Suite dreams

Luxury hotel brands are investing in their bedding as a way to ensure that customers keep coming back.

With hundreds of thousands of new hotel rooms set to come online in the region in the coming years - according to a report released by Lodging Econometrics, as of June 2008 there were 527 new hotel projects in the pipeline, which translates into 155,989 new guestrooms set to come on stream - competition is hotting up for hotel operators in the Middle East.

So what's the best way for a hotel to ensure that both frequent travellers and holiday makers keep coming back? Some would say it's all down to the quality of the bedding. While service could be faultless, facilities second to none, and the restaurants Michelin starred, for many guests, absolutely nothing will beat a good night's sleep.

"Comfort, comfort and comfort," said Andy Hills, managing director of British bedding manufacturer And So To Bed, when asked to pinpoint the most important feature of hotel bedding. "A good night's sleep is central to the guest's experience of the property. If a guest wakes up tired and stiff after a bad night's sleep, they will always remember the hotel by that bad feeling.

"Conversely, the experience of sleeping well on an excellent mattress, with good pillows and luxury bed linen, is the very best memory you can have. I would argue that a good bed is even more important than the hotel having a good restaurant!" he maintained.

It's no wonder then, that hotels are investing so much in ensuring that their beds are the best of the bunch. Check into any luxury hotel in the region and it will no doubt be trying to outdo the competition in a bid to see who can pile the highest mountain of pillows onto a cushiony mattress covered in crisp white linen.

Some luxury hotel chains have even gone so far as to promote the superior quality of their bedding as an integral part of the hotel experience. The Westin, for example, highlights its patented Heavenly Bed, which it describes as an "oasis of plush comfort", on its website.

The bed, which is custom-made by Simmons exclusively for the hotel, was apparently conceived by Barry S. Sternlicht, former Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, after months of testing hundreds of pillows, mattresses and bed linens.

It is composed of a no-flip, pillow top mattress, which uses exclusive motion separation technology and individually pocketed coils. On top of that lie ten various layers of bedding, which include 300 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, a down blanket, a meringue-like duvet made of a high loft hypo allergenic fibre, and five feather and down pillows. The bed has become so popular with guests that it is now available to buy for their own homes via the Westin online store.

The Westin is not the only one to promote its bed linen in this way. An increasing number of hotel chains are upgrading their beds as demand for upscale bedding grows. Unsurprising, given its ‘seven-star' status, Burj Al Arab touts the standard of its bedding as second to none.

The custom-designed ‘Burj Al Arab Signature Bed' and the Burj Al Arab duvet, made from 100% white goose down, are also available for guests to purchase through the Jumeirah collection, for the princely sum of US $17,000.

Six Senses is another brand which has invested a huge amount in ensuring that its guest's every night-time need is catered for. After years of development and testing at a special Creative Department in Bangkok, the chain has introduced the Six Senses Super Bed, featuring a specially-designed mattress topper constructed with a layer of hypo-allergenic microfibre several centimetres thick, enveloped in 100% cotton.

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