As travel trends go, it sounds pretty silly, but it “makes perfect sense when you consider the zeitgeist”, said Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian. We live in “anxious times”, with “climate change to the right of us, a potential world war to the left”. Add the pressures of work, the demands of children, our addiction to screens, and many of us are struggling to get a decent night’s rest. With recent studies showing the benefits sleep brings for mental and physical health – potentially adding years to life – it has become such a “precious commodity” that luxury resorts around the world have invented a new concept to meet demand: “sleep tourism”.
The sleep facilities on offer range from “basic add-ons” to specialist multi-day programmes, said Alex Erdekian and Gilly Hopper in Condé Nast Traveller. At the Cadogan Hotel in London, guests receive a pillow menu and a “bedtime tea”, and can book in-room consultations with the “hypnotherapist and sleep expert” Malminder Gill. Clients at the SHA Wellness Clinic in Alicante sleep on Hogo mattresses that “remove oxidative stress” and “favour cell regeneration”, and can take a battery of tests, including CPAP diagnoses. In Ibiza, the Six Senses resort provides de-stressing massages and fitness classes in its week-long retreats. The Four Seasons Resort at Sayan in Bali recommends a “sacred nap” (taken in a silk hammock while listening to “the life story of Buddha as told by Ibu Fera”). And at StarStruck Glamping near the Big Bend National Park in Texas, it’s the “pristine sleeping conditions” that draw guests, including very low levels of noise and light pollution, and the “dazzling”, starry skies.