The quality of hotel pillows may greatly influence one's feelings about the overall stay. A good pillow might go unnoticed, an uncomfortable one can ruin one's sleep.
There are many ways in which hotels try to enhance their appeal to weary travelers. Friendly check-in staff, quiet floors, the triangle sometimes folded into the roll of toilet paper. And, of course, the little chocolates that appear on the hotel pillows at check-in and after turn-down service. But what about the hotel pillows themselves? How much thought goes into their comfort for the clientele? Considering that this is where one expects to sleep for at least a night, one would expect that the comfort of a hotel pillow would be of paramount importance.
Picture this: After a long day of travel, you check into your hotel, get to your room, and collapse on the bed. You've been waiting for this moment for, oh, the past several hours; you close your eyes. After a moment, they flutter open again. There is no way you can get a good night's sleep on THIS pillow.
Now, what makes a hotel pillow a comfortable pillow is, to a certain degree, a matter of opinion. Some people prefer their hotel pillows firm, others soft. But no one that I can imagine would want a pillow that inclines his or her head to nearly ninety degrees off the bed. I had the dubious pleasure of trying to sleep on a pillow such as this, and ended up replacing the pillow with a sweatshirt. Where's the luxury in that?
The worst hotel pillow I've ever encountered was at a hotel in Las Vegas. An argument could be made that it is in Las Vegas' best financial interest to keep people awake and pumping quarters into the one-armed bandits. However, I have a hard time believing that a hotel manager would go out of his or her way to find the least comfortable type of pillow with which to supply the hotel. It is more likely that consideration of pillow comfort fell by the wayside in the decision-making process, in favor of cost-cutting benefits. Another hotel with notoriously uncomfortable pillows (in a nonrandom survey of friends and family!) is the Ramada in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. The pillows were so old and floppy as to have lost any support they may have once provided, and the heavily perfumed smell emitting from them made me question what, exactly, the hotel laundry was attempting to cover up!
The best hotel pillows I have enjoyed are, hands down, those at resorts and spas, such as those in Sedona, and the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. The nightly rates there are almost ten times that at the Ramada. This raises the question, is there a positive corellation between the price of hotels, and the comfort of their pillows? My guess is yes, that more care is put into the comfort of the clientele at high-end hotels and resorts than at motels that are little more than dry rooms off exit ramps. If true, this would be an inequity that some people are more willing to pay for than others. There are people who could sleep peacefully slouched over a large rock, and for them, relative thickness of a hotel pillow is a trivial concern.
For others (author included), the quality of hotel pillows impacts greatly on my overall impression of the hotel as a whole. These type of people are willing to pay more for the guarantee of a comfortable bed and good night's sleep.
And then there are people like my aunt, who packs so carefully that she always has room for her little travel pillow. If I only had her skill with a suitcase, hotel pillows would be a non-issue for me as well! Because I don't, however, I shall continue to fall solidly in the camp of those who consider hotel pillows to be an important part of the overall quality of overnight stays and vacations.
Copyright Jennifer Miner and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
The copyright of the article Hotel Pillows in Luxury Vacations is owned by Jennifer W. Miner. Permission to republish Hotel Pillows must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Apr 6, 2006 9:12 AM
Georgene A. Bramlage
:
Hi,
I voted for a firm pillow with a little give, but I certainly would appreciate the option of a lavender-buckwheat (or hemp) pillow :)
My husband and I travel a lot to visit relatives and just for pleasure. We always request a no-smokin room. One of the first things, after lights and bathroom, that I check for, are extra pillows!
Most motel/hotel room pillows are terrible, not matter how much one pays for a room. So I usually end up using two and sometimes three pillows under my head and neck, and often one under my knees to relax my driving muscles.
I often will go to the main desk, or stop a housekeeper, to request more pillows. I usually carry a small disinfectant-type spray for the bathroom, as well as something like a light-scented lavender spray for linens, etc.
Apr 6, 2006 11:53 AM
Julie Clark
:
I like firm pillows myself - preferably new ones!
One thing that I dislike about staying in hotels or resorts is the cigarette smell in linens. We take care to book non-smoking rooms but so many times the pillow cases, towels, etc. reek of cigs., making it an unpleasant stay since our family cannot tolerate the smell. And in many places you can't even open a window for some air.
If you have an "in" with hotels and resorts, explain to them that, while we appreciate non-smoking rooms, smoking in the laundry makes their linens stink and turns people off! :)
Thanks.
Apr 6, 2006 2:00 PM
Joy Butler
:
I voted in your poll for the soft squishy pillow but I agree with Cercis that they do not supply enough. I like lots of pillows. Would be nice if extra pillows were standard in motel rooms.
I also don't smoke but so far haven't run across the problem of smoke scent in linens.
Joy <a href="http://dogs.suite101.com/">Dogs</a>
Apr 6, 2006 2:30 PM
Jennifer W. Miner
:
Yuck, the smell of smoke right up against my nose in a pillow would ruin my night! I haven't run across that particular "charm" in a hotel pillow yet, but I imagine I wouldn't be able to stand it. I don't have an "in" with any hotel managers (I wish!) but if I did, one thing I'd request is a fridge that I could stock myself, instead of those ridiculous ones that charge 12 bucks for a bag of peanuts. Because you know, after a long day's worth of travelling, when you finally get to the room and toss down your bags....those peanuts can look pretty good! :)
Apr 6, 2006 4:14 PM
Jill Florio
:
I always travel with my pillow. I am very pillow oriented. Hotels have these mile high uncomfortable ones or too-thin nonexistant ones that you can only pile up if they give you enough.
I never had ones that smelled like smoke - that would be terrible.
I like to travel with a lavendar linen spray too. I use it at home and have a small size for traveling.
I would like to try a Lavendar Buckwheat Pillow. maybe not to rest my head on, but near my head, for nice scents all night. :)
Apr 13, 2006 10:35 AM
Jill Florio
:
Okay, I expanded on the <a href="http://businesstravel.suite101.com/blog.cfm/789">cool pillow theme</a> in Dan's Business Travel Blog! :)
Apr 24, 2006 9:22 PM
Dan Florio
:
I voted in your poll, Jen, and I enjoyed your pillow article. I am pretty picky about hotel pillows but thought I was the only one who cared!
For my vote, I like soft, sqishy pillows for sleeping, but hard, firm ones for reading. So I voted squishy. So I need two, really. :)
May 1, 2006 5:24 PM
Jill Florio
:
I'm watching your poll, and it looks like Firm Pillows and Squishy Pillows are basically neck and neck. Or...er...head to head! LOL!
May 3, 2006 5:54 PM
Jennifer W. Miner
:
You're right, Jill. In fact, <a href = "http://luxuryresorttravel.suite101.com/blog.cfm/1381">here</a> is an analysis of this nonrepresentative, nonrandom, nonduplicable poll! Very scientific. My former thesis advisor would be proud. (wink) Jen Miner
May 23, 2006 12:04 AM
Jill Florio
:
I'm staying at a luxury hotel right now...and it's got good pillows! Nice sheets, a wonderful thick mattress and high thread count sheets. And best of all, this is free! <a href="http://bellevuewashingtonblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/989-elements-move-in-once-more-delayed.html">Long story (told elsewhere on my blog)</a>, but at least Dan will get to review the hotel - the Paragon, in Seattle - for business travel.
