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My rate for a single room/private bathroom in my home is $50 per night, in Europe, and I make up the bed.
Having said that, I think if I arrived in a place and all the linens were provided and
neatly folded and the end of the bed, I probably would not give it a second thought.
I don’t think its a big deal, if done properly.
The rise of home sharing might be influencing the way things are done now, but in the US two markets that traditionally expect users to bring their own linens are the Adirondacks and Cape Cod. Mostly because month-long or summer-long rentals were always the norm, although less so now.
I agree with @Elizabeth - if done properly and professionally - leaving the sheets neatly folded at the foot of the bed - I wouldn’t think twice about it.
I have never rented a place on the Cape that didn’t provide linens.
I think that it would be fine if a) I was aware of the situation before booking b) the accommodation was really cheap and c) the bed linen was in sealed and hygienic bags from the laundry.
Why is this???
So that I’d be sure that they were genuinely clean sheets/blankets/duvet and not just piled there by the previous guest. If the host can’t be bothered to even take a couple of minutes to make the bed, I’d want to be sure that he/she wasn’t being lax in the laundry department also.
Solely my opinion but if a host can’t be bothered to make the bed, I’d be a bit worried that he/she wasn’t particularly careful about the laundry - especially if it was bargain accommodation.
And what is it about a made up bed that makes you think the linens on it are clean? What if they were leaving the clean stack there so that you could see that the bed/mattress protector is unstained? An analogy…I used to hang the towels in the bathroom, now I leave them folded on the bed. I did it because it’s just one tiny step less for me but I could also see where a folded towel on the bed seems cleaner than what could be a used towel hanging in the bathroom.
Strangely, I once had the same problem! I thought that a towel hanging on the rail in the bathroom looked more homely and inviting but soon realised that it actually looked used.
Can always tell when linens on a bed aren’t clean. They have sleep crumples. Sometimes dusty bits. But often even if the dusty bits and the hair has been removed the sleep crumples and smell of someone else remain.
For sure. I will admit to being tempted once not to change bedlinen after a one-night stay, tight changeover time and my back was bad. I can remember sniffing the pillows and smelling hair products. I concluded that there is no getting away with it, put my back brace on and got on with it. It takes 10 minutes max, surely, to make a bed. I mean that’s what we do, no? Provide a bed??
The way I look at this whole making beds or not; 100% of guests will at least appreciate a nice looking made bed (or 95%+), and 50% will be totally confused if it isn’t. And it takes 5-10 minutes. Why even go there?
Me too!
The houses I’ve rent on the Cape even made the bed(!)
@Ash953 and @anon67190644 - there was a host on this forum that talked about his family establishment and how it is common to not offer linens and the families who come back season after season bring their own. I think it is pretty old skool, as I mentioned in my post. Usually seen in rentals that are rented by the month or season. I know that was very common in the Adirondacks even just a few years ago, but not as much anymore. Competition has changed that.
I often thought about that, also relating to me having become an Airbnb host, some 3 1/2 years ago. I am sure something I learned from my parents made me take this step.
I’m in the neighbor Finland and would never rent a place where I should bring my own linen when I’m on a holiday 
. Our guests come from overseas and I would never imagine them to bring their linen with them.
Yes, this happened to me, too. A friend brought a friend for a couple of nights, who was very into conserving water (California drought). He thought it would be a good idea to sleep under the comforter only, no sheets or blanket. I had to wash the comforter. He was also conserving water by not showering often.
We have a sofa bed in the living room that sleeps a third person. The place looks much nicer if the sofa remains a sofa when people check in. However, folding the sofa up with the sheets on it starts to rip little holes in the sheet. So I don’t like to make the sofa bed up and then fold it; I’ve been leaving the linens for it (aside from the mattress protector) near the sofa. No one has dinged us for it, and thus far everyone seems to have used the linens, but I don’t really like making guests make up the extra bed. Thoughts??
I think it is reasonable to let guests know exactly what you’ve just said about the sheets getting holes. It’s a benefit to guests that you offer the option of housing the third person, so having to make up the bed isn’t a big deal.
We even had to do this when booking a multi-room suite a luxury hotel last year. At first I was a little miffed because we paid an extra $20 a night to use it, but it was soon forgotten (well, until now…). 
Hi Arlene,
We have the same situation in our airbnb. I always offer to make the sofa bed for our guests and show them where the sheets, pillows are kept. This allows the guests to choose whether they, or I make it up. All guests so far are usually happy with this and often do it themselves.
My perspective is a little different. I used to make up the beds fully but then I read somewhere that guests know the sheets are clean if they are folded at the bottom of the bed and have no way of knowing whether you changed the linens otherwise. Added to that my family also rents a large home in Maine every summer and we always make our own beds with the clean sheets at the bottom. I think for me I don’t have to wonder where the sheets are clean in that way. Anyone else have this reaction?