Five Minutes with: Burj Al Arab’s luxury bed tester

The rich and famous who visit Dubai like to make sure they get a perfect night’s sleep – the jet-set lifestyle is tiring work – and Robert Uy has the job of making sure that every bed in the Burj Al Arab guarantees sweet dreams. As far as we can see that means he gets to lie down for a living. ‘Part of my job is making sure that all the beds are exactly as the customer desires. They have it as firm as they like and choose pillows too.’

Uy was recruited from the Philippines as a housekeeping attendant and is now the housekeeping manager at the landmark hotel. Uy takes great pride in his work and ensures that the bespoke beds at the Burj are made just right.

"We have a Duxiana bed and they are custom-made for the Burj Al Arab. They have a Paskal system with cassettes, which allows us to personalise the beds."

So what is the bed tester actually checking for? "Before the room attendants go in to make up the room, I make sure that the bed is soft on the head, medium on the body and that the legs side is firm – this is to ensure that when guests sleep they won’t feel any back pain."

Uy gives the thumbs up on every bed that’s made, and it takes him about 15 minutes to ensure they’re made to request, no matter how bizarre.

"We had one where the guest wanted us to remove our shoes while we cleaned the suite, and wear slippers. And his bed sheets had to be ironed on the bed – not before."

Uy might test all the beds at Burj Al Arab but still wishes for a Duxiana of his own.

"The Duxiana was mentioned in the film Law Abiding Citizen, when a prisoner asks for one in his cell. I’d really like to have one, but not in a prison".

This article was originally published by TimeOutDubai.com