Where to Shop for Sheets if You Want to Re-Create Your Favorite Hotel Bed

What makes a hotel bed so much better than home? Someone else making it for you is pretty nice. Free chocolate on the pillow is awesome, too, but it’s really all about those sheets. Hotel sheets just feel fancier than sheets at home. Because they’re crisp, not cozy. Crisp and buttery-soft sheets make me think of a well-worn blanket you snuggle with when you’re sick. It’s that near Oxford-shirt stiffness that I love about hotel beds. Just how that’s achieved may surprise you. Here’s a little-known secret: Hotel brands shop the same home stores we do for bedding. Yes, really. You just have to know what thread count and type of material to buy. We’re breaking down several hotel bedding tricks below, plus where to shop to snag the same sheets as designer boutique hotels use.

Hotels Shop the Same Brands You Do

If you’ve browsed our guide to the best cotton sheets and many of our gift guides, you know that we love Parachute. Boutique hotels love Parachute, too. Nearly 100 hotel brands around the world partner with Parachute officially, from robes at the Proper Hotel Santa Monica to feather bedding at the Salish Lodge & Spa in Washington. But Parachute isn't the only home brand hotels love. You know those famous Westin Heavenly Beds? The hotel brand recently partnered with Pottery Barn for new exclusive bedding and mattress toppers you can now shop online. Even Quince, the luxury-for-less internet hack we love to shop for less-expensive linen, has caught the eye of boutique hotels. Black Prong, a resort in North Central Florida, uses the Quince down alternative comforter as well as the waffle duvet cover and shams — both in undyed, which is the perfect cozy cream neutral for fall.

Hotels Love Sateen Sheets

Rooms at The Bellwether Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky feature Parachute’s sateen sheets — the exact same sheet set you can buy online. And N+P, a boutique lodge in Big Bear Lake, California, uses these white, sateen sheets, too.

Nashville’s cheeky Vandyke Bed & Breakfast uses sateen sheets in their cocktail-themed suites, and they opt for Brooklinen’s luxe sateen sheets, which we also love. So, why sateen? Because it has a nice sheen like silk. Of all the different cotton sheets, a sateen weave gets as close to that super-smooth texture as you get with silk. But unlike silk, these Egyptian cotton sheets are durable and can handle tumble after tumble after tumble in the wash.

Hotels Love Percale Sheets, Too

Percale. Percale. Percale. These cooling cotton sheets are a godsend in the summer. But they’re also beloved by hot sleepers year-round because the weave style — a one-over, one-under pattern — allows for better airflow and circulation, which can help regulate your body’s temperature while you sleep. And hotel brands know this, too. Ace Hotel properties use custom-made percale sheets, and many trendy designer hotels use Brooklinen’s percale sheets, from the ultra-posh Guild House Hotel in Philadelphia to the modern cabins at Gather Greene in New York. Yep, these are the same sheets that we’ve awarded twice in our best sheets guide and best cooling sheets guide. We have other percale favorites, too, but the Brooklinen ones really are the best. They’re so light and crisp, which is the perfect kind of sheet to balance a big fluffy hotel duvet.

Like their Quince bedding, Black Prong also uses Quince percale sheets and pillowcases. And Hotel 1000, one of the most luxurious hotels in Seattle, uses classic Frette percale. At $500, it's definitely not budget-friendly, but we love the double-embroidered border on each piece.

High-End Doesn’t Mean High Thread Count

One of my favorite luxury hotels in the world, the Four Seasons Orlando, has sheets that, to me, feel like the height of high-end luxury. So, I was seriously surprised to find out that their sheets only use about a 300-thread count. It turns out a higher thread count doesn’t mean higher luxury. It just means more vertical and horizontal threads in the weave pattern.

“That may seem low, but the higher the count, the harder it is to maintain that iconic look of a Four Seasons bed as the linen is too soft,” says Director of Housekeeping Reggie Bello. “Also, a lower thread count means the linen will be too stiff and rough. Being at a 300 to 350 thread count is a good number where the linen has a longer life without compromising the luxurious feel Four Seasons is known for.”

The Four Seasons home collection sheets are made from 100 percent long-staple Supima cotton, which is a cousin of Egyptian cotton. So, what’s special about long-staple? Long-staple cotton means longer fibers make up the threads in the weave. The longer the fibers, the less fiber ends stick up, which creates a smoother, softer sheet and a sheet that doesn’t pill.