*I purchased these towels using credit earned through my referral link. Thank you to all those who support this blog by purchasing through my links since it allows me to purchase more items to review.
Since I talked about these Quince Turkish Spa Bath Towels in my last two posts (My Fairly Curated Gift Guide and What I Bought in November), I figured I’d bump up my review of them. Because you guys, these are some really great towels. I’m not a bath towel aficionado, but I’ve had more than my fair share of buying them due to running our Airstream business in the past. We had 10 Airstreams and each one was stocked with at least 4 towels sets, so I’ve purchased quite a few towels. For those towels, we usually purchased them in bulk from Costco and the best of the bunch was a brand labeled Turkish towels. And even though they were plush, they were quite heavy and not my favorite. Plus they were slow to dry and produced a lot of lint in the dryer.
So we checked out Sweethome (now Wirecutter) back in the day to get the absolute best towels as rated by them for our own personal use. At the time, their top pick was the hydrocotton towels from Pottery Barn. And they’re niiiice. We still use them and they’ve held up great. They’re not too heavy, and absorbent but not linty. They’re pretty great but also on the pricey side (as all things from Pottery Barn tend to be).
As much as I love my PB bath towels, I wasn’t about to pack them in my luggage to take to Hawaii. So for our temporary home here I decided to purchase a set from Quince with some credit (thank you to all you guys who clicked on my referral link and support this blog!). I had originally wanted their organic cotton Turkish spa bath towels, but unfortunately they’re sold out [and they are no longer sold]. And since we’re on a timeline, I went ahead and ordered their regular Turkish spa bath towels (which were $5 less for a set of two). And I have to say I love these Quince bath towels more than my PB ones. They are definitely more plush without added weight. They have about the same amount of absorbency, if not more, and yet aren’t too linty. And for $39 for a set of 2, are cheaper than the $29.50 for one at PB.
In fact while writing up this review, I peeked over at Wirecutter to see if the PB towels are still on their list (nope, they’re not). The current top pick at Wirecutter for bath towels is the Frontgate Resort Towel. And when I compare the specs between this towel and the Quince one, they are pretty much the same. Both are made from long-staple Turkish cotton, weigh 700 gsm, and are Oeko-Tex certified. Judging from the pictures, they look about the same as well. The only differences is that the Quince towels are the tiniest bit smaller (Quince bath towels ones measure 27”x 54” while the Frontgate ones measure 30”x 58”) and Frontgate offers a multitude of colors (while Quince only has white and dark gray). But Quince of course has the better deal at $39 for two, while Frontgate is selling theirs at $34 for one (currently on sale for $30). I think if you’re not picky about color then the Quince towels are a good value that can’t be beat.
Quince also offers a quick-drying Turkish towel that is slightly less plush (at 500gsm) but if you need your towels to dry extra quick (maybe from multiple showers a day?), then this is a great option. As for me, I was so happy with my first set of regular Turkish bath towels that I decided to purchase another one (this time in white). I think if you’re looking for a practical Christmas gift, or maybe just a little gift for yourself, these towels fit the bill. They’re so comfy and plush that when you wrap one around you it feels like maybe you’re at the spa or a hotel instead of your own boring bathroom. And you can read all my other Quince reviews here.
{August 2023 Update: I purchased Quince’s Organic Waffle Bath Towel set awhile ago now, but haven’t done a review of them yet so here it is! We are still using these Turkish Spa bath towels daily (and they’ve been holding up like a champ, even three years later), but we’ve added the waffle bath towel set for the times when we travel in our RV. As much as I love a good fluffy towel set, sometimes you need something a bit thinner that dries fast. And these waffle ones are just the thing. Plus if your bathroom is small and towel hanging space is limited, these thin (yet soft) towels take up much less space. Also if end up taking a lot of showers (like multiple times in a day) then you’d definitely want these quick-drying towels. And I love the fact that they’re organic to boot!}
[March 2025 Update: My Pottery Barn towels are now over 10 years old, and are officially tired. So I thought I would order more towels from Quince (my daughter has commandeered the original Turkish Bath Towels in this review—and they’re still going strong after 5 years, though one has started to fray at the edge but I think that one might be defective since the other one is just fine). Anyway five years since this review, Quince towel selection has absolutely exploded. And now that I’m spoiled for choice I went with Turkish Ultra Plush Bath Sheet (in blue). And wow, they feel so luxurious. First off they’re made with 800 gsm (the plushest one here yet) of 100% Turkish long-staple cotton—and also are made in Turkey. But I might have made a mistake because these are just too big for me. It’s my first time trying a bath sheet (vs. a regular bath towel) and these bath sheets (40”x70”) are just massive. The size and plushiness make these the heaviest towels I’ve ever owned. And honestly might be too heavy for me. I love the Ultra Plush line from Quince but I think I might have to go with the classic towel size next time.]