Sleep perhaps to dream.
Or if not dreaming, at least
feeling vaguely rested
the next day, especially on vacation.
Is it too much to ask?
For many people, yes.
America is tired, according to the National Sleep Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, and there is a link between lack of sleep and depression, according to the
Sleep in America
2023 survey. the NSF.
In the world of hospitality, that is a business opportunity.
Hilton's 2024 trends report revealed that the number one reason people travel is to rest and
recharge.
"Hotels locked in a death fight with
Airbnb
have begun to explore ways to compete by offering services and amenities around the primary purpose of a hotel stay: a restful night's sleep," said Chekitan Dev, a distinguished professor at Nolan University. Cornell.
School of Hotel Administration.
"The previous vacation paradigm was that sleeping was the most boring thing you could do on vacation," said Kaushik Vardharajan, an associate professor at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration.
"It's only been in the last 10 years that we as a society have started talking about the importance of sleep from a health and wellness perspective."
Now, he said, a good night's rest isn't just a selling point for hotels;
It's quite a "fast-growing industry."
At the Beaumont in London, travelers can stay in the ROOM, a suite inside a stainless steel sculpture by British sculptor Antony Gormley.
There are no distractions: no television, no telephone, no wall art.
Photo GramRoad
From
AI-assisted beds
to on-call
hypnotherapists
, today's sleep tourism is, essentially, an old dog with new tricks.
"This is about the seventh or eighth time this has come up as an issue" since the mid-1980s, said Bjorn Hanson, an associate professor at New York University's Jonathan M. Tisch Hospitality Center.
Even before that, luxury hotels introduced sleep-better perks like pillow menus in the 1960s.
Other amenities (blackout curtains, white noise machines) followed.
Today, hotels go far beyond the basics to capture the business of those looking to sleep.
This is what some are doing.
Smart beds and smart glasses
Like the Westin Heavenly Bed, which experts point to as a turning point in the industry when it was introduced in 1999,
Bryte wants to be the next disruptor in hotel mattresses.
The $6,299 AI-assisted mattress that can be paired with a smartphone is, according to Bryte CEO Luke Kelly, the only bed with an
active pressure relief system
, which adjusts as you move to optimize deep sleep.
Mary Bemis, a journalist living in the Pacific Northwest, recently slept two nights in a Bryte bed at Carillon Miami Wellness Resort.
"It really surprised me," he said, specifying how the subtle rocking of the mattress "hit all the right notes."
“It brought me back to the baby stage.”
He also liked the Somnify
feature
, which synchronizes motion with soundscapes (he chose lightning and thunder), and said his jet lag was less of an issue than usual.
The Park Hyatt New York has five Bryte Suites (from $1,095), which were added after the hotel reopened following a 376-day COVID closure.
There were many people staying home from regional areas, said Patricia Galas, senior director of marketing communications.
His goal was no longer to take a look while on a business trip or vacation, he said.
Cooped-up, bored and sleep-deprived locals wanted a change of scenery and a
guaranteed rest.
Galas said she and her team worked with Bryte on best sleep practices, such as
setting the thermostat to 20 degrees
and recommending that guests take a warm bath before bed (with Le Labo's soothing bath salts) and herbal tea. chamomile.
The Park Hyatt Chicago has a similar
Mindfulness Suite
equipped with Bryte beds ($645), as do a handful of rooms and suites at hotels, including the Little Nell, in Aspen, Colorado, and the Rosewood Miramar Beach, in Montecito, California .
With the Sleep Wellness package at Beatrice in Providence, Rhode Island (from $419 per night), you'll have to settle for a Serta Perfect Sleeper, but you'll have access to Therabody SmartGoggles, an
eye mask
that uses heat, massage, and vibration to reduce fatigue. heart rate and relieve facial tension.
The package also includes a mocktail at the rooftop bar (alcohol is the enemy of good sleep) and herbal teas.
Retreats and other programs
At the Carillon, where Bemis stayed, the hotel's 150 apartments ($695 for a one-bedroom, $995 for a two-bedroom) feature Bryte beds.
But perhaps even more intriguing is the spa's five-treatment sleep circuit ($99 per treatment), which employs, among other things, infrared light, electromagnetic frequencies, salt floats and vibration.
The resort's new four-night Sleep Well Retreat (
$2,598
) includes all of the above, plus a sleep-promoting massage and access to the
thermal hydrotherapy
circuit , which features a herbal sauna, rain room, and heated loungers. by radiant heat.
In October 2022, Canyon Ranch Tucson hosted its first Mastering Sleep Retreat, a five-night program that includes a sleep assessment followed by sessions with board-certified physicians, registered nurses and dieticians, and spiritual wellness providers with doctorates and master's degrees in theology.
The idea is to get to the heart of what is causing the lack of sleep.
Once guests leave, they can stay in touch with a virtual health coach.
(This year's retreats will be at the Canyon Ranch location in Lenox, Massachusetts, from April 28 to May 3, $8,800 per person, and in Tucson sometime in the fall.)
'Cocoon'
Relaxing the mind is a common theme in nightlife tourism, but how each property attempts to achieve this varies.
Galas said the Park Hyatt's rooms are “wrapped” away from the living space, meaning you can close off the sleeping area and make it dark and cozy;
A rare offering, Britain
's Zedwell Hotels
feature small, dimly lit “cocoons” (from £112, or about $142, for one person) with no window-to-wall distractions: no TVs, no phones and, in fact, no windows, which for a certain type of poor sleep could lead to
more anxiety, not less.
Tempo by Hilton offers rooms divided into three zones, including “an immersive sleeping environment” with a temperature-controlled Sealy Accelerate mattress with sound-absorbing acoustics;
lights that dim at dusk;
and, in some rooms, Peloton bikes, for people considering exercising with their Ambien.
At the Conrad Bali, guests can book a 60-minute private SWAY session at the spa (starting at 1,500,000 rupees, or about $95), which involves lying in an aerial, swaddled hammock that It looks a lot like a real cocoon.
The rocking is meant
to imitate floating
on a cloud or being in the womb.
At London's Beaumont, travelers can stay in perhaps the coziest room of all, simply called the ROOM (£1,402 per night, or about $1,780), a 70-square-meter suite inside a steel sculpture. three-story stainless steel tower of a man crouching at the hotel entrance.
It lacks television, telephone and even art on the walls.
The goal of British sculptor Antony Gormley, who designed ROOM, is for guests to “achieve a
meditative stillness,
losing the sensation of one's body in the darkness and allowing the mind to expand.”
You're really sleepy
This month, coinciding with NSF Sleep Awareness Week (running through March 16), the Mandarin Oriental will begin a partnership with hypnotherapist Malminder Gill, also known as Sleep Concierge, at the Hyde Park property in London.
(After Hyde Park, the service will be available at the Mandarin Oriental in Mayfair, which opens this spring, followed by pop-ups in Europe, New York and other destinations later this year.)
Starting at £500, guests can see Gill at the spa for a sleep consultation and session tailored to their particular sleep issues, and Gill even recommends optimal meal times and order of eating.
There will also be an option for a private bedside session, during which, if all goes well, guests will fall asleep overnight.
“I tiptoe out,” Gill said.
(FINISH OPTIONAL FINISHING.)
The Royal Sonesta Benjamin New York has a similar program, called Rest & Renew, led by Rebecca Robbins, co-author of “Sleep for Success!
“Everything you need to know about sleep but are too tired to ask.”
And Hyatt hotels in New Zealand and Australia now feature the Sleep at Hyatt program, with Nancy H. Rothstein, aka Sleep Ambassador, as your guru.
For $49.50, guests can add a Sleep Ritual package (bath salts, eye mask, tea, pulse point aromatherapy roll-on);
For $190, you can buy a pair of Dreamers, blue and green light glasses that filter out the melatonin-disrupting rays emanating from screens if you're a night surfer.
Of course, that could mean falling asleep with a pair of glasses on, which for a chronic gamer could be counterproductive.
The expert's opinion
It remains to be seen what sticks and what doesn't in this round of sleep tourism.
Joseph M. Dzierzewski, vice president of research and scientific affairs at the National Sleep Foundation, wonders why, for example, not all rooms have special sleep amenities.
"The hotel should provide an environment for people to sleep," he said.
Isn't that the goal of a hotel?
Furthermore, “you have to visualize the dream in a 24-hour time frame.”
As important as it is to sleep in a dark room, he said, it's also necessary to expose yourself to bright morning light.
"Many people forget how important the day is to the night."
Dr. Jing Wang, medical director of the Mount Sinai Integrative Sleep Center, believes the riddle of better sleep can be solved for most people if they learn what the root of their problems is, whether it's sleep apnea or
sleep
problems. psychological.
Educating yourself at a fancy resort instead of a hospital sleep lab may seem nice, but the key, he said, is follow-up and follow-through.
Without them, there is little chance of achieving lasting change.
"If you look at the list of our sleep hygiene recommendations (quiet, dark, relax your mind, don't think about things that bother you during the day), it's easy for me to say," Wang said.
But many people can find it difficult to do these things.
In that way, sleep tourism makes sense because it allows you to “leave your usual environment and go to one that incorporates some of these healthy sleep routines,” Wang said.
Similarly, Dzierzewski points out a common affliction—getting stuck in a bad sleep rut—that a short, nap-focused hotel stay could fix.
“Maybe you just need a
hard reset
if you're stuck in an endless spiral.
Bad sleep begets bad sleep, bad sleep,” he said.
“If that cycle can be stopped, perhaps some lasting positive change can be achieved.
But without additional information about how it got into that cycle in the first place, I wonder if there will be any long-term benefits.”
What none of these hotels, mattresses, or retreats can do is permanently rid your bed of smartphones, crying kids, to-do lists, existential dread, and other common sleep thieves.
And of course, not everyone can afford $500 or more for a good night's sleep.
c.2024 The New York Times Company