15
March
2024
|
14:04 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Shuteye Guaranteed: Booking.com Shares the Best Sleep Stays Around the World to Celebrate World Sleep Day

World Sleep Day is celebrated on March 15 as an important marker to highlight the importance of good sleep. In an ever-hectic world, sleep is fast becoming a precious commodity, with ‘sleep tourism’ one of the biggest travel trends of 2024, as forecast in Booking.com’s Travel Predictions for 2024. With over half (58%)* of travelers wanting to book a sleep retreat in 2024, these Reboot Retreaters are ditching jam-packed itineraries in favor of laid-back locales where they can level up their sleep game. In response, a rise in resorts and hotels offering retreats and specialist programs with the promise of improved shuteye are popping up around the world. Fancy a dedicated bedtime butler on vacation, or to be cradled to sleep in an aerial hammock? Global travel leader Booking.com shares some of the finest stays that showcase this new era of sleep tourism, where guests can check in to zonk out. 
 

Six Senses Fiji Malolo, Fiji

Best for: Dedicated sleep retreat 
Cocooned in a remote bay on the island of Malolo, the Six Senses Fiji resort is a wellness-focused oasis of calm that offers a dedicated sleep retreat. Travelers can book programs of three, seven or ten nights which include a health screening, nutritional guidance, sleep tracking and yoga nidra (a sleep-inducing meditation). The resident Sleep Doctor is on hand with bespoke advice, while wellness therapies and low-intensity training plans combine to help guests restore energy levels and establish a sustainable sleep routine. To unwind, the spa offers muscle-melting hot lava shell massages and gold-leaf facials, and all villas boast breezy island-chic interiors, plunge pools and sleep accessories including silk eye masks and bath salts. Start the morning with al-fresco yoga, head to the private beach for paddle boarding or surfing and put the day to bed with movie night under the stars. Guests will feast in style on fresh produce from the resort’s organic gardens and Pacific-infused dishes from coconut cream ceviche to tiger prawn mousse. For a blissful experience, set sail for the day from Denarau, an hour’s ferry ride away, on a Cloud 9 Day Trip floating bar and restaurant, complete with wood-fired pizza, cocktails and daybeds that will rock anyone to sleep. 
 

Four Seasons Resort Bali at SayanBali, Indonesia 

Best for: Eastern expertise 
In the dreamiest of locations, rising out of rice fields above the Ayung River, is the luxury Four Seasons Resort Bali. Its Guided By Gratitude retreat is for anyone who needs time out to restore inner peace, and includes sleep rituals, yoga and spa treatments. Evening candlelight mala meditation will help guests drift off, as will a ‘sacred nap,’ where participants snooze suspended from a bamboo ceiling in aerial silk hammocks, listening to Sanskrit blessings and the sounds of nature. On arrival, guests are blessed with holy water and enter the resort along a dramatic suspension bridge to a lotus pond floating high above the valley. Secluded villas nestled deep in the jungle below each come with a meditation terrace on the roof, carved beds cradling marshmallow-soft mattresses and marble bathrooms with deep soaking tubs, all promoting restful sleep. Guests can while away the afternoon at the infinity pool or the Sacred River Spa, and be soothed by the vibrations of Tibetan singing bowls or have their chakras balanced. For more eastern healing, the Sebatu holy water spring is just a short drive away from the property for a Body, Soul & Mind Cleansing Purification with a Balinese Healer that delves into ancient wisdom to foster deep inner peace. 
 

Marbella Club Hotel · Golf Resort & SpaMarbella, Spain

Best for: Scientific sleep techniques 
For those travelers whose idea of nightlife is uninterrupted REM, the Marbella Club Hotel commands a prime beachfront spot along the glitzy Golden Mile (the main strip that runs from the west of Marbella-center to Puerto Banús on the coast) and supports a good siesta. Its Tranquility and Sleep Enhancing program ranges from two to seven nights and uses evidence-based techniques to improve sleep, with bioenergetic testing and a team of nutritionists, personal trainers and a wellness chef on hand to create bespoke plans. Treatments include vibrational massage and magnesium body wraps, and the expert team equips guests with proven sleep techniques to ensure they sustain good routines once home. The Thalasso spa offers healing seawater-based therapies and an indoor saltwater pool, and guests can enjoy a post-lunch snooze in a hammock on the private sandy beach. Loved by A-listers, this Spanish retreat features serene sub-tropical gardens, and its whitewashed bungalows provide comfortable sanctuaries for slumber with soft pastel tones, natural wood and bougainvillea-clad terraces. To wind down in style, just a short drive from Marbella’s city center travelers can embark on a Sunset Sailing and Dolphin Watching Experience across the gentle waters of the Bay of Estepona famed for its mesmerizing red skies and beautiful marine mammals. 
 

Mayflower Inn & Spa, Auberge Resorts CollectionWashington, Connecticut, United States 

Best for: Sleep education 
Peacefully tucked away in 58 acres (23 hectares) of rolling woodland, the stately Mayflower Inn & Spa retreat is the definition of New England elegance. Just two hours drive from New York City, this country hideaway offers a range of holistic health programs including Better Sleep, a curriculum designed to optimize sleep and reduce anxiety. It includes expert-led health coaching sessions, workshops and a guidebook on bedtime rituals with breathwork and journaling tools. An in-room guided sleep meditation delivers a bedtime story and adult lullaby, with a pillow mist and selection of sleepy teas also available. Rooms are spacious with a canopied king bed, fireplace and French doors leading to magnificent views of the manicured gardens. Guests can linger in the yellow parlor room or quiet library, get lost in the maze garden, or doze off around the pretty outdoor pool. The spa features blissful treatments from facials and massages to energy work and a lunar sound bath, and there’s a nightly bonfire to sit around and toast s’mores before bed. If guests can tear themselves away, book an Edge Sky Deck Admission Ticket and experience New York’s highest outdoor viewing platform, suspended in mid-air, to gain perspective on the city that never sleeps. 
 

Tschuggen Grand Hotel - The Leading Hotels of the WorldArosa, Switzerland

Best for: Atmospheric setting 
The Swiss Tschuggen Grand Hotel will envelop guests in mountain air and the stillness of the alpine forests of Arosa. For those visitors striving for shuteye, the hotel offers a curated Dream Butler Experience, starting with a nighttime aromatherapy massage in the spa while a butler prepares the ultimate turndown: dimmed lights, temperature and humidity adjusting. A delicious in-room dinner selected by an expert nutritionist awaits guests upon their return, along with a scented candle, pillow menu and bedtime book. Staff at this Booking.com Travel Proud property are renowned for making guests feel at ease, while calming interiors feature warm, nude shades and soft textiles, with beds overlooking the mountains to help invoke sweet dreams. Popular with skiers and hikers, there’s a private railway which whisks guests to the slopes, but the jewel in this hotel’s crown is the incredible spa carved into the mountainside with a swimming pool that extends outdoors, a floor devoted to saunas and steam rooms and divine treatments that will even send insomniacs to sleep. To discover more of the area, head to Switzerland’s oldest city of Chur, a short drive away from the property, for a Historic Guided Walking Tour to explore its winding cobbled streets and charming buildings with a local guide. 

*Travel Predictions 2024 research commissioned by Booking.com and conducted among a sample of adults who plan to travel for business or leisure in the next 12-24 months. In total, 27,730 respondents across 33 countries and territories were polled (including 1008 from Argentina, 1012 from Australia, 505 from Austria, 1001 from Belgium, 1002 from Brazil, 1009 from Canada, 1009 from China, 1002 from Colombia, 508 from Croatia, 504 from Denmark, 1011 from France, 1011 from Germany, 1016 from Hong Kong, 1004 from India, 510 from Ireland, 504 from Israel, 1014 from Italy, 1004 from Japan, 1009 from Mexico, 1014 from The Netherlands, 1015 from New Zealand, 500 from Portugal, 502 from Singapore, 1010 from South Korea, 1009 from Spain, 502 from Sweden, 507 from Switzerland, 504 from Taiwan, 1003 from Thailand, 502 from the UAE, 1007 from the UK, 1005 from the US and 1007 from Vietnam). Respondents completed an online survey in July 2023.