OPINION
As someone who has periodically wrestled with insomnia for several years, I how tempting the promise of a solid night’s sleep is.
Sometimes this promise comes from a homeware store or pharmacy, wellness book or health brand, each touting various pillows and powders, pills or processes to help people catch those elusive zzz’s.
More recently, however, hotels and other travel businesses have also jumped on the bandwagon in a phenomenon called ‘sleep tourism’.
Part wellness trend part travel trend, ‘sleep tourism’ refers to travel products or experiences designed to improve a traveller’s quality of sleep and has allegedly grown in popularity following the pandemic.
When one considers the stats around the world, this isn’t a huge surprise. In the US, an estimated 50 million Americans suffer from sleep problems, says Travel Iingual and a 2022 study in the UK found 71 per cent of people were not getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Fortunately, Kiwis are pretty good at getting shut-eye, with 70 per cent of adults getting the recommended duration of sleep.
However, for those who don’t, the consequences of cumulative sleep deprivation can range from low energy and productivity to a heightened risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.
It makes sense that, much like travel experiences focused on healthy eating, fitness or other facets of wellness, tourism operators rushed in to meet this need. Today, many hotels and tourism providers have launched offerings that target the quality and quantity of people’s sleep and this is only expected to grow.
These sleep-focused programmes or retreats vary in intensity, length and scientific legitimacy, from small design tweaks at hotels to week-long retreats with sleep specialists.
In New York, Park Hyatt now has a ‘Sleep Suite’ with an AI-powered Bryte bed, designed to optimise your temperature during various sleep stages. Guests also receive sleep masks, essential oils and sleep-related books.
Meanwhile, in the English countryside, White House Hideaway launched a “Sleep Weekend” at an off-grid cabin, far from distraction. Guests receive a consultation with a qualified Sleep Coach before, during and after the stay as well as sleep journals, ear plugs, eyemasks and more.
If that doesn’t quite cut it, one can always travel to Northern Italy for a seven-day “Sleep Better Retreat” at the award-winning wellness resort Preidlhof. Supervised by the resort’s resident doctor, the personalised week has guests fitted with a smart device to monitor sleep and given various treatments including sleep massages, dolomitic sleep rituals, acupuncture and sound classes.
This shift of focus towards sleep, particularly amongst accommodation, was a long time coming according to sleep researcher and author Dr Rebecca Robbins.
“When it comes down to it, travellers book hotels for a place to sleep,” she told CNN Travel. Yet, hotels have typically focused on features that hinder deep rest including rich meals, alcohol, stimulating experiences and in-room television.
However, a larger shift in focus towards wellness, in general, has now translated to a focus on sleep.
“I think there’s just been a huge seismic shift in our collective awareness and prioritization on wellness and well-being,” she said, adding that the pandemic only heightened this.
“There has been heightened attention to sleep in the Covid-19 era, and likely, because so many people have struggled with this [sleep],” said Dr Robbins.
If your sleep struggles are due to a stressful schedule or busy brain, you’ll likely experience benefits from staying off the grid or on a robot bed, using a sleep journal or sleeping in pitch black.
However, it may be of little help to those with an underlying condition that impacts their sleep.
“If someone comes to one of these retreats, and isn’t seeing any progress, it could be because they have an untreated sleep disorder,” Dr Robbins told CNN, listing insomnia, sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome as examples.
For this reason, a scientific or medical expert should be involved, she added, as they could discern whether there are other factors involved.
One example of a hotel taking this approach is Mandarin Oriental in Geneva. The hotel has partnered with a private medical sleeping clinic in Switzerland and offers guests a 3-day retreat where their sleeping patterns are studied to identify possible sleep disorders.
As much as a sleep vacation sounds, well, dreamy, it’s hard to imagine many Kiwis (myself included) would use valuable holiday leave and money on a trip to revamp their sleeping habits. And even if they had deeper issues at play, one is arguably better off travelling a few kilometres to their doctor to sort it out.
However, as a traveller, I can definitely see how attention to guest sleep could become a quality that makes me select one hotel over another.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to blasting the air con, powering down my phone and using these tricks to keep any hotel room as dark as possible.