Guides · For guests
Your first night in a hotel is rarely your best. There is a well-researched reason for this, and it explains why every condition counts on a short stay. Here you can read what makes an Anti-Stress Bedroom, which three questions to ask before you book and in which regions of Austria and South Tyrol you will find hotels like this.
The background
The term is not protected. What gives it substance is how the bed is equipped, not the size of the spa.
Three quarters of travellers check the moment they first walk into the room whether they can expect a good night's sleep. For 22 per cent, sleep-related factors are the most important criterion when choosing a hotel, 24 per cent look specifically for quiet accommodation, and 7 per cent check out again if their expectations are not met.
Representative survey by OnePoll on behalf of Premier Inn, 4,000 respondents in Germany.
In BETTER3 partner hotels, the system is built into the bed: a duvet and underblanket with light-active minerals and integrated grounding. You see none of it. There is no switch, no display and no electricity in the bed. You lie down just as you would in any other hotel room. How the set is put together is shown on the How it works page.
The first-night effect
It's not just the bed. In unfamiliar surroundings, one half of the brain stays measurably more alert than the other during deep sleep.
A research team at Brown University studied 35 volunteers in three experiments, each covering two nights one week apart. On the first night, a particular network in the left hemisphere stayed more active than on the right during deep sleep. Sounds played to the corresponding ear woke the sleepers more often and more quickly. The researchers interpret this as a protective mechanism in unfamiliar places.
On the second night, the difference between the hemispheres had gone. In practical terms, short stays are hit hardest. And the shorter the trip, the more every factor you can influence matters, from the room's location and the temperature to the bed itself.
An Anti-Stress Bedroom does not change your sleep. It changes the conditions under which you sleep.
Source: Tamaki, Bang, Watanabe and Sasaki, Night Watch in One Brain Hemisphere during Sleep Associated with the First-Night Effect in Humans, Current Biology, 2016.
How to choose
The term is not protected. Three features separate a well-thought-out offer from a label on a website.
Ask what's in the bed. A genuine Anti-Stress Bedroom names its sleep system and can explain how it was tested.
Rooms away from the lift, kitchen and street, soundproofed windows, curtains that really block out the light, and heating that can be turned down. When you book, ask for the quietest category, not the most expensive one.
Wherever an effect is claimed, there should be a test report behind it. For the fabric used in our partner hotels there is an expert report by Prof. Peter Pauli, based on measurements to ASTM D4935-18, IEEE 299-06 and NSA-94-106, showing 99.98 per cent shielding attenuation. What this measures is the textile, not your sleep. Anything a hotel promises beyond that deserves a critical look.
Where to find these hotels
From country inns to five-star resorts. You will find every hotel, with photo, location and a direct booking link, on the Partner Hotels page.
Well-known hotels among them include the Bio- und Wellnessresort Stanglwirt in Going am Wilden Kaiser, the Wellnessresidenz Alpenrose on the Achensee and Hotel Kranzbichlhof near Salzburg.
Sleep hotels in Austria
Five simple steps that work in any hotel room, whatever the bed is equipped with.
One line by email is enough: which room is the quietest? Booking platforms assign you a category, whereas booking directly with the hotel lets you choose it.
The body loves repetition: the same bedtime as at home, familiar rituals, your own pillow if need be.
Turn the heating down while you unpack, as the room needs time to cool. Then close the curtains fully and cover the standby lights on the TV, air conditioning and router.
A late, heavy dinner and one glass of wine too many are still felt well into the night. If you arrive from another time zone, it helps to go by local time on the first evening rather than by how you feel.
If a hotel offers an Anti-Stress Bedroom, it is a separate category and not automatically the room you will be given. Ask for it explicitly when you book, which spares you a surprise at check-in.
Frequently asked questions
A normal hotel room whose bed is fitted with a special sleep system: the Anti-Stress Duvet and Anti-Stress Underblanket with light-active minerals and integrated grounding. There is nothing for guests to operate, and the room looks like any other.
Currently in 112 hotels, 46 of them in Austria and 66 in South Tyrol. The main regions are Salzburger Land, Tyrol, Styria and Upper Austria, and in South Tyrol the Dolomites, the Merano area and Vinschgau. All hotels with location and booking link are listed on the Partner Hotels page.
No. The duvet and underblanket are made up like any other bed, and the grounding is permanently installed. There is no switch, no display and no electricity in the bed. You lie down just as you would in any hotel room.
A wellness hotel offers relaxation during the day: spa, sauna, treatments. An anti-stress hotel focuses on the night, in other words on how the room is equipped. The two are not mutually exclusive, and many partner hotels are both.
Each hotel sets its own prices. Many partner hotels offer the Anti-Stress Bedroom as a separate comfort category at a surcharge. You can see the current price directly with the hotel in question, and there is no booking fee for you.
That can happen. An Anti-Stress Bedroom changes the conditions under which you sleep. It does not guarantee any particular kind of sleep and is no substitute for seeing a doctor. If you sleep badly over a longer period, talk to your doctor. The hotel welcomes feedback on the room, and we are glad to hear it too.
For hosts: to find out how your hotel can get an Anti-Stress Bedroom, read Sleep tourism and Become a partner.
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