Providing guests with the ultimate sleep environment has long been prioritized at hotels offering dedicated sleep concierges to restful treatments that promote elite sleep. The current sleep tourism market value is estimated to be $640 billion and is predicted to grow by over $400 billion between the period of 2023 and 2028, according to analysis by research company HTF Market Intelligence.
Hotels are making dreams worth remembering with next-level sleep experiences.
Global Sleep Symposium. Images courtesy of Equinox Hotels
Equinox Hotels have been championing the optimization of sleep for health and wellness benefits. In June, they hosted a two-day Global Sleep Symposium inviting guests to learn from sleep experts and promote wellness habits with a program focused on movement, nutrition, regeneration, and community. “As a beacon of excellence, we're thrilled to pioneer a collective forum that transcends traditional boundaries, forging new pathways in sleep tourism, health, and performance,” Chris Norton, CEO of Equinox Hotels, said in a release. The symposium is a sign of how serious Equinox Hotels is when it comes to offering a transformative sleep journey for guests, their vision is to collaboratively “shape the future of sleep, one dream at a time.”
Kimpton Fitzroy London hotel's Room to Dream experience. Photography by Rebecca Hope. Images courtesy of Kimpton hotel.
Some hotels are starting to take a more nuanced approach to sleep by tapping into dream tourism. Earlier this year, the Kimpton Fitzroy London hotel launched a Room to Dream experience, offering guests the opportunity to enter their “subconscious with lucid dreaming”—a state when the subject is aware they are dreaming and have a degree of control. In a collaboration with dream expert Charlie Morley and AI artist Sam Potter, the experience takes place in a lavender scented room at the hotel and guests are provided with an “Open Your Dreams Kit”. The kit includes a virtual reality (VR) headset with Potter’s VR lullaby, a dream journal, a lucid dream guide by Morley, and LabTonica’s Unplugged sleep aids. The experience invites guests into a hypnogogic state—whereby lucid dreaming is accessed. According to Kimpton hotel, by practicing lucid dreaming it “enhances mental health, improves overall wellbeing, and connects with our higher selves.” In a release, Morley comments, “it's great to see a luxury hotel explore wellness and sleep tourism in a completely new way.”
At the Fondation Beyeler museum in Switzerland, artist Carsten Höller and scientist Adam Haar Horowitz presented an interactive artwork, Dream Hotel Room 1: Dreaming of Flying with Flying Fly Agarics (2024). On display from May 19 to August 11, 2024, every week one visitor had the opportunity to sleep in the robotic bed that has sensors to detect the sleeper’s heartrate, breathing and movements. The rotating bed and visual stimulus during waking hours are designed to enhance the dreaming experience by leveraging Dream Engineering—using technology to tap into the unconscious mind.
According to the Sleep Foundation, people spend on average two hours a night dreaming. Some benefits of lucid dreaming include wish fulfillment, overcoming fears and healing. However, not many people remember their dreams. In a 2022 sleep study by YouGov, it revealed that less than half (45%) of Britons say they always or often remember their dreams, compared to 52% saying they rarely or never remember them.
Morley believes that “lucid dreaming is a great form of wellness which is often overlooked, helping people reduce stress and enhance their emotional processing, as well as improving their quality of sleep and sleep pattern.” The rich sleep tourism economy could be expanding with dream tourism, promoting a positive and enriching wellness experience that accesses the subconscious.
Please provide your contact information to continue.
Related Content
Insight
Idyllic idleness
Can the act of doing nothing be the secret to a healthier and happier life?
Read Article 
Insight
Showroom stays
Slumber parties for fashion aficionados are reimagined as showroom doors open for overnight stays.
Read Article