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Sleeping in the dark: How does one sleep well in a room?
How do you prefer to sleep? In total darkness, in plain light, or in semi-darkness? In plain light, you will you will never have a problem with sleeping in hotels; any room will work fine, and you will likely be able to sleep at any time of the day. The same goes for those who prefer semi-darkness.
On the other hand, if you are someone who needs total darkness in the room (that is, with zero light), this can prove difficult. It is among the elements that I criticize the most, and the finer the hotel, the more unconditional this element must be in my opinion, and especially so if you choose to sleep in a suite. Studies have shown that sleeping in total darkness improves and can even sometimes repair your quality of sleep and plays an important role in your health. The release of melatonin is inhibited by the presence of light and stimulated when it becomes dark. It has to be able to work its spell over your sleep.
I recently spent the evening at a business hotel, a newly created 5-star hotel that draws a clientele that is nomadic, international, demanding, exhausted by the effort of traveling and the loss of time that this creates. Hotels today must be conscious of this and create the best conditions for a client to refresh himself.
Personally, I need to sleep in the dark, as many people do. The quality of the mattress, the pillows, and the sheets are certainly important, but this does not serve to compensate the problem of unsatisfactory darkness in one’s room. On top of this, you also have to consider numerous other sources of light pollution such as the button on the fire alarm, the television, the coffee machine, the light from the building across the street (especially if the building lights up at night and changes colors!), and so on.
Yet it should be so simple to offer the possibility of darkness in one’s room. You simply have to have curtains that overlap, that hide any rogue light from the top and the sides to prevent the light outside from making its way in. It is truly important for the well-being of your hotel’s clients. In financial terms, when I look at the budget that was devoted to this hotel, I don’t understand why this was not a factor that was considered.
Unfortunately, this problem is one that occurs frequently in hotels today.
How are you supposed to sleep in this kind of room?
Laurent Delporte, an editor and conference speaker, is a strategic expert in the sector of hotels. A visionary, he brings his unique look on hotels in service to the decision-makers in the industry, whether to enhance the development of new projects or strategic visions.
Laurent has visited and audited over 350 hotels across the world and also participates in mystery visits to provide quality control for the world’s finest hotels.
