Hotels want you sleeping like a baby after a hard day’s work

A deeply relaxing bath or an aromatherapy pillow laced with the fragrance of jasmine? A cup of chamomile tea or a feather mattress? An ipod full of soporific music or a shelf full of dull books? Which would put you to sleep best?

These are the questions that hotels are asking as they aim at providing the most luxurious sleep amenities in their hotels. New research indicates that sleep is the number one priority for guests staying in hotels, since many of them are working with counterparts in different time zones across the world and are unable to sleep easily in new surroundings. Many hotels are therefore working at giving their guests the best sleep experience possible, whether it involves providing the right bedding, the darkest drapes, the best pillows or the finest sleep inducing teas.

Some international hotels offer a “sleep kit” containing a CD of restful music, a nightlight and a drape clip to keep the drapes shut. Indian hotels offer ergonomically designed beds, special mattresses, pillows and relaxing baths.

Says Vinod Valsan, GM, Taj Residency, “We lead such stressful lives today that sleep is vital for our guests. They could have had back to back meetings, flights at odd hours or could have been living out of a suitcase for days. We have to provide a perfect sleep experience to take care of this, right from a pillow menu, to twin massage showers and much more.”

Bhavana Alvares, Executive Housekeeper, The Taj West End, Bangalore says that the Spa bath menu and the pillow menu in the hotel are very popular among the guests. “We have relaxation pillows and herbal pillows besides special bath salts that are totally relaxing,” she says.

They offer a Posha relaxing oil bath, which combines benzoin, cedarwood, black pepper, frankincense, lavender, ginger, cinnamon, which helps relieve stress, rheumatic discomfort, and digestive imbalances. The Rasa Bath Salts contain marigold petals, peppermint and lemon while the Aksha sensual bath oil contains pure jasmine, sandalwood, rose and other ingredients that are very relaxing.

The bed and pillow menu would include a contoured cervical
pillow that supports your head in perfect alignment with your spine, the micro fibre pillow that regulates the air temperature or the aroma therapy pillow that is calming. There is also a white goose down pillow and a meditation pillow made of a special blend of aromatic Himalayan plants and created for purification and relaxation.

Sudhakar Jayaram, Vice President, PR / Media & Brand Communications, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts says, “Research shows that guests in a room spend a lot of their waking time in the bath, which is why rooms are being built around the bathroom. Sleep is a neuro biological need so we work at giving guests the best sleep options possible.”

The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts offers a special choice of pillows for sleeping comfort and experience. Guests can choose from exclusive neck supporting pillows, down pillows, the non-allergy bolster “imprima” or the super soft pillow among others. There are also ‘Sealy’ mattresses – a posture-pedic mattress which keeps body in suspension, soothes nerves and body aches and evens out blood circulation. The rooms are also provided with an Ioniser, an air purifier that ensures continual air circulation.

The Oberoi, Bangalore offers duck down pillows made of soft feathers that provide a natural restful angle for sleep and a contour pillow which adjusts to the nape of the neck and offers neck support. For guests with back pain spine issues, the hotel outsources ergonomically built beds from select hospitals.  For jet lagged guests there are many remedial spa sessions, like muscle relaxant and Ayurvedic therapies.

Some luxury hotels in Bangalore also offer a butler programme where a butler helps you with all your in-room needs. He could make you a cup of soothing jasmine tea, draw a bath for you before you go to bed or arrange for the perfect pillows or mattresses that can lull you to sleep in an instant.