Luxury Hotels Are Using Unique Tactics to Help Guests Get a Better Night’s Sleep

High-end hotels are upping their game by getting into the business of better sleep for guests.

Pillow menus have been around for a while in the luxury hotel world, offered at brands like Trump, Conrad and the Benjamin Hotel. But now, high-end properties are trying harder to ensure a better night’s sleep by focusing on more than just what a guest lays their head on.

Marriott, for example, has an entire program dedicated to sleep, the Nightly Refresh Program, which provides aromatherapy oils and flavored chocolates designed for relaxation. Other chains provide more specialized and tech options — the Peninsula has mattresses handmade and Starwood uses illuminated floor tiles, smartphone powered rooms, and specialty lights to help beat jetlag.

Boutique hotels are getting in the sleep game too. The Mohonk Mountain House Resort in New York offers spa services for the sleep-deprived, and the Benjamin uses staff trained by a sleep consultant who also offers sessions with guests.

“That’s what hospitality is about,” Henry Harteveldt, travel analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, told The New York Times. “It’s about being thoughtful and trying to anticipate and deliver on guests’ needs. Not on what you might expect, but these unanticipated, unexpected things that really do please the guest. It would be great if we saw more hotels doing something like this.”

Hotels overall have been slow to adopt the sleep improvement trend. Slumber options only seem to be available at high-end properties, not yet where the average traveler would stay.

“I would love for this to be the norm,” said Rebecca Robbins, the sleep consultant at the Benjamin. “Instead of talking about adding a gadget or the latest iPod dock or charger in the room, we should be focusing more on sleep in the hospitality industry.”

[Photo: iStock]