Choose the fabric from how the robe will be used and laundered, not from how it photographs on a bed.

Terry

Looped cotton pile. The most absorbent and the warmest, and the slowest to dry. The default for hotel rooms and cool relaxation areas.

Its cost is drying time and laundry load, which is exactly the cost a busy day spa cannot carry.

Waffle

A light open honeycomb weave. Dries fast, packs to a fraction of the volume, and looks crisp on a shelf.

It is not warm. If guests will sit in a cool room in them, this is the wrong fabric and no amount of styling fixes it. It also creases visibly, so roll and band rather than flat-fold.

Velour-faced

Terry with the loops sheared flat on one side. It looks and feels the most expensive of the four and takes embroidery beautifully.

Shearing the loop removes absorbency, so a robe faced on both sides is decorative. Face the outside and keep the terry loop against the skin.

Microfibre

Absorbs well, weighs little, dries fastest of all. It is the operational answer when laundry capacity decides how many robes you must own.

It has the least hand of the four, and it must be washed without fabric softener — softener coats the fibre, kills the wicking and traps odour, which then gets blamed on the robe.