@ 2013 ALLEE PHOTOGRAPHY (2)
DREAM
SERVICE
Back in their rooms, VIP guests
are provided “slumber kits” —
also available for purchase in the
hotel spa — that include an eye
mask, ear plugs, and a CD of ambient music. On TV, guests can
flip to channel 46, the “Sound
Sleep Channel,” and set a sleep
timer that plays music composed
by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, an expert in the field of neuroacoustics.
In the hallways, quiet time rules
are reinforced by mounted signs
declaring “family quiet time”
between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. And
employees are ready to offer additional help for guests with insomnia, such as special glasses that
block out blue light, which can
disrupt natural sleep cycles.
Not every hotel goes to such
lengths to ensure that its guests
sleep soundly. But as sleep quality has grown in the public consciousness as a key measure of
health, creativity and productivity, the hotel industry has taken
note. To the trained eyes of hotel managers, designers and the
growing ranks of for-hire sleep
consultants, a hotel room contains
countless potential distractions
that can inhibit sleep and taint
a guest’s experience — a lumpy
mattress, the bright light of a bed-
HUFFINGTON
10.13.13
side clock, a wall-mounted flat
screen TV that the inconsiderate
guest in the adjacent room left on
all night. There’s also, of course,
a considerable financial incentive for tending to guests’ unmet
sleep-related needs. And so, in
ways big and small, implicit and
explicit, hotels are striving to create the conditions that allow for
that elusive experience: the perfect night’s sleep.
If there is a starting point to the
modern era of the hotel industry’s
focus on sleep, it would probably be 1999, when Westin Hotels
& Resorts introduced its line of
Above:
“Slumber
Kits,”
available for
purchase
in the Park
Hyatt Beaver
Creek Resort
spa, include
an eye mask,
earplugs
and a CD
of ambient
music.
Below: A
special “sleep
elixir” tea is
available to
ensure restful
sleep.