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Now that most hotel companies have installed high quality bedding to help guests have a better night’s sleep, some are now working on helping guests sleep better at home too. With sleep depravation such a dramatic problem affecting productivity in America, some hotels and spas and helping guests combat problems such as insomnia.
“We forecast ‘Sleep Health’ as one of the top-10 spa trends for 2007 because our research shows that spas are recognizing that quality sleep is one of the most important contributors to healthy living,” says Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finder, Inc. It’s not just spas, however, that are embracing this sleeping giant.
The sleep aide industry, for example, is exploding. The global sale of sleeping pills recently topped $5 billion, according to Fox News, and ads for products such as Lunesta are commonplace.
Estimates are that anywhere from 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep loss, while millions more are sleep-deprived, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academy of Medicine.
No wonder spas and even some hotels are looking at sleeplessness as a component of good business and good health. Sleep loss tends to increase hunger and makes it difficult to lose weight, says the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Rancho La Puerta, which proclaims it is “where the fitness revolution began in 1940,” this year is introducing a sleep therapy program. But it’s not just because it’s one of the “hottest trends in the spa industry,” as public relations director Roma Maxwell puts it.
No.
"We’ve been in business for 67 years and our attitude is that we don’t do things because somebody else is doing it. We’re not here today and gone tomorrow. We’re doing this because more and more people have some sort of insomnia,” she explains.
“There are several aspects to it and some variations,” says Michelle Kleist, executive director, Destination Spa Group. “Canyon Ranch, for example, has some sleep enhancement and insomnia relief programs that are medically based. They have an entire staff of medical professionals on property.”
Other offerings may be less formally professional and involve sleep in fitness programs, she adds, or perhaps sleep lectures or yoga programs.
The trend is still in the nascent stage, but more are expected, and the trend is impacting hotels as well. “This trend is just beginning,” says Ellis.
Some hotels have hooked up with sleep-related health outlets for various offerings.
The La Quinta Resort near Palm Springs has partnered with the WellMax Center for Preventative Medicine, for example, to assist guests in evaluating their sleep patterns, including overnight monitoring.
Some resorts are including sleep therapy with other programs. Chiva-Som in Thailand, for example, has an insomnia treatment component in its anti-aging program that teaches sleep hygiene and causes of insomnia. It also uses acupuncture as a treatment.
Red Mountain Spa offers a popular, three-night package ($987) featuring the “zFactor Sleep Skills Workshop” put on by sleep guru Robert de Stefano that is due to start next month.
“This fun and experiential two-session workshop explores the thought, action and tools of sleep, as crafted by Robert’s own transformational journey from near debilitating insomnia and anxiety to creating a welcoming mind and body for sleep,” says the St. George, UT-based hotel’s Web site
Using products such as Nocturnal Meditation Massage Oil and various tapes, the workshops promise to “transform your cozy guest room into a sleep sanctuary.”
De Stefano stresses that his programs are not cookie cutter efforts but are tailored to an individual’s particular needs. For those who often wake up in the middle of the night, for example, there’s a Yoga Sleep Ritual. For those who like going to sleep while watching television, de Stefano has a specially prepared movie to help them relax.
Growing numbers of spas are also looking at various sleep programs such as the 58-unit Lodge at Woodloch in Hawley, PA. Why add a sleep program?
“I personally have had sleep challenges, so I’m very personally appreciative of the discomfort of people,” says Ginny Lopis, one of the Woodloch’s owners. “I’ve also read that is one of the top health problems in the country. More and more people are suffering sleep deprivation for a variety of reasons that include aging and stress.”
She is not aware of many sleep programs and certainly none among her competitors in the greater New York area, though her facility draws from a regional and national market.
The Woodloch’s sleep program is still being designed but Lopis has some ideas what it will contain.
“I think the focus will be multi-dimensional. I think it will deal with diet, exercise, meditation and the mind’s strategy. There’s no silver bullet or one program that works best for everyone,” she says.
Her prediction is that not only spas but also hotels in the future will be inclined to include sleep therapy. “Some spas are beauty spas and they may not be involved. But most spas are focused on health and this is certainly a health issue.”
Kleist also thinks not only spas will be getting into the sleep business in the future but also hotels. “I think we’ll see more of it in the higher end chains of hotels,” she says.
For anyone in the hotel business, it’s something they might want to sleep on.
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Credit
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David Wilkening
Associate Editor
Hotel Interactive, Inc.
Bio: David Wilkening is a writer specializing in travel and business-real estate writing. His work has appeared in dozens of publications and dot coms. He never met a trip he didn't like. He is a former newspaperman who worked in Chicago, Detroit, Orlando and Washington, DC, where he was a writer and editor covering a wide variety of subjects ranging from politics to feature stories.
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