Do Swedish hostels provide bed linen?

For foreign visitors, one of the most unusual things about Swedish hostels is that bed linen is rarely ever provided. It’s expected that you’ll either bring your own set from home (including the sheet you lie on, the duvet cover and a pillowcase) or pay to borrow a set from the hostel when you arrive – usually that costs around 50 SEK per night.

Yep, it’s true: most hostels around the world now want guests to leave their linen and sleeping bags at home, just in case they bring bedbugs with them. But this is a long-standing Swedish tradition that most hostels still insist on following (probably for the very convenient reason that it helps them save on their laundry bill).

As a result, we’d recommend either bringing a set of sheets with you from home or buying everything you need when you arrive in Sweden. Even if you’re stuck and don’t mind roughing it, it’s not worth trying to get away with sleeping on your bunk without any sheets; if the hostel staff find out, they’ll try to fine you. Sleeping bags are banned almost everywhere.

There is good news amongst all this – newer, independent hostels in big cities like Stockholm and Gothenburg now tend to supply clean bedsheets for free, which means you can just rock up and start having fun, without worrying about going shopping for sheets first.

While we’re on the topic of annoying hostel rules: some older places in Sweden still require you to clean your room on departure, including sweeping and mopping. Check the rules when you arrive and make sure you leave the area around your bed in a decent state; mucky pups risk having a cleaning charge added to their bill.

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