“I Wish I'd Slept Better in That Hotel” – Guests’ Self-reported Sleep Patterns in Hotels

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate how hotel guests sleep and the factors that typically disturb sleep when staying in hotels. A total of 2504 respondents for the survey were recruited through a link in a national online newspaper. They were asked to provide information about demographics, how they slept in hotels, factors disturbing sleep in hotels and how sleep typically developed with length of stay in hotels. On average, the respondents reported sleeping somewhat less well in hotels than at home. Males, younger people and people suffering from insomnia reported better sleep in hotels than did females, older people and subjects not suffering from insomnia, respectively. The factor which most frequently disturbed sleep in hotels was poor pillows, followed by high room temperature, poor mattress, poor duvet, noise from the street, poor indoor climate, too much daylight from the windows and noise from the ventilation system. Nearly 50% of the respondents reported that sleep usually improved with length of stay, whereas only 8.4% reported that sleep deteriorated with length of stay. The results point to several factors which could be altered by simple means and thereby improve sleep in hotels. The present study is the first large-scale survey that investigates how hotel guests in general experience sleep in hotels.

Key Words:

• hotel management
• sleep
• tourism
• perception