When you wake up in a good hotel, you may have wondered why those sheets are not like the ones at home. The answer is not magic but engineering.
Hotel textiles lead a very different life from home textiles. They are washed hundreds of times in industrial laundries, at high temperatures and with strong chemicals. That is why percale weave is generally preferred and a cotton-polyester blend is often used; polyester adds durability for these heavy washes. Their being white is no coincidence either. White gives an impression of cleanliness and can be bleached at high temperatures.
That crisp, cool feeling comes from the percale weave and from professional roller ironers. If you want to capture that feeling at home, a white percale duvet cover of good cotton, between 250 and 400 threads, is a good start. Ironing while slightly damp, or drying hung taut, largely gives that smooth surface. And one more thing: in a hotel, the bed is made every day. Perhaps the real secret lies as much in that regular care as in the quality of the sheet.