5 ways to improve your guests’ sleep experience
We at Millbrook Contract Beds understand thoroughly what goes into a good night’s sleep. Our years of experience in providing top quality and value contract beds for the hospitality industry has taught us a thing or two about how to provide the perfect night’s sleep for all of your guests. We thought we’d pass on a couple of top tips for how to create the ultimate sleeping setup, so without any further ado, here’s our top five!
1. Noise
It’s fairly safe to say that excessive noise is a huge cause of disturbed sleep in hotels across the country, especially in regards to city hotels with busy traffic circulating constantly nearby. Earplugs are an archaic solution and rather outdated – not to mention uncomfortable and potentially dangerous if they get stuck!
Many hotels around the world have invested in optional white noise generators – this curious phenomenon is taking off all over the world and helps to block out unnecessary and obtrusive sounds. Of course, double glazing your hotel’s windows can stop almost all exterior sounds, and would be recommended to any hoteliers looking at cutting down on disruptive noise.
2. Temperature
Generally an optimum sleeping environment is fairly cool, but sleeping with a window open may counteract the sound-reducing benefits of your newly installed double glazing. Individual thermostats and air conditioning systems may seem like an expensive solution at first but this extra touch is one all your customers will notice and appreciate.
3. Comfort
Every sleeper prefers a different sort of pillow – some like firm, some like soft, and different pillows are more suited to different sleeping positions than others. Many high-end hoteliers offer their guests a choice of pillows, fully customised to their sleeping needs, but even a choice of two is an extra feature that makes a difference and an impression.
Of course we need to mention how great an impact the quality of your hotel contract beds makes – this simply can’t be understated, so do go for the highest quality bed your budget allows for. Do contact us with details on any individual requests or specifications to make your hotel stand out even further.
4. Advice
Leaflets or booklets with advice and recommendations to your guests on how to make the most of their night’s sleep can lead to a marked increase in reported sleep quality. Information about relaxation techniques and general guidance (such as “don’t read, work or eat in your hotel contract bed!”) can be included, and this could be an opportunity to let your guests know what sleep assistance is available to them.
5. Extra Services
The idea of a pillow menu is quite an ingenious one, but there are many other potential sleep niches that could make your establishment stand out. Aromatherapy has been suggested to help with relaxation and so could be considered – some hotels also offer spa facilities to really relax their guests. For those with a more finite budget, a simple alarm call service is a friendly and helpful way to make a difference.
These are only a few of the virtually limitless options and services that an establishment such as yours could offer to improve customer satisfaction, so keep an eye on our blog for more ideas. Don’t forget to keep your hotel contract beds in tip-top condition too!
Sleep tourism is on the rise
Have you heard about sleep tourism? It’s the latest trend in tourism and travel right now. It sounds strange but it really is a genuine concept. Millbrook Contract Beds investigates this unusual craze.
Right now, all around the world there are hotels, spas and accommodations that are designed to act as sleepaways for sleep-deprived clientele. Insomnia and sleep deprivation problems afflict many people around the world and many of these “sleep experience accommodations” cater specifically to those who have difficulty drifting off to the land of nod.
Some of the getaways have added extras such as private consultations with sleep experts, aromatherapy treatments and massage therapies. It’s pretty innovative thinking. In addition to these optional extras many of these sleep tourist hotspots offer sleep-deprived clientele pillow menus.
Specialist hotels provide light and sound systems designed to help guests fall asleep and stay asleep plus zero gravity chairs or massage beds to snooze in. Count in the development of snore absorption rooms that literally do absorb the sound of snoring and you’ve got yourself a new emerging part of the tourism industry!
Catering to the sleep needs and the sleep problems of travellers seems to be on the rise, and we here at Millbrook Contract Beds think this can only be a good thing.
With the development of many new technologies and innovative ideas related to the world of sleep it appears that the ability to achieve a better, deeper, more satisfying sleep is open to everyone, or at least soon will be. At the moment, sleep tourism caters to people who can afford to spend on mega-impressive hotels with advanced facilities and amenities. Enough time needs to pass in order to bring these new sleep assistance technologies down to a more amicable price and to a more open market so that we all may experience sleep tourism.
In the meantime, there really is no reason why people and businesses cannot adopt the ideas of sleep tourism for their own purposes and benefits. Creating relaxing environments where sleep can be optimised really is what we’re all about at Millbrook once you get to the very heart of it.
As an individual you can create your own DIY sleep holiday that requires zero packing and zero expense. Unplug from the technologies already in your life such as phones, computers, internet, television, tablets etc. These devices have gone from being lounge-bound items (or for use outside the home) and somehow we have brought them into our bedrooms where the only real purpose of a bedroom should be to sleep! Unplug yourself from this world for an evening. Take the time to turn your bedroom into a more relaxing, open and de-cluttered space. We have written many blogs on how to achieve this before.
For hoteliers, you too can offer a slice of the sleep tourism experience by offering more from your contract beds and contract bed choices and sleep paraphernalia available. You don’t have to be a hotel of the future in order to offer your guests maximum comfort.
Sleep tourism is only growing bigger and more popular. This is the beginning of a new form of tourism altogether and while it is very specific and, arguably, strange, it seems like it is going to be a facet of the hospitality industry that’s here to stay.
Dressing down your hotel contract beds in time for the 2012 Olympics
Yes, the countdown has truly begun to the start of the ceremony of ceremonies! London Olympics 2012 is within reaching distance. It’s only a few months to go until it arrives. For all the hoteliers out there; there is still time to get prepared.
The guests started booking their places months ago and the big hotel franchises are already beginning to turn away customers as they are booked out. If you want to compete on this level you have to step-up to their level!
Provide your guests with the best you can possibly give them. Invest in your hotel facilities and accommodations in order to bring in bigger and better business. It’s really that simple. Our specialty is of course contract beds, but that in no way overshadows the other elements of a hotel that need to be maintained or improved upon.
That said, hoteliers know that the quality of their hotel contract beds can mean the difference between a satisfied customer and a complaint. Sleep is an important factor in everyone’s lives and it is especially important for the hotel industry where positive customer satisfaction is crucial to a successful business. The hotel contract beds make all the difference by providing a focal point for any room and assist in creating the perfect holistic experience for guests. Word of mouth spreads if you provide a satisfying enough experience.
There’s still time to get those tongues wagging!
Busy hotels often need contract beds that offer longevity, universal comfort and versatility. Millbrook’s International Collection predominantly caters to hotel businesses with a range of sizes and a variety of options that can be customised to suit the practical and aesthetic requirements of individual hotel brands. If you are willing to offer the best in your hotel rooms then guests will want to stay with you for the duration of the Olympic Games.
Millbrook supplies its contract beds to businesses large and small where the quality and value of our designs can suit high end hotel chains or smaller independent bed and breakfasts. We know what makes a good contract bed, how to tailor them to the hospitality industry’s needs and how to ensure that they give a good night’s sleep to its guests.
Millbrook Contract Beds has been in the bed manufacturing game for more than 60 years and we understand this industry more than any other hotel contract bed supplier. Trust us to help you bring in more customer satisfaction and up your street cred in time for the biggest event in the world this year!
Getting healthier sleep at hotels with contract beds
When it comes to guests sleeping in hotels you’ll find that they often wonder who slept on their beds before they got there. It’s just one of those little niggles that lingers in the back of their minds which cannot necessarily ever be quashed. Millbrook Contract Beds take a closer look at the state of hotel guestrooms and the contract bedroom furniture within.
Did you know that the bedding and pillows on these beds have been identified as sources for bacteria build-up? This happens over the course of time (years even) especially if the bedding is never changed for new bedding on a month-by-month basis. Fresh bedding is a key starting place to address hygiene standards.
This is of course something that you might see implemented in high-end hotels because it is within their budget to do so. For small boutique hotels it might not be financially feasible to buy new bedding every month or two. However, you can’t really put a price on exemplary guest service. Well, you can to some extent, but to people staying at a hotel they expect certain standards to be met – and this means those demands need to be met if business is to continue being fruitful.
Providing hotel contract beds and rooms that live-up to these standards make all the difference. The goal is to give guests a healthy sleep and try to elate their worries about hygiene and sanitation. Keeping the room clean should be a priority and attended to on a regular basis. This is the mainstay of many hotels in terms of their quality and consistency.
Hotels tend to employ cleaning crews/maid services for vacuuming and disinfecting but on the grand scale of things most hotels only actually perform deep cleaning routines roughly four times a year on average. Most unsuspecting hotel guests aren’t prepared for the invisible problems that can be found in a hotel.
Although experts and studies say the risk of getting sick from hotel germs is relatively low hotels should still do their utmost to reduce these problems as much as possible…
—Hotel bedspreads are typically the most germ-laden items in a hotel room. These need to be cleaned after each guests.
—The use of sanitary wipes and disinfectant sprays should be used every day t wipe down surfaces and areas that come into a lot of human contact (phones, remotes, handles).
—Make sure your staff are fully prepared and are wearing suitable attire including sanitary gloves.
—Look for rust-coloured stains on sheets and bedspreads. It can be a sign that bedbugs are present.
This is all easily doable for a hotel to achieve; all it requires is a degree of tender love and care. Your guests will appreciate the efforts.
Revisiting the Millbrook Contract Beds collections – Hotel
It’s been a while since we here at Millbrook Contract Beds explored our collections in depth. Considering that the 2012 Olympics is just around the corner we should use this time to revisit our International Collection where innovation meets comfort. Hotel contract beds have been a specialty of ours here for many years and our collection is based on what we have learnt over that time about the demands of sleep, guests and hotel service. Continue reading »
Refreshing the hotel sector for 2012 – Advice from Millbrook Contract Beds
With the 2012 Olympics on the way a recent survey conducted across UK hotels has helped to quantify the anticipation for it as a good year for the British hospitality industry. What it seems to represent is the chance for building up and bringing back business to a fluctuating economical climate. The hospitality industry has been suffering from these shockwaves over the past few years. Continue reading »
Comfort zone – a guide for the hotel sector
It’s been a while since we covered the basics of comfort in hotels and hotel contract beds. Our main interests lie in helping people find their comfort zone when it comes to sleep. In the lead-up to the 2012 London Olympics we think the pressure on hotels meeting the demands of service and quality is going to be pretty huge, so our back-to-basics advice on contract beds is probably timely. Continue reading »
Are you upgrading your hotel contract beds for the London 2012 Olympics?
The Olympics are coming to London! The world’s most revered sporting event is being hosted here in the UK for the first time since 1948, and we at Millbrook Contract Beds think every potential 400m runner or long jumper out there deserves a comfortable place to rest those tired legs after an exhausting practice session. We spotted an opportunity for all of our customers, especially in the hotel industry, to make the most of this… Continue reading »
Feng shui in the bedroom – there’s an art behind it
In honour of the Chinese year of the dragon we thought we would take a look at how feng shui might help you improve the energy in your bedroom and how this can compliment your contract beds and contract bedroom furniture. These tips are applicable to both personal and commercial usage, at home or at the hotel. Continue reading »
Tips for the hospitality industry on preparing for the London Olympic Games 2012
In the previous blog we began exploring the hospitality industry’s role in regenerating and reinvigorating the UK economy in the build-up to London 2012 Olympics.
This is the perfect time for UK hoteliers to start thinking about how to approach the coming influx of business to the country, particularly the nation’s capital, and the best ways to maximise capacity potential and optimise aesthetic and practical considerations. Continue reading »