A good night’s sleep is a longed-for dream for most of us. According to thetravel, about 35% of Americans report sleeping less than 7 hours in a typical 24-hour period, and 50 to 70 million US adults suffer from a sleep problem, with insomnia being the most common. As we know, sleep A good night’s sleep is a critical element of a healthy life, and the idea of going on vacation to “recharge your batteries” is not new. Thus, sleep tourism – in fact, vacation planning focused on a good night’s sleep – has become a trend among travelers.
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The corona epidemic also contributed to the acceleration of the trend. Many people who traveled during the epidemic and under the various restrictions imposed by each country on its visitors, had to stay in isolation or content themselves with the sleepy shadow of lively cities on normal days. Thus, the stay at the hotel became more meaningful, and not just a place to spend the night and eat breakfast.
Sleep enhancing services
In light of the rising demand among travelers, many hotels offer sleep-enhancing services, such as playing a recorded meditation before bed, bedtime tea specially developed for the service, and a bedding menu that offers different options that respond to the different preferences of the guests, for example – to sleep on the back or on the side, Place your head on a scented pillow or cover yourself with a heavy blanket. One of the options is to perform a pillow test a few weeks before the vacation, in order to match the pillow exactly to the body shape and sleeping habits of each guest. The mattresses also, of course, participate in the effort – with sensors that allow to “learn” the sleeping habits of the guests during the night and regulate the temperature accordingly.
But not only the bed is important here. In hotels that cater to sleep tourists, the rooms themselves are also adapted to maximize the guests’ sleeping experience, for example through innovative acoustic insulation and a variety of dedicated spa and beauty treatments. There are hotels that offer bathing in a bath with minerals that contribute to a good night’s sleep, such as magnesium that circulates the blood and relaxes, calcium that keeps the heart rate moderate, sodium that relieves joint pain and even lithium that contributes to balancing the mood and falling asleep quickly.
There are those who sell a structured sleep program, which combines consultations with a sleep doctor, sleep-oriented yoga and meditation practice, massages, nutritional guidance and moderate exercise.
A change in priorities
“People often associate a vacation with gourmet meals, late-night entertainment, and early-morning attractions,” Dr. Rebecca Robbins, a sleep researcher and co-author of the book “Sleep for Success!”, told CNN. “Now, I think there’s been a huge shift.” in our collective awareness and in our order of priorities for well-being and health.”
Dr. Robbins adds that travel experiences that focus on “healthy sleep strategies,” which aim to provide guests with the tools they need to improve their sleep on a day-to-day basis, can be very helpful.
One hotel even took the issue a step further. Mandarin Oriental in Geneva, in collaboration with CENAS, a private medical sleep clinic in Switzerland, offers a three-day program that studies the sleep patterns of guests in order to identify possible sleep disorders and offer appropriate treatments to continue.