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I'm travelling to the US and staying in a hotel in a tiny town in Utah round about the time I'd need to do laundry. I looked through the hotel amenities to see if it has guest laundry facilities, and it doesn't say.

The hotel is reasonably big (~100 rooms, big enough to have a swimming pool and a fitness centre), so I'd expect it to have one. They either omit that because it's obvious, or because they don't actually have one.

So, should I go into that hotel with all my dirty underwear or should try and launder before/after my stay there? I don't stay in hotels very often so excuse the ridiculous question.

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    Note that there is nowhere in the world where the cost of hotel laundry is cheaper than the cost of new underwear.
    – Strawberry
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 17:33
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    @Strawberry but I really like my current underwear :(
    – Andrey
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 18:03
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    @Strawberry that's a bit of an exaggeration, I've stayed in a handful of places that charge by the bag and those tend to be more reasonable than charging by the item.
    – spacetyper
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 22:47
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    Is there a way for you to call your hotel beforehand and ask if they have a laundry service, and if not, whether there are any laundromats nearby you could use? I'll be very surprised if they refuse to happily answer your question.
    – undercat
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 22:58
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    @Strawberry: At plenty of US hotels laundry is self-service and only costs something like $2-3 per load. That's less than most men's underwear and a lot less than most women's underwear.
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 23:34

2 Answers 2

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Guest Laundry facilities are not an "expected" amenity in the vast majority of hotel chains over much of the world, and that's certainly true in the US.

In general, most larger hotels will have a laundry service - along the grounds of a price-per-item service that will get very expensive very quickly.

Some (but certainly far from all) hotels will have coin-operated (or occasionally, free) self-service guest laundry facilities - but this is generally the mid-range or lower-end chains rather than the higher-end hotels, and even then it's very hit-or-miss, especially in the US. eg, Some "Hilton Garden Inn" hotels will have this, whilst I've never see it at the chains higher level "Hilton" hotels.

Many (most?) apartment-style hotels will have an in-suite washer-dryer.

If the hotel you're looking at does not explicitly list a guest laundry, it would be my expectation that they do not have one - although obviously an email/phone call to them to confirm would be the best idea.

Alternatively, coin operated laundries are very common in the US. Odds are you'll be able to find one close to the hotel. Google Maps should allow you to find a nearby laundry and confirm it's operating hours.

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    Many coin laundries also offer a wash, dry & fold service where they do the work for you for a small fee, possibly including pickup and delivery as well. You can get a full week's laundry done this way for the price of a few items at the hotel, without having to wait around in the laundromat.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 16:40
  • That's so weird. I'd expect laundry to be much more of a must-have than an outdoor swimming pool. I guess I have to plan around that, try and do laundry before I end up at that hotel. As I said, it's in a tiny town in Utah - the nearest laundromat is 3km away!
    – Andrey
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 17:03
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    @Andrey Americans rarely take vacations long enough that they can't pack enough clothing for the full stay, so laundry is often only needed in special circumstances.
    – Barmar
    Commented Sep 22, 2018 at 18:01
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    Laundromats are in secular decline and will not be found in many areas. I live within walking distance of Georgetown, the US Marine Corps Memorial, and other tourist spots, but the closest self-service laundry is about 4 miles away and is not easily accessible via public transportation.
    – choster
    Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 17:14
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    Laundromats (where there are machines and you do the laundry yourself, which is generally cheaper than cleaners that offer per-pound wash and fold) are broadly becoming harder to find, particularly in expensive areas of the sort where larger hotels are likely to be. That does not necessarily apply to a "tiny town" in Utah, which will have its own constraints, but it would be easy enough for the OP to google that.
    – Zach Lipton
    Commented Sep 23, 2018 at 22:45
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Motels will often have a coin laundry but it’s not guaranteed. There may also be a storefront laundromat nearby.

Most of not major hotel chains (Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, etc) will have an in-house laundry service. It can be quite expensive however.

The simplest thing to do is to google the local number for the hotel and phone their front desk.

Ps Many of us seasoned but thrifty travelers carry some thin rope and laundry soap so that we can string up a laundry line in the bathroom.

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    +1 for the DIY approach. If desperate shower gel/shampoo works, and ther'e often somwhere to hang a few items at a time to drip into the bath. You can get a lot of the water out of clothes by rolling them in a dryish towel and wringing. Clothes also dry well in cars in summer if spread out, so if you're driving even an overnight stop is enough time to wash a few items.
    – Chris H - UK
    Commented Sep 24, 2018 at 8:04

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