Why you should use the pillow menu
A pillow menu is now a common feature in luxury hotels, but do you really need it? Yes! Luxury hotels have recognised spinal health as an important element of health and wellness. These opulent accommodations have seen the rise in exercise trends that optimise spinal mobility like yoga, Pilates and Barre, and they want to help you retain your progress.
Maintain the Results of your Wellness Routine
Luxury hotels know it's difficult to maintain your wellness routine while you're away, so they're doing their best to help. A pillow menu is now a vital ingredient in hotel wellness offerings. If you have neck pain and work hard on your deep neck flexor strength and cervical spinal mobility at Pilates, all your hard work can go to waste by sleeping for a week on a bulky, oversized pillow. Thanks to a pillow menu, you can choose the right pillow for you to maintain all your hard work and keep your neck pain at bay.
Recognise the Importance of Sleep
Wellness has been recognised as a status symbol of luxury, and sleep is a vital part of wellness. Thanks to sleep advocates like Arianna Huffington, the importance of sleep is now ingrained in the luxury lifestyle. By offering a pillow menu, luxury hotels are showing you it's OK to sleep well, and they encourage you to enhance your sleep as much as possible by choosing the right pillow for you.
Decrease Your Allergen Exposure
Some of us may love the mobility of a duck-down pillow, while others will be up all night sneezing from the feathers. The low allergenic options are endless at luxury hotel chains; like Sofitel that offer the Polyball Pillow: a firm pillow made odourless and non-allergenic for those sensitive to allergens. This is just one example of a pillow menu item designed to decrease allergen exposure to keep you 'living well.'
Indulge in the Personal Touch
Guests are expecting more personalised luxury hotel products than ever before, and a pillow menu helps add that personal touch. With some hotels offering six or more pillow items and others offering a choice between three, by selecting your pillow preference you have more control over your luxury stay, enhancing your hotel experience.
Photo: Sofitel So Bangkok
Tips for Choosing Your Pillow
The hardest thing about being offered a pillow menu can be making your choice. Below are some tips for choosing the best pillow for you:
- Most people only need 1 pillow, not 2 stacked
- Your neck should always be in a neutral position on your pillow - If it feels like your chin is being pushed toward your chest, the pillow is too big and bulky.
- If you lie on your side to sleep, you can have a slightly bulkier pillow, but only enough to fill the space between your ear and the tip of your shoulder.
- If you lie on your stomach to sleep, try to change this habit! It puts excessive torsional stress on your neck. If you can't break the habit, choose a very flat pillow to decrease the forces on your neck.
- Whatever filling you choose for you pillow, try to make it consistent throughout, rather than letting it bulk on one side.
- Always see a good health professional for treatment if you encounter neck pain. The earlier you get treatment, the better it is.
Now you know how to select your pillow - Which pillow would you choose?