The Importance of Sleep: Silentnight
Whether it’s one night in a hotel just off the motorway for business, or a week’s holiday by the coast in a bed and breakfast, it’s often other plans that dictate where we get our shut-eye away from home. A recent study* identified that sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings can adversely affect a traveller’s sleep; and with just a single night of bad sleep impairing concentration, reaction time and memory function for the following days, it’s crucial to ensure hotel guests can sleep as well in a hotel as they do at home.
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One of the big factors a hotelier can pay attention to is the sleeping environment within their hotel, and Hannah Shore, Sleep Researcher at Silentnight Group, states it’s all about hoteliers giving the hotel bedrooms a little TLC:
“TLC relates to the three main areas we need to consider when looking into a sleeping environment, which are Temperature, Light and Comfort. Temperature plays a key role in falling asleep, our core body temperature needs to drop 1-2 degrees in order for us to fall asleep, and we can control this both by providing air conditioning as well as suitable bedding and mattress products to allow air-circulation.
“Light is another important factor to consider when you are falling asleep. At night we should be exposed to dark rich orange/red light, this signals our bodies to start making melatonin, a hormone which helps us sleep. Black out blinds or curtains are the best way to control the light within a hotel room so they should be used, and technology should be limited at night.
“Comfort – we all need to be comfortable to fall asleep. This is where a suitable mattress is key – a mattress needs to support you correctly through the night, as well as supporting the spine to keep it in a neutral position to ensure you don’t wake up with aches and pains, allowing the spine to recover from daily stresses.”
A recent study found that a mattress is one of the most important factors that allows guests to sleep soundly in a hospitality setting, but so many bed buyers still choose mattresses based on bed sizes or old myths only, rather than the wealth of sleep expertise in the market backed by science.
Silentnight Group Hospitality have launched a new range of mattresses created especially for hospitality environments. An abundance of testing and scientific research on sleep has gone into developing these products to ensure that our mattresses will give guests the best in comfort and support, and allow them to get a great night’s sleep in their beds away from home.
It all starts in our in-house, independently-accredited laboratory where we test everything, including all our raw materials, above and beyond British Standards. We also ensure we test our products to mimic sleeping conditions – whilst asleep we create our own microclimate underneath the duvet, this is normally around 37 degrees and approximately 75% humidity.
The heat and humidity we create whilst asleep can actually decrease the lifespan of a mattress by around 30%, so the use of fibres within the mattress comfort fillings is a good option to create a breathable atmosphere. The use of fibres such as polyester and wool means air can easily circulate, keeping the sleeper cooler and drying out the mattress in the process.
Our new Hospitality range includes six mattresses which contain fibres for a breathable sleeping environment; we use polyester fibres in our Silentnight Hospitality Eco Range, which is made from recycled, single-use plastic bottles spun into our fluffy Eco Comfort™ fibres. We save 450 million plastic bottles each year from entering the oceans or landfill thanks to the sale of the Silentnight mattresses which contain these fibres.
The new range of Rest Assured Hotel mattresses feature British Wool which is also extremely breathable and has natural thermoregulatory properties, meaning it helps to control body temperature throughout the night. These British Wool fibres are sourced from hill breeds and are also naturally biodegradable which is great for recycling at end of life.
Having a mattress that supports in the correct way is also key in hospitality environments so that guests don’t wake up with aches and pains. A movement as basic as standing during the day puts four times as much pressure through the spine compared to lying down. Combine this with bad posture and other activities and it’s clear how crucial it is that spine is supported and kept in a neutral position whilst you sleep to allow it to recover.
That’s why our pocket sprung units are zoned, and each spring is held under tension in its own pocket, which provides tailored support where each sleeper needs it most – the hips and the shoulders. Our spring units also have edge support which will guarantee you make the most of the sleep space available by providing the same support on the edge of the mattress as you would find in the middle – no sagging at the sides!
Our products also have an array of features which benefit the hoteliers too, such as our SmartShield treatment to eradicate bed bugs and dustmites, as well as handles and turning labels to assist easy handling to ensure longevity of our mattresses.
Whilst quality of sleep might not be top of the list when booking a hotel stay, its importance should not be overlooked. And it’s important that hoteliers understand the importance of providing a good night’s sleep for their guests. We can help you find the perfect bed for your hospitality requirements, to ensure your guests sleep well, no matter what the reason for their stay.
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