A rise in popularity of ‘sleep tourism’ is giving hotels an opportunity to “shake you down” for more money, according to a leading travel journalist. 

On Moncrieff today, Eoghan Corry said hotels in Ireland, and worldwide, are trying to outdo each other by having the most ‘sleep-friendly’ rooms.

He noted some hotels have pillow menus, mattresses worth €15,000 and others even employ directors of sleep.

Mr Corry said it’s all being driven by competition.

“What happens is you have all these major hotel groups from around the world, they’re all jockeying for position saying ‘we’re so different from our competitors,’” he said.

“One of the things they throw in now is ‘we have better pillows,’ which you might think is a basic thing - but there’s a market for it.

“The reality is, they have enormous investments in pillow menus which can come with scents, like lavender sprayed on your pillow.”

Sleep tourism

The travel journalist said there are other motivating factors too.

“It’s not just differentiating hotels they’re also trying to shake you down for a few more bob before you go on holiday,” he said.

“There are sleep managers now and a director of sleep in one of the hotels.

“Some of the Irish hotels are very good at this, saying ‘your sleep is very important to us’ and they ask you what sort of pillow you want, what size pillow.

“Some hotels put so many pillows on your bed that you have to clear the way unless you’d be sleeping next to the lightbulb.”

Luxurious hotel room interior with bed. Image: Vitaliy Pakhnyushchyy / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr Corry said there are two key metrics to judge a hotel room on the quality of sleep it provides.

“One is definitely the mattress,” he said.

“Oddly enough, some of the budget hotels put a huge investment into mattresses and let you buy their mattress for your own.

“The second is, how to turn off the lights – I have been in Asian hotels where you could spend a half hour trying to work it out.”

Mr Corry said he’s been in one hotel where the lights were turned off by touching the floorboard with your foot in a particular location and another where the light switch was hidden behind the bedboard.

Main image: A luxury bed in a hotel room. Image: Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo