By Lucas Keizer

Around the world, hoteliers are applying many different strategies to combat noise pollution and offer their guests a good night's sleep. This ranges from window, floor and wall insulation to installing white noise machines and having sleep brigades patrol the corridors. But scientific research is showing that to guarantee your guests a sound sleep it is not enough to provide a quiet room: it involves addressing all the five senses.

Hotel guests are ever more demanding and hotels look to distinguish themselves by offering an enhanced service. In a world where sleep is increasingly a rare commodity -30% of all people have trouble sleeping-, hoteliers who can provide their clients with an better sleep experience may just have the edge. Several luxury hotel chains have already started experimenting with new solutions to improve sleep. At Four Seasons Hotels, heat-absorbing mattresses are provided and guests can control room temperature and music. Hilton Hotels and Resorts use a special canopy bed which regulates heat and moisture flow. And at Sleep Inn Hotels, rooms come with soft lighting and sleek design.

Yet any solution may still fall short of providing what guests really need if it addresses sleep first and foremost as a technical problem. Scientific research into sleep and insomnia treatment shows that all the five senses need to be taken into consideration in order to ensure a good night's sleep:

  • Touch means a cool room, the right mattress firmness and cool fabrics;
  • Sight denotes a sufficiently dark room and relaxing colour scheme;
  • Hearing points to a quiet room and the use of masking noises;
  • Smell indicates the need for allergy-free rooms and the use of aromas;
  • Taste refers to the fact that fat-rich food, caffeine and alcohol interfere with sleep, while light foods such as eggs and turkey (which contain tryptophan) may help induce sleep.

Combining all these factors into a more comprehensive approach may provide a lasting answer to sleep problems in hotels. An example of this is the five senses sleep program developed by the Quietroom Foundation in close cooperation with the Dutch Knowledge Centre Sound Insulation (KGI) and Somnio, a scientific institute specialising in sleep therapy and insomnia treatment. The program translates Somnio's findings into a set of practical solutions, which offer hoteliers the chance to create a complete and satisfying sleep experience for their guests.

So what are the most important ingredients of a successful sleep program and how can hoteliers apply these?

  1. Make sure that rooms are sufficiently sound-insulated, i.e. walls, floors, windows, doors, technical installations and corridors. Provide guests with a choice of ambient sound/white noise;
  2. Create a pleasant room decor with muted and balanced colour schemes for wall paper, carpeting, curtains and bed linen. Provide blackout liners on curtains and draperies;
  3. Have rooms fitted with adjustable lighting and a choice of lamps as well as adjustable room temperature;
  4. Provide comfortable beds and give your guests a choice of mattresses and/or mattress toppers, as well as a choice of bed linen (cotton/synthetic);
  5. Have a pillow menu available in rooms offering special pillows for snoring, headache, stress, etc.;
  6. Have air purifying installations installed in rooms, provide a choice of relaxing aromas and essential oils, e.g. aromatic cotton balls, bed linen sprays, etc., as well as a choice of music;
  7. Provide additional (paid) services, e.g. healthy food, exercise programs, yoga, and massage.

It's a well-known fact that good sleep benefits people's concentration, mood, memory and general health. By consistently applying the five senses sleep program, hoteliers can contribute significantly to their guests' well-being and overall satisfaction.