MOST travellers might return from a hotel stays with those little bottles of shampoo. But have you ever considered buying the mattress you slept on?
It seems guests at Canberra's Little National Hotel love the hotel's custom-made mattress so much, they spend up to $3700 to buy the whole bed and take it home.
Since launching its buy-back program at the beginning of 2018, Little National Hotel (LNH), in the suburb of Barton, has sold 75 of its custom-made mattresses.
Branded "Arms of Morpheus", after the Greek god of dreams, the mattress has been designed by A.H Beard, specifically for DOMA Hotels, the parent company of LNH and is only available for direct purchase through the hotel.
DOMA Hotels' director of hotels Patrick Lonergan said they were just responding to demand.
"After receiving an incredible amount of praise for giving guests 'the best night's sleep they've ever had', we decided to launch a buy-back program," he said.
"We only advertise this through our hotel compendium in the room because we know that quite often, after experiencing an incredible night's sleep, our guests want to find out how they can get their hands on one of our mattresses."
The mattress brand uses leading technology to provide better support and has the backing of research.
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Researchers from The Karolinska Institute- the university that awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine - put the bed to the test in a study investigating the effects of different mattresses on quality of sleep. The results showed that those who slept on the bed fell asleep faster and stayed in a deeper sleep for longer.
The mattresses start at $2350 for a Queen-sized with base and go up to $3700 for a complete Super-King bed. But due to the recent Sleep Awareness Week, the Little National Hotel is also up-sizing the deal until September 30.
If you're not quite in the market for one of the mattresses, the Sleep Health Foundation has a few extra tips for getting a good night's sleep:
- Stick to a routine: Try to go to bed at the same time every evening and waking up at the same time every morning.
- Take care with food and drinks: caffeine and alcohol are both stimulants and can potentially disrupt sleep, depending on your sensitivity, the quantity consumed and timing before bed.
- Wind down and relax before bedtime: have a buffer zone before bedtime to, review the day's activities and work out a plan of action for the next day.
- Lower the lights: your body clock is affected by light, so turn off bright overhead lights and lamps and put aside your smart phone, computer or iPad at least an hour before bed.
- Make sure your bedroom is comfortable: keep your bedroom quiet and dark with comfortable bedding suitable for the season. No TV in the bedroom.
- Don't lie awake watching the clock: staring at the clock when you can't sleep actually increases the stress hormone known as cortisol in your body, making it more difficult to fall asleep. Try turning your clock away from you.
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