacation rental towels actually go through. Stylish enough to look great at the pool, durable enough to survive the season.
Material: 95% cotton / 5% polyester
Things to note:
- Fade-resistant — maintains color through heavy use
- Withstands commercial laundering
- Ships in 7–14 business days
How many towels does your Airbnb actually need?
This is one of those questions that seems simple until you’re standing in an empty unit trying to figure out if eight bath towels is enough. That’s exactly why we built BathBOX, a free tool that calculates your exact towel needs based on your number of bathrooms, max guest count, and property tier. Bath towels, hand towels, washcloths, bath mats, it accounts for all of it, turnovers included. Not a HostGPO member yet? Join today and get access to BathBOX plus member pricing on everything on this list.
Here’s a small addition that makes a surprisingly big impact on guest experience: a dedicated makeup washcloth. Guests use your white washcloths to remove makeup. You know it, we know it, they know it. This just makes it official and keeps your white linens white.
These washcloths are black, made from 100% zero-twist cotton, and come with “makeup” embroidered directly on them so there’s zero ambiguity about what they’re for. A built-in hanging loop means guests can keep them tidy and accessible, and you’ll stop finding mascara-stained white washcloths in the laundry. It’s a $3 solution to a recurring problem.
Material: 100% zero-twist cotton
Things to note:
- Black color conceals makeup stains completely
- Available plain black or with “makeup” embroidered
- Built-in hanging loop
- Ships in 7–14 business days
Frequently asked questions: towels for Airbnb and vacation rentals
What are the best towels to use for an Airbnb?
The Gradient by Standard Textile is the best all-around towel for Airbnb hosts. It’s made from soft ringspun cotton with Centium Core® technology, which means it holds up through commercial laundering without losing its softness. It ships pre-laundered with Tide and is exclusive to the hospitality industry, available to vacation rental hosts through HostGPO.
What towels do hotels use?
Most major hotel brands use hospitality-grade linens from manufacturers like Standard Textile. Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and The Ritz-Carlton all use Standard Textile products. These towels are built for high-turnover environments and are available to short-term rental hosts through HostGPO.
Should Airbnb towels be white?
Yes. White towels are easier to clean, maintain consistency across your portfolio, and allow you to use bleach when needed. They also signal cleanliness to guests and are simple to replace without mismatched colors. Colored towels fade with repeated laundering and become harder to match over time.
How many towels should I provide in my Airbnb?
A general rule is two full sets of towels per guest: one in use and one clean set ready for turnover. The exact count depends on your number of bathrooms, guest capacity, and whether you have on-site laundry. HostGPO’s free BathBOX tool calculates your exact needs based on your property details.
What is the best budget towel for a vacation rental?
The Express Cam by Standard Textile is the best budget option for vacation rental hosts. It’s affordable, holds up well through repeated laundering, and has a clean look with a classic cam border. It’s a smart choice for high-volume properties or situations where towel loss or damage is common.
Are waffle towels good for Airbnb?
Yes, especially if your property has a boutique hotel or design-forward aesthetic. Waffle towels like the Parachute Waffle Towel are lightweight, quick-drying, and get softer with every wash. They read as intentional and elevated to guests who travel frequently. The main tradeoff is that they don’t have the immediate plushness of terry towels.
Where can I buy hospitality-grade towels for my vacation rental?
Most hospitality-grade towels are not available to the general public. Through HostGPO, short-term rental hosts get access to the same towels used by major hotel brands, including Standard Textile’s full lineup, at member pricing. You can join HostGPO to access these products.
Why you should trust our recommendations
Our team is made up of active STR hosts. We’ve stocked properties from beach houses to mountain cabins to urban apartments, and we’ve made every mistake there is to make, including buying the wrong towels. Our recommendations come from real experience, real guest feedback, and ongoing testing.
We also benefit from the broader HostGPO community, thousands of hosts sharing what’s working and what isn’t across every type of property and market. When we recommend something, it’s because we’d use it ourselves, and many of us already do.
