Excerpt from the Swedish version of the book
Sleep revolution by Arianna Huffington.
From chapter 12 – page 264-270
“From Hollywood and Washington to hospitals and hotels”
Hotel beds – from dissatisfaction to Scandinavian problem solving
The most important task of the hotel industry is to provide guests with a good night’s sleep, and of course, the beds of the hotel play an important part in the guests’ experiences.
Studies show that the hotel bed is the single most important factor when it comes to how hotels are perceived. For example, Scandic Hotels conducted a study in 2014 on members in the hotel chain’s customer club. On the question regarding what the most important thing is for a positive hotel experience, a comfortable bed placed first, trumping both a good breakfast and good personal service. In terms of what has the most detrimental effect, they found annoying noise and uncomfortable beds to be the most important.
Knowing how important the bed is for guests, a lot of people may be surprised that it isn’t often that the beds actually live up to expectations. Perhaps the most comprehensive study in the field was published in 1999 by Westin Hotel & Resort, where they conducted in depth interviews with 600 European and American business travellers. The study showed that 82 per cent felt that they had a more comfortable bed at home than the one that was provided by hotels, and almost half of the respondents felt that hotel beds were way too hard (21 per cent) or too soft (27 per cent). The study also showed that 31 per cent of the business travellers felt that they performed worse the day after a hotel visit compared to if they had slept at home.
The fact that there is such widespread discontent over something that customers are asking for is naturally a problem for the hotel industry, but there is actually a natural explanation.
The discontent is mainly not about bad beds. Instead, it’s about different perceptions of what a comfortable bed should be. Most crucial is the level of hardness. While some prefer a hard bed, others want the bed to be soft. Because of this, it’s impossible for one hotel bed to suit the varying wished for comfort all at once. One solution to the problem would require the hardness of the beds to be customised to fit the needs of the users – something we will return to later in this chapter.
Since all hotels are struggling with the same problem, it’s surprising that not more hotels are taking the discontent of the customers seriously and thus better promoting themselves in bed comfort.
However, the gap between the beds the guests want and the beds that the hotels are offering seems to be increasing. The main reason behind this is that the wishes of the guests regarding bed hardness vary so much that it’s almost impossible to be competitive in the field. No hotel can claim to offer more comfortable beds than someone else – not even a hotel that chooses to invest in higher bed quality. Even the most exclusive bed by the most famous brand will be experienced as uncomfortable by some and not be optimal by most people. This means that many hotels don’t prioritise the investment in quality beds in comparison to other products. Simply put, it’s more important to invest money in areas where the hotel can promote themselves more easily towards their customers and competitors, for example on interior design, breakfast, internet and staff.
In addition, the discontent of the customers is often hidden to the hotels. Guests are used to the fact that hotel beds are a bit of a lottery and often accept a less comfortable bed than they would at home. Further, complaints about beds are not often made as the hotel won’t be able to solve the problem. Conversely, guests who are happy with the bed are often pleasantly surprised and are happy to commend the hotel for their comfortable beds. As a result, hotels often think that they have more comfortable and popular beds than they actually do. However, interviewing customers after a visit can provide the hotel with a valuable and more balanced view of customer satisfaction in a couple of different areas – not least regarding hotel beds.
A trend towards differentiated bed comfort would be easier to achieve if bed types where searchable choices when booking hotels online – something that isn’t currently provided.
Since comfort characteristics are rarely prioritised from the perspective of investment, the price is often crucial in procurement. This often leads to bed manufacturers being forced to make compromises when it comes to quality, which in turn further lowers the overall comfort level of hotel beds. Many hotels have started renting or leasing their beds to distribute the payment over a longer period of time. In addition, this makes it easier to compare the actual cost of the bed to other operating costs for the same room. Many are surprised to know that the costs of, for example, washing, breakfast, and consumables are considerably higher than the actual bed.
In other words, there is a reason for many hotels to reprioritise their choice of beds when purchasing. Although the lump sum may seem high, the bed costs are actually not equivalent to more than a fraction of the room rate spread over the life time of the beds. So, what can be done to reduce the gap between the wishes of the guests and the beds that the hotels are offering? Further, what can hotels do to better promote themselves in the most important area of the industry? According to Gallup, almost a third of all guests are willing to pay extra for an enhanced bed experience.
One possibility would be to install beds with adjustable hardness in hotel rooms – so that the beds can be customised to different users’ wishes. Only then would there be opportunities for hotels to fully compete in the most central area of the industry.
Several manufacturers have been providing beds and matresses with customisable hardness for quite some time. The problem is that the techniques that are used are affecting the comfort of the beds in a negative way. This applies to both adaptable air mattresses and resilient beds where the base plate is tilted to create a bump in the bed. Neither of these methods have been successful in the hotel industry.
Recently, a Swedish bed innovation was presented that possibly could create a real solution to the problem. According to the manufacturer, the YouBed bed is the first bed in the world where the hardness can be adapted to the users’ personal wishes, without making compromises to the resilient comfort properties of the bed, and without changing the flat surface of the bed.
Using a remote control, the guest can decide how hard or soft the bed is, and it is even possible to fine tune various comfort zones (shoulders and hips) to get the best possible customisation.
It remains to be seen if this technique will be embraced by the hotel industry, and if it will contribute to a trend where sleep quality and bed comfort in hotels will be a natural selling point. There are many indications of this when you look at the current development of this innovation in the domestic market. In a short amount of time, a new focus on sleeping has emerged and been established in the Scandinavian hotel market. Several larger hotel chains have launched special sleeping rooms based on the custom bed. Some have even further enhanced the concept by adding other sleeping related products in the rooms, such as eye masks, ear plugs and blackout curtains.
The hotel chain Scandic Hotels was first, and today they are offering the room category “Scandic Sleep” in 15 of their biggest hotels – most recently in the promotional hotel Haymarket in the old PUB building in Stockholm. Here, the hotel’s cabin rooms (rooms without windows) have been remodelled into customised sleeping rooms. The dark and silence becomes an asset when you’re focusing on sleeping quality. Since February 2016, the hotel chain First Hotels are offering the “SmartBed” room category in pretty much every one of their 63 hotels.
Kjetil Engum, vice president of First Hotels/Tribe Hotels, is the leading force behind the development of the “SmartBed” room category and has stated that the initiative has been a success. “The first time I tried the beds, I understood that this could be a breakthrough for the industry. After all, we’re in the business of a good night’s sleep, and a bed that fits everyone should be embraced by many guests. In hindsight, we can say that we were right.”
According to Kjetil, many people in the headquarters were passionate about the idea of creating a unique concept for the franchise based on customisable beds. It wasn’t difficult to get most of the hotels hooked on the idea, despite the fact that a third of the hotels are franchise hotels with their own right to make decisions regarding purchases. “Since this was something completely new, we decided to act fast. We wanted to seize the opportunity to make First Hotels the first chain in the world to offer rooms with customisable beds in their hotels. Today, the “SmartBed” room category is offered by most hotels, and we have already conducted several central campaigns to promote the category. Also when looking at sales, the concept is a success, and the feedback from the hotels is exclusively positive”, says Kjetil Engum.
During the summer of 2016, there were over 1,300 hotel rooms with customisable beds in Scandinavia and according to Mattias Sörensen, CEO of You Bed AB, more hotels are added each week. In addition, many other chains are planning similar initiatives. “The rising interest is incredibly flattering, but at the same time it’s not all that surprising. After all, we are offering a concrete solution to a well-known and cumbersome problem. For the first time, hotels can provide a guaranteed comfortable bed to their customers and thus promote themselves in the most central area of the industry. It was a little bit slow in the beginning, but now the industry has clearly awakened”, says Mattias Sörensen.
International interest in the new technique is also rising, and many global chains are currently evaluating the customisable bed. The company has already expanded to Germany, claiming that an international breakthrough is imminent.
The fact that hotel guests are appreciating the new customisable beds is echoed by Swedish guest-survey business Loopon. Loopon provides hotels with the ability to gather and analyse feedback from their guests. The gathering of data is made continuously using simple digital surveys that many guests choose to answer. This creates broad knowledge about changes in customer satisfaction. Conclusions can also be limited to chosen areas of focus, which enables successful initiatives to be prioritised while less successful actions can be avoided. Today, most Scandinavian chains are using the services of Loopon as tools to increase guest satisfaction.
On behalf of First Hotels, Loopon has followed the development of the “SmartBed” room category with customisable beds. Across five months, these rooms have been compared to the same room type but with normal beds. They noticed a significant increase in guest satisfaction, and that customisable beds are a great way of creating happier and more loyal guests. For example, the amount of “Promoters” (super happy guests that are happy to recommend the hotel to others) is 14 per cent higher. “Our vision is to help hotels exceed expectations. In this case, we’ve noticed during a short amount of time a statistically reliable increase of customer satisfaction in rooms where customisable beds are installed. This is a perfect example of how continuous monitoring of guest satisfaction can result in clear support for decisions, and how it can make it easier for hotels to invest in the right things”, says Simin Finne, CEO of Loopon.
It’s still too early to draw any conclusions whether the trend towards bed comfort and quality of sleep will gain a stronger position in tomorrow’s hotel industry. However, several positive indicators are suggesting that the development is going in the right direction, and that the hotels can get closer to meeting the wishes of the guests.
From chapter 13 – page 286-287
“The Sports World’s Ultimate Sports Enhancer”
A Swedish Outlook – The national football team’s unique sleep venture
Research has clearly shown that sleep is essential to performance, and most athletes are aware that good sleep is crucial for peak performance. In other words – a lack of sleep due to an uncomfortable bed can be the difference between a good and a bad result.
Before the European Football Championship in France, the Swedish national football team presented a unique sleep venture. The management chose to ship Swedish made, custom beds with adjustable hardness to the player base in France. During the tournament, every player could sleep and recover on a bed that matched their personal wishes and needs. The players chose the hardness themselves with the help of a remote control. The bed had been installed in the player hotel in Stockholm the previous year, which enabled players and management to evaluate the bed during several home games.
“The fact that we chose to ship custom beds to France can seem a bit extreme, but it was a measure that we had considered in full detail”, says national team manager Lars Rich. “It’s not enough to just practice and eat correctly in order to perform at the highest level during a championship. Good sleep is just as important. If the initiative can contribute towards happier and well rested players, we have gained a lot.”
Apart from the beds, other measures were also implemented in order to promote the basis for good quality sleep. The pillow is also a part of the complete bed experience, and this is another area where everyone has individual needs. This was solved by giving every player the ability to choose from a range of different pillows. There was also access to sleeping masks and ear plugs in the rooms.
The national football team’s sleep venture created a debate in Swedish and international media. In some papers, journalists described the initiative as an exciting and unique weapon with effects that are hard to measure, while some complained about the initiative and spoke about it as excessive, with no sporting significance.
Scientists, however, praised the decision. Christian Benedict, sleep scientist at Uppsala university, researches the importance of sleep in terms of ability to perform, and emphasises the importance of good sleep in order to perform at peak level. “Sleep has a very important recovery effect, both mentally and physically”, he explains. “For example, too short or poor sleep can impair the brain function needed to make quick decisions. To ensure good sleep, it’s extremely important to customise the sleeping environment based on player needs. This also includes having a bed that is individually customised.”
Unfortunately, the results weren’t enough to advance in the European Championship, which of course can come down to many different issues. However, the attention and debate regarding the initiative has most probably resulted in more sports federations having noticed how sleep and performance are linked, and that there actually are concrete improvement opportunities in this important field.