After a week-long stay in a luxurious hotel room, returning to your trusty mattress can welcome sleepless nights and irksome tossing and turning. Once you’ve had a taste of a 5-star snooze, that fluffy hotel bed you fell into on your business trip or family vacation will make frequent appearances in your energy-slump daydreams.
While that easily-achieved, perfect night’s sleep may seem unique to quality hotels, plush duvets are an “Order Now” button away. Despite hoards of vacation-goers chasing luxury hotel room-type comfort in their own homes to no avail, recharging in a luxurious sleep setup isn’t a pipedream. With a few simple steps, you’ll be drifting to sleep in a bedroom reminiscent of a beachside bed and breakfast.
Luckily, almost every luxury hotel uses some common tricks to help their customers slip away into a plush dreamland with ease. By thinking like a hotelier, you can effortlessly recreate a five-star sleep experience in your own bedroom.
Invest in high-quality pillows
If you’re waking up in the morning with a sore neck or aching back, your first thought may be that your mattress needs replacing. However, buying a new pillow might actually be the best fix for your body’s support issues and a cheaper option than shelling out for an entirely new mattress.
Between latex pillows, European pillows, and memory foam pillows like these, you’ll be able to find the material that supports your body best. Typically, hotels use a variety of pillows for you to sink into at night. The most common combination is around two to four down pillows and two fiber-filled pillows.
Choose the right thread count
Thread-count is one of the most important factors to consider when you’re outfitting your bed for a lavish feel. Traditionally, hotels choose sheet sets with a 300 thread-count or higher. Sheets with a lower thread count will feel rough, and sheets with a higher thread count will be much more expensive for less value.
Your sheets’ material is also a vital consideration. Most luxury hotels will use Egyptian cotton sheets for softness and breathability, but sateen and percale sheets are also standard options.
Stop using your fitted sheet
Though sheet sets almost universally include a fitted sheet, quality hotels won’t use a fitted sheet to cover their mattresses. Instead, they’ll use one or two oversized flat sheets to create the smoothest sleeping surface possible.
Hotel employees are well-versed in the art of tucking flat sheets tightly around the mattress using hospital corners. While it can be a tricky skill to master at first, with practice, you’ll be able to make your bed so neatly that you can bounce quarters on your bed.
Use a duvet and down comforter combination
Purchasing a bed-in-a-bag is the simplest way to outfit your bed and by no means the wrong way to create a comfy atmosphere. However, buying a duvet and down comforter insert separately is the best way to recreate that coveted hotel comforter feel.
Of course, stuffing a duvet requires more work than purchasing a ready-to-go comforter, but it is well worth it for extra comfort. For extra fluffiness, invest in a duvet and insert about two inches wider and longer than your bed.
Try a mattress topper
Purchasing a brand new mattress may provide fresh comfort and support, but not without a hefty price tag. If you’re looking to upgrade your sleep experience while sticking to strict budget parameters, buying a mattress topper can take the place of costly memory foam mattresses on the market.
With feather and memory foam varieties at your disposal, finding that dreamy hotel bed feeling is easy (and won’t require replacing your entire mattress).
Change out your lightbulbs
While changing out your lightbulbs won’t change the firmness of your mattress, hotels will manipulate the lighting in their rooms to help you achieve more restful sleep. Almost all hotels place lamps or sconces on both sides of the bed for a symmetrical, pulled-together feeling.
However, if you’re not looking to upgrade your lighting fixtures completely, simply switching out your light bulbs for warmer-colored, low-wattage options can turn your room into a luxury oasis. Not only will your new lights make your space feel cozier, but in the evenings, they’ll prime your brain for a night of restful, relaxing sleep.
The bottom line
Creating the opulent feeling of a night in a five-star hotel at home is much easier than many people think and doesn’t have to break the bank. While you may worry that you’ll never have a better night’s sleep again, taking note of the tricks hotels use will help you make your bedroom feel like you’re on a never-ending vacation.
