Tips - InnStyle- Hospitality Products at Wholesale Prices

Innkeepers Know Repeat Guests Drive Long Term Success

In 2013, the New York Times told the story of Leslie Ciminello, a business traveler and frequent guest at the Hotel 1000 in Seattle.

Why did she keep coming back? Because the hotel would make sure to keep her room refrigerator stocked with lactose-free milk and gluten-free cereal.

“It’s one of the small but significant ways the hotel has kept her coming back,” wrote the Times’ Harriet Edelson, who noted that hotels around the country “are increasingly emphasizing personalized services that do not show up on any list of amenities.”

Continue reading Innkeepers Know Repeat Guests Drive Long Term Success →

How to Turn One-Time Guests into Loyal Customers

Couple doing the check-in at a hotel

Hotel, inn, vacation rental stays might be temporary, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never see your guests again. With careful planning, you can turn them into repeat customers.

Repeat customers are good business: it’s easier to keep them than it is to attract new clients, and they’ll spend more than someone staying with you for the first time.

Continue reading How to Turn One-Time Guests into Loyal Customers →

10 Luxurious Gifts for the Holiday Season

Some of the best gifts we get can be things we’d never choose to buy for ourselves. Things that might seem like too much of an indulgence if we bought them on our own.

Are you looking to pamper someone in your life this year? Here are 10 luxurious gifts to look for this holiday season.

Continue reading 10 Luxurious Gifts for the Holiday Season →

Innkeeper Tips for Mattress Makeovers

Mattress shopping isn’t what it used to be. There was a time when choosing a mattress meant answering a simple question: soft or firm?

When it’s time for a mattress makeover, today’s innkeepers look for features like memory foam, pocketed coils and moisture wicking fabrics, all in the service of that vital factor of any customer’s stay: a good night’s rest.

Continue reading Innkeeper Tips for Mattress Makeovers →

8 Vacation Rental Interior Design Tips to Increase Bookings

Beah rental property

If you own a vacation rental property, it’s safe to say that you don’t have the interior decorating budget that you’d find at a massive hotel.

Nevertheless, there are ways you can give your property some personality with just a few small adjustments. Here are eight vacation rental interior design tips to help increase bookings.

Continue reading 8 Vacation Rental Interior Design Tips to Increase Bookings →

How to Keep Fabrics From Fading

It’s an age-old question: Do I prewash my fabrics, or not?

In addition to getting any shrinkage out of the way before you sew with the fabric, prewashing can keep dark fabric dyes (blacks, reds, and purples) from bleeding onto lighter-colored fabrics.

Fortunately, there are several natural remedies to help fabric colors stay bright when laundered. To keep fabrics from fading in the wash, follow these simple steps for using some common items from around your house!

Don’t let those brilliant hues escape your fabrics, especially if you’ve already invested hours into stitching up completed projects, like a garment or quilt.

Here are a few natural methods to keep fabrics from fading:

Continue reading How to Keep Fabrics From Fading →

14 Ways to Get Out Stains

As we mentioned in our previous post, many household products in your home may be able to remove stains without you needing to purchase new products.

If these do not work, then it is time to purchase one product that will work on many different stains.

At InnStyle, we carry a few products that will work with most stains. Again, the most important thing to remember is that it may take time, patience and second or third applications before you can remove the stain.

But all that work will be worth it if it means saving the item from the rag bag and eliminating the need to purchase new linens, clothing, etc.

For laundry stains, some stain removal products can be used full strength. The product 1000+ Stain Remover provides a concentrated stain removal. Here are 14 ways it works on various stains.

Continue reading 14 Ways to Get Out Stains →

How to Set Your Dinner Table

Setting your table doesn’t have to be a big challenge. We’ve sought out the proper way to handle it with these steps, from the Emily Post Institute.

The Basic Table Setting

To start, think of the word FORKS (minus the R to remember how to place your utensils going left to right: F is for the fork, O is your plate (it’s shaped like an “O”), K for the knife, and S for the spoon.
Holding your hands in front of you, touch your thumbs to your forefingers so they form a lowercase “b” (your left) and lowercase “d” (on the right). This is to remember that bread and butter go on the left, while drinks go on the right.
The blade of your knives should always face the plate. A napkin goes to the left of the fork, or on the plate. A bread and butter knife is optional.

Continue reading How to Set Your Dinner Table →

How to Use a Table Runner

When we set out to blog about table runners, we decided to look into the history of these unique decorative items.

There doesn’t seem to be a definitive origin story for table runners, but most writers we found seem to agree they came about in the Middle Ages.

As blogger Amy Isaman put it:

“Apparently, back in medieval times, people would wipe their faces on the table cloth. Eventually, thank God, this became unacceptable and somebody invented napkins, but people still ate like pigs and spilled their food and drinks all over the tablecloths which then had to be laundered, so some wise woman invented the table runner to protect the table cloth.”

The idea was that the table runner would catch all the spills and dropped food, and then be gathered up for cleaning at the end of the night, leaving the pristine tablecloth behind. Tablecloths and table runners became standard dining fixtures by the 1600s.

Hopefully, you’ll be using your table runners for decorative, and not simply practical, reasons. Here are 10 ways you can put one into play in your home:

Continue reading How to Use a Table Runner →

How to Choose the Proper Size Tablecloth for Your Table

Choosing the proper size tablecloth for your table is easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

For a square or oblong table:

Measure the length and width of the table.
Decide on the drop you prefer. A typical drop ranges between 10″ to 12″. If you want your tablecloth to go to the floor, then the drop would usually be 30” (a typical table height), but always measure.
Add the amount of the drop multiplied by two to both the length and the width of the table. (i.e., If the table measures 42″W x 84″L and you want a 12″ drop, then the oblong tablecloth should measure 66″ [42″W+24″ total drop] x 108″ [84″L + 24″ total drop.])

For a Round Table:

Measure the diameter of your table.
Decide on the length of the drop.
Add the amount of the drop multiplied by two to the diameter of the table. (i.e., If the table measures 60″ in diameter and you want it to go to the floor with a 30″ drop, then the round tablecloth should measure 120″ [60″ diameter + 60″ total drop].)

Continue reading How to Choose the Proper Size Tablecloth for Your Table →