One travel luxury has become surprisingly hard to come by—a truly good night’s sleep. Even the best five-star hotels can’t always compete with your bed at home, thanks to unfamiliar noises, glowing electronics, and blackout curtains that don’t quite close in the middle. Add in classic vacation sleep-killers: late-night cocktails, heavy meals, and jet lag, and it’s no wonder you sometimes return home more exhausted than when you left.
Enter Sleep Tourism, a new travel trend centered on recovery, offering programs that don’t just help you sleep better on vacation, but teach you how to bring healthy habits home with you.
What Exactly Is Sleep Tourism?
Sleep tourism is a growing wellness travel trend centered on one simple goal: better sleep. Through carefully designed spaces, therapies, and experiences, hotels are catering to travelers who want a calm, restorative place to unwind at night, along with programs and amenities that make falling asleep (and staying asleep) easier.
What Makes a Hotel Room Great for Sleeping?
Here’s what to look for in your next hotel room if you want to sleep better:
Optimized Sleep Environments
- Soundproofing: Absolute silence is paramount. Look for specialized wall insulation and triple-glazed windows.
- Light Control: Blackout blinds are standard, but advanced hotels feature circadian lighting systems that mimic natural daylight cycles to regulate melatonin production.
- Temperature Regulation: For the best sleep, set your room temperature to 60-67°F or 15-19°C.
Advanced Sleep Technology:
- Smart Beds: Special mattresses that track your sleep patterns, adjust firmness, and even change temperature.
- Air Purification: High-grade HEPA filters ensure you’re breathing the cleanest air possible.
- Sound Machines: Curated white noise or nature sounds to mask disturbances.
Personalized Sleep Programs & Therapies:
- Sleep Consultations: On-site sleep experts who conduct assessments and create tailored itineraries.
- Mindfulness & Meditation: Guided sessions to calm the mind before bed.
- Spa Treatments: Massages, aromatherapy, and hydrotherapy designed to relax the nervous system.
- Nutrition: Sleep-enhancing menus, often focusing on tryptophan-rich foods and avoiding stimulants.
- Movement: Gentle yoga or stretching sessions to release tension without overstimulating.
Luxurious Bedding & Amenities:
- Pillow Menus: Offering a range of pillows (memory foam, buckwheat, down) to suit every sleeper.
- Premium Mattresses: Often custom-designed for optimal spinal alignment and pressure relief.
- Aromatherapy Diffusers: With calming essential oils like lavender or chamomile.
- Weighted Blankets: Proven to reduce anxiety and promote deeper sleep.
The Best Hotels for Sleep Tourism
These hotels offer programs and amenities to help you get the best night’s sleep.
Equinox Hotel: Hudson Yards, New York, USA
The rooms at the wellness-focused Equinox Hotel in New York are called sleep sanctuaries rather than simple guest rooms. Developed in partnership with sleep scientist Dr. Matthew Walker, the rooms feature a “Dark. Quiet. Cool.” button on a bedside iPad that instantly optimizes the room’s temperature to a perfect 66°F, and draws the blinds for soundproofing and light blackout.
Morning and evening rituals programs are available for guests, using light-spectrum therapy and breathwork to help you wake up or unwind.
Six Senses Douro Valley: Portugal
Set against the tranquil backdrop of Portuguese vineyards, this resort offers one of the most comprehensive Sleep Retreats in the world. Six Senses’ retreats begin with a consultation from an in-house Sleep Doctor to create a customized program for your stay.
Every bed features a handmade, organic mattress and Sleep With Six Senses bedding. During your stay, unobtrusive sleep trackers monitor your stages of rest, providing you with a data-backed seep score and a personalized plan to take home.
Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel: Paris, France
In the heart of Paris, the historic Hotel de Crillon palace greets guests with a Sleeping Beauty Sleep Box, containing calming mists and journals, complemented by CBD-infused spa treatments and Sophrology sessions (a blend of relaxation and positive visualization). You can request a Sleep Butler, who will prepare your suite with specific aromatherapy and weighted blankets tailored to your body type.
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Mandarin Oriental: Boston, USA
The Mandarin Oriental Boston offers a Sleep Sanctuary package, which includes a Sleep Butler Box, featuring Therabody SmartGoggles (which use biometrics to lower your heart rate), silk eye masks, and aromatherapy sprays.
The Mandarin spa offers a signature Dream Catcher Massage, an evening ritual that uses special massage techniques and calming essential oils to prepare the body for rest.
Read our full review of the Mandarin Oriental Boston.
Park Hyatt New York: New York, USA
Park Hyatt New York offers Sleep Suites in partnership with Bryte, a company that makes smart beds. The suites feature Bryte’s Restorative Beds, AI-powered mattresses that adjust internal pressure points in real-time to prevent you from waking up. Sleep suites are stocked with Vitruvi essential oil diffusers and a special sleep essential oil blend, sleep masks, sleep-related literature, and blackout curtains.
