GOLDEN SLUMBERS
Golden Slumbers - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Golden Slumbers | |||||
| By: Kate de Brito, Issue 34 – Autumn 2008 | |||||
| WHAT”S IN A BED, SOME MAY ASK. LUXURY HOTELIERS AND SAVVY TRAVELERS KNOW IT’S MUCH MORE THAN A PRETTY PILLOW. | |||||
| Legend has it that when the executives of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts wanted to put news beds into their Westin Hotels they put 50 different beds from more than 30 different hotels to the test. They did this by placing them in the ballroom of one of their hotels and trying them out, bed-by-heavenly bed. The result was Westin’s widely acclaimed Heavenly Bed – a brand named hotel bed that not only gave guests a quality night’s sleep but acknowledged a growing demand by consumers for bedding that was a cut above the rest. Research by Westin has showed that 63 percent of travellers believed a good night's sleep was the most important service a hotel could provide while 84 per cent said a luxurious bed would make a hotel room more attractive to them. For the record, the study also found twice as many people would take a great night’s sleep over great sex. “I could never understand why the vast majority of hotel beds were so uncomfortable, unattractive and uninviting,” Barry Sternlicht, former chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts said at the time. “It was inconceivable to me that hotels - in the business of selling sleep - paid so little attention to their beds. It seemed to me that if we could offer a better bed - the best bed - guests would be thrilled, and incredibly loyal to Westin.” Heavenly Bed lovers from the Westin Melbourne now buy over 200 of these beds each year through the ‘Heaven at Home’ program. Weston was hardly the first hotel group to put a high measure on hotel bedding. Luxury linen maker Frette was supplying hotels with fine quality linen in the late 1800s and still supplies hotels such as the Ritz in Paris, and London’s Savoy. And yet while clean fresh linen has always been important in hotels, rising incomes and greater focus on luxury goods has created a new niche in luxury bed linen. Marlene Poynder, general manager of the Park Hyatt Sydney admits luxury hotels have been trying to outdo each other for years when it comes to beds and bedding. But she says much of the competition is driven by guests who are increasingly knowledgeable about beds and what they want out of them. “I think people are travelling more and they sleep on good sheets and think ‘why can’t I have this at home?’” says Poynder. Marissa Dowling, executive housekeeper at Melbourne Crown Towers, first noticed the trend of guests bringing the magic of hotel sleeping home with them about eight years ago. “I started getting phone calls from people who said they wanted to replicate the sleeping experience they’d had at Crown,” Says Dowling. Some wanted sheets and pillows, others the duvee. Some even asked for the bed. Ever determined to please, Crown started selling them to customers on request. “Some people would say to me they were building a house and wanted the bedroom to look like the one they had at Crown,” says Dowling. “People will call and say ‘I have an unusual request’ but it turns out it’s not unusual at all. We sell about 50 beds a year. We’re happy to help out our guests but we see it as add-on value not our core business.” Certainly the consumer lust for hotel quality bedding has spread worldwide with most upmarket hotels and chains offering to sell their sheets and bedding directly to customers. Some, like the Hyatt chain and the upmarket Rosewood Hotels and resorts even have online boutiques where you can buy everything from the pillows and the linen to the bed itself. “It’s an interesting trend, says Poynder. “As five star luxury hotels are trying to make hotels more a home away from home, guests are trying to make their homes more like hotels.” Hotels differ in what they think guests most desire from their beds, although all agree good quality cotton is a must. The Park Hyatt in Sydney uses 100 percent cotton with a 300-thread count while the Crown uses a polyester mix with their top quality cotton, which they believe create a more enjoyable sleep. In all cases, sheets must be able to withstand a heavy duty laundering process that includes tumble-drying and ironing. Dowling says hotels must also make allowances for guests with specific requirement such as those with allergies. These days it’s not at all uncommon for guests to call ahead to check on the specifications of bedding including what the sheets are made from and how they are washed and processed. Kim Herden, Melbourne store manager at upmarket homeware and furnishing retailer Cavit & Co says the line between hotel sheets and hotel quality sheets you can use at home is becoming increasingly blurred. Cavit and Co distributes the high class Frette bed linen that holds an unrivalled reputation for its quality Italian-made linens. Adored by celebrities the world over, Frette was used on the Titanic and still on beds on the Orient Express. “A lot of people come to us and ask about Frette sheets because they’ve slept on them in hotels around the world,” says Herden. “I think more and more people also want to live ‘the lifestyle’ – they want their homes to be like hotels.” So what exactly makes a sheet and bedding great? When it comes to the mattress much is made of the extra twists in the coil which provide greater support. “People treat them like trampolines,” says Dowling. A hotel quality bed will last 10 years in a hotel but at home, with proper care including regular turning and a good mattress protector you could expect even longer. Similarly, good quality hotel sheets are made for endurance as well as comfort. Herden knows of people who are using the same set of Frette sheets after 18 years. “They’re not ridiculously expensive, but what you do pay for is the incredible quality,” she says. “We had a couple in here who told us that they went on their honeymoon to LA the first thing the wife bought was Frette sheets. Her husband nearly divorced her on the spot because of the cost, but now many years later he recognises them as a great investment because they’re the only things that have lasted that long.” Besides the marriage, of course. These days the words on everyone lips when it comes to sheets is thread count, but while it definitely plays a part, Herden says a high thread count sheet made with poor quality cotton will not produce a high quality sheet. Frette uses the ‘best quality Egyptian cotton money can buy’ and then steers it through a complicated maze of processes before it ends up on someone’s bed. Pauline Whitehead, general manager of the Sheridan Group agrees that thread count is only part of the story. Last year Sheridan released their SHE by Sheridan brand, a top-end range of bed linen featuring high end cotton, cotton silk blends and 100 percent silk sheets with featured beading and embroidery. “We see it as Haute Couture for your bed – it’s the ultimate luxury for sleeping. Essentially it’s a top-end indulgence product,” says Whitehead. “And there’s definitely a market for it. People are working harder and longer hours and when they do have the opportunity to rest and sleep they want it to be completely comfortable and cocooned. People are prepared to spend money on creating what comfort is all about.” | |||||
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