Hotel makeover tips for your bedroom

Whether you travel for business or pleasure, hotel stays are usually a treat. Well, the good hotels anyway. You know – the ones with the pillow menu and 200-thread count sheets. These hotels seem to go out of their way to make sure your stay is one fit for a queen (or king) and do everything in their power to give you a sensational sleep experience.

If you’d like to create a similar experience at home, here are some tips to optimise your sleep space and have you sleeping like a royal in no time.          

1. Clear the clutter

Have you ever walked into a cluttered hotel room? Hopefully, the answer is ‘no’. Whether the room is small or large, everything gets tucked away neatly, and the room is a haven of rest. Our bedrooms, in contrast, usually have books piled to the sky and collections of charging cables, tissues and water bottles dotted around the room. Do what you can to streamline the stuff and turn your room into a peaceful haven.

Top tip: Toss out the magazines, pack away the books and mugs and clear away meds, cords and other bits and bobs lying about for a streamlined sanctuary.         

2. Lovely linens

While hospital corners on sheets and beds so well-made that you can bounce R1 coins off of them may be out of reach for us mere mortals, investing in good quality linens is doable for many of us. And it doesn’t need to be top of the line Egyptian cotton either (although that won’t hurt). Buy 100% cotton as often as possible to ensure you have the most comfortable, sweat-free sleep.          

Top tip: Choose linens in neutral tones and save the on-trend colours for throws and scatter cushions for that hotel feel. That way, you can switch your room decor without sacrificing style or breaking the bank.

3. Temperature tendencies

Air conditioners help regulate the temperature in hotel rooms, while we often need to rely on open windows and fans at home. In addition to cooling a warm room or heating a cold room, temperature plays a huge part in the quality of your sleep.

Given that the ideal room temperature for optimal sleep success is 18°C, we should err on the side of slightly chilly for a restful night straight out of what you’d experience at a 5-star hotel.          

Top tip: Play with blankets in different weights to allow for layers you can add or remove as the weather changes and, in hot weather, consider sleeping nude (there are many benefits).          

4. Negate noise

With double-glazed windows and wall-to-wall carpets hotels have a way of blocking out noise far more effectively than most South African homes. Of course, noise plays a massive part in the quality of our sleep, and this is why we must do what we can to create the same atmosphere.

Check all windows and doors and seal up gaps that remain after the window or door has been closed. Temporary solutions like rolled-up towels will work in a pinch, but ideally, these need a long-term solution sooner rather than later.

Top tip: White noise machines or apps cover neighbourhood noises like passing cars and chatty kids very effectively and can improve the quality of your sleep by 100%.

5. Better bed

Ultimately, you could follow all these suggestions and still find yourself tossing and turning. If it’s your bed that’s keeping you up all night, reworking the budget to make room for a new one is your best bet for better sleep. Buying a new bed may feel like a pinch in the pocket, but sleeping on a mattress that offers all the support you need is, literally, life-changing.

Top tip: Start the new year off with a new bed. You deserve the best sleep possible. If you’re in the market for a new bed, check out the Restonic bed-buying guide.

If you’re looking for more helpful sleep tips and advice, click here to visit our sleep blog.