How to get the hotel bed feeling at home
By Linen Room. Updated 18 October 2026.
Hotel beds feel crisp and cool because of three things: white cotton percale sheets, linen that is pressed flat while slightly damp, and a bed made tight with hospital corners. You can get close at home by choosing percale over sateen, ironing or pressing your sheets and duvet covers, and making the bed with a tucked flat sheet and well-plumped pillows.
Key facts
- Percale: plain one-over-one-under weave, crisp, cool and matte.
- Sateen: floating weave, silky with a sheen, warmer to sleep in.
- Pressing while slightly damp gives the smooth, cool hotel feel.
- Thread count alone is a poor guide; yarn and weave matter more.
Percale or sateen
Both are usually cotton; the difference is the weave. Percale is a plain one-over-one-under weave, which makes it crisp, matte and breathable: the classic hotel sheet. Sateen floats the yarn over several threads at a time, which gives a silky, slightly shiny surface and a warmer feel (Livingetc on sateen vs percale).
If you want the hotel feel, choose white percale. Do not chase the highest thread count: the quality of the yarn and the weave matter more than the number on the packet.
Prefer to hand it over? See our washed and pressed bed linen service, collected from your door across Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Ealing, Maida Vale and Hampstead.
Get a price on WhatsApp our washed and pressed bed linen servicePressing is the secret
Tumble-dried sheets are soft but creased. Hotels press flat sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases on a flatwork ironer while the cotton still holds a little moisture, which sets the weave smooth. At home, take sheets out of the dryer slightly damp and iron them straight away, or hang them carefully and iron the visible edges.
Making the bed the hotel way
Use a flat sheet over the fitted sheet and tuck it tight with hospital corners: tuck the foot in, lift the side edge up at 45 degrees to make a triangle, tuck the hanging part under the mattress, then drop the triangle and tuck it in. Fold the top of the flat sheet back over the duvet by about a hand's width.
Two sleeping pillows each, plumped and squared, and a duvet that is generously filled finish it off. White everything makes it look like a hotel even before you get in.
Related guides
Questions
Good to know
What thread count do hotels use?
It varies widely. Many good hotels use a mid-range percale; the finish and pressing matter more than a very high count.
Why do my sheets never look like a hotel's?
Usually because they are tumble-dried rather than pressed. Pressing slightly damp cotton is the difference.
Can I get my sheets pressed professionally?
Yes. Our washed and pressed bed linen is priced per item: duvet covers from £10, sheets from £7, collected in West and North-West London.
Send a postcode. We will collect it.
Get a price on WhatsAppOr call 07418 609969, Mon to Sat, 8am to 7pm, or email hello@linenroom.uk.