Despite the economic climate, many people are still staying in hotels, be it a short overnight stay to save on a commute or a longer stay for a holiday or working commitment. However, as a hotel manager, it is still essential to purchase hotel supplies at a price befitting the economy.

Pricing, however, is not the only consideration that should be made when selecting your range of hotel supplies – quality and selection should also be taken into account. Selecting appropriately priced ranges for your hotel is essential; purchasing high-end soaps and shampoos for rooms in a Travel Lodge, for example is not a sound economic choice, where as a higher priced hotel should have a range of supplies befitting that price.

It should also be taken into account when selecting your range of hotel supplies that there are often losses made. Visitors frequently take items home from hotel rooms, from the supplied toothbrushes and toothpaste through to towels and sometimes even sheets. As such it’s worth not becoming too attached to such items and purchasing disposable models where possible or slightly cheaper options rather than paying premium rates for something which may well disappear after their first use.

There should also be decisions made on what to supply in your hotel rooms. Do you really need to supply facial scrubs and combs for free? Chances are, if your customer is the kind of person who will use facial scrub, for example, they will already have their own and will have it with them. Toothpaste and toothbrushes, soap and shampoo are nice to supply as many hotel customers take a room either because they want to avoid the commute home, or a public transport issue has made it almost impossible to get home in an evening and these individuals will most likely not have these essentials with them.

Ultimately, choosing which items to place in your rooms will come down to the kind of hotel you run. Is it orientated towards function, luxury or somewhere in the middle? The budget at which you operate will often have a direct impact on this choice and although it is nice to put high end products in your rooms for your customers, the expense incurred can often be prohibitive, especially since they will largely be one-off uses.

Thanks to the internet, it is easier than ever to source good value hotel supplies, giving you the opportunity to purchase the range of products you have selected for a price which is less than you may expect, meaning that whatever size hotel you are running, it is possible to acquire the right products for a price which befits the current state of the economy.