What is the par level formula?

Par level equals the quantity required for one full use multiplied by the number of pars you hold. For hotel linen, one par is the amount needed to dress every room once, so total inventory equals rooms × items per room × par count. Three par is the common minimum for on-premise laundry and four par for outsourced or slower turnaround.

What does 3 par mean in a hotel?

Three par means you own three complete sets of that item: one on the bed, one in the laundry cycle, and one on the shelf. It is the minimum that lets a property operate without a shortage on a high-turn day.

Should a hotel run 3 par or 4 par?

Three par suits properties with reliable same-day on-premise laundry. Four par suits outsourced laundry with a collection and return cycle longer than a day, seasonal peaks, or high-value items where a stock-out costs a room. The fourth par is working capital that buys reliability.

How do you calculate par level for towels?

Count each towel type separately: rooms × the standard number of that towel per room × par count. A 180-room hotel at two bath towels per room and three par needs 1,080 bath towels, then repeat for hand towels, face cloths and bath mats before adding pool or spa allocations.

Does par level include linen in the laundry?

Yes. The whole point of holding multiple pars is that one par is always in circulation. Par counts describe total owned inventory, not shelf stock. Condemned and stained items must be replaced to keep the par intact.

Par level formula for hotel linen

Par level is a simple multiplication that quietly decides whether a housekeeping floor ever runs out of towels, and how much cash is sitting in the linen room. Here is the formula, what each par is physically doing, and a full worked inventory for a 180-room hotel.

By Aaron Whitfield, who builds and maintains the HotelWorkload calculators · Last reviewed August 17, 2026 · How these numbers are derived

Short answer

Par level = rooms × items per room × par count. One par is enough of an item to dress every room once. Three par — one in use, one in the laundry, one on the shelf — is the practical minimum with on-premise laundry. Four par is standard where laundry is outsourced or turnaround exceeds a day.

Calculate your full linen par

What each par is doing

What each linen par covers
Par	Physical location	Why it exists
Par 1	On the bed / in the room	In service right now
Par 2	Soiled, in wash, drying or folding	Absorbs the laundry cycle time
Par 3	Floor closets and linen room shelf	Covers the day's turns without waiting
Par 4	Reserve stock and transit	Covers outsourced turnaround, peaks, breakdowns and condemnation

A property running effectively two par is not lean, it is one washer breakdown away from a room it cannot sell.

Worked example: 180 rooms at 3 par

Linen par worked example for a 180-room hotel
Item	Per room	1 par	3 par	4 par
Flat / fitted sheets	3	540	1,620	2,160
Pillowcases	4	720	2,160	2,880
Duvet covers	1	180	540	720
Bath towels	2	360	1,080	1,440
Hand towels	2	360	1,080	1,440
Face cloths	2	360	1,080	1,440
Bath mats	1	180	540	720

Add pool, spa, fitness and food-and-beverage allocations on top — they draw from the same laundry capacity and are the most common source of an unexplained shortage. The hotel linen PAR calculator does this item by item and returns the purchase value of the whole inventory.

The cost of the fourth par

Moving from three to four par increases owned inventory by a third. That is real working capital, and the decision should be argued in numbers:

Buy the fourth par when laundry is outsourced with a multi-day cycle, peak season strains supply, laundry capacity is already at its ceiling, or a stock-out would cost you a sellable room.
Stay at three par when on-premise laundry clears the day’s pounds inside staffed hours with headroom, and condemnation is tracked and replaced promptly.

Check the capacity assumption before spending the money — the laundry capacity calculator shows whether your washers and dryers actually clear a peak day, and the laundry cost calculator prices the linen replacement that erodes a par over time.

Keeping a par intact

Count physical inventory quarterly, including floor closets, laundry and reserve.
Condemn stained and worn items on a rule, not a mood, and log the count — un-replaced condemnation is how three par silently becomes two and a half.
Track pounds per occupied room to see whether linen usage is drifting; see PPOR.
Order replacements against a rolling annual budget rather than in a crisis, where you pay for expedited freight and accept whatever is in stock.

Put this to work

Price your whole linen inventory in a minute

Enter rooms, items per room and your par target and get the item-by-item count plus the purchase value of the full inventory.

Open the linen PAR calculator See what a saved property adds

Free to run, no account needed. An account keeps each property’s minutes, wages and daily boards so tomorrow’s plan starts from yesterday’s actuals.

Par level formula for hotel linen

Short answer

What each par is doing

Worked example: 180 rooms at 3 par

The cost of the fourth par

Keeping a par intact

Price your whole linen inventory in a minute

Par level questions

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