Whether you’re traveling for leisure or for work, it can be hard to believe that hotels are in the business of sleep. Between uncomfortable beds, noisy air conditioners, slamming doors, and loud upstairs guests, rest can be a hard thing to achieve while away from home.
Dr. Rebecca Robbins, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate scientist at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, knows the importance of sleep. Her research aims to encourage behavioral changes to improve sleep and circadian health, so it was only natural that she became interested in the hotel experience.
In a 2020 paper published in Tourism and Hospitality Research, Robbins and her colleagues found that only one in three travelers reported being satisfied with their sleep while on the road, but sleep satisfaction while traveling was a significant predictor of overall guest satisfaction.
With sleep tourism on the rise, and proof that hotels are beginning to take sleep more seriously, Robbins is now Hilton’s sleep expert, helping to provide sleep strategies, including bedroom designs and hosting sleep retreats. Additionally she was consulted for Royal Sonesta’s Benjamin Hotel’s Rest and Renew program. Here are some of her evidence-based tips for getting some rest while traveling.
1. Find the familiar in the unfamiliar
“The truth is that when we are in an unfamiliar environment, we fundamentally have a harder time unwinding,” says Robbins. When we’re at home, our bodies relax more easily. Whether it’s new sounds or smells, our brains are on high-alert and scanning the hotel room as unfamiliar terrain.
Smells with a positive association are scientifically proven to trigger a sense of well-being. In 2024, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center published a study that showed familiar scents helped to break negative thought-cycles and overcome depression.
Soothing sounds are similarly powerful in easing our minds and promoting relaxation. While there are several machines that replicate the sounds of nature — a babbling brook or rainstorm is known to ease our nervous systems — white noise has also been proven to be beneficial for sleeping in noisy environments.
Whether it’s smells or sounds, find ways to bring the sensory familiarity of home to your hotel room. Candles are a hard no in hotel rooms, so pack a favorite perfume, lotion, or essential oil that can supplement a warm shower. Part of the Royal Sonesta’s Rest and Renew program includes a selection of white noise machines, but if your hotel hasn’t hopped on the sleep tourism bandwagon, you can bring your own portable sound machine.
2. Tackle your worries
We don’t always travel for leisure. The trip may involve difficult family matters or work stress, but typically the things that are keeping us from falling asleep are not ones that you can act on at that moment. We’ve all heard about the benefits of a gratitude journal, but don’t underestimate the power of the worry journal.
“The biggest impediments to our ability to fall asleep is a busy mind,” says Robbins. It’s not only strange noises coming from your neighbors that can keep you awake in hotel rooms, but also travel anxieties and a list of to-dos ping-ponging around your brain. Robbins suggests writing all of these worries down on a piece of paper as a way to relieve your brain from the burden of them and focus on the task at hand — sleeping.
(Related: Trouble sleeping on planes? These science-backed tips will help you snooze while flying.)
3. Stick to your routine
According to Robbins, good sleep is all about routine. Meditating, taking a long shower, using your favorite night cream, turning off your phone, or popping in your favorite pair of earplugs, your pre-bed rituals from home are key. Repeating those activities while traveling will soothe your body and spirit. “Being religious about these things is actually really important because your brain starts to understand that what comes next is sleep,” says Robbins.
Pack your habits with you, even if you think they aren’t the best ones to have. You may feel guilty about your nightly bedtime television sessions, but “screens aren’t necessarily bad,” says Robbins. “If that’s part of your relaxing routine, and it’s not disrupting your sleep or your ability to fall asleep, I’d say to bring that routine with you when you travel.”
She does note that it’s important to have the screens off once it’s helped you hit that sweet spot, as its light has been associated with poor sleep quality.
4. Get out of bed
It’s 3 a.m. local time, but your internal clock is still set five hours earlier. As hard as you try, you just can’t fall asleep. Soon you begin to associate your bed with stress and insomnia, and then the temperature of your mattress increases. If you’re struggling, especially in a new time zone, get yourself out of bed, tossing and turning won’t help you. Instead, leaving the scene of the crime will break the cycle.
Do something relaxing like a breathing exercise with the lights low, or even folding socks, whatever you find to be sleep inducing. “Then come back to bed when you’re tired — that will help you strengthen associations between your bed and a good night’s rest,” says Robbins.
(Related: Is sleeping on your stomach or back better?)
5. Do your research
Most importantly, find yourself a hotel that takes its hospitality seriously. While there are many things you can do to ensure a good night’s sleep while traveling, there are an increasing number of hotels that are eager to help you on your journey.
Popular hotel amenities now include blackout curtains, pillow menus and sprays, eye masks, bath bombs, and even an evening tea service.
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