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Which? experts and industry insiders reveal the secrets of hotel bed comfiness
Have you ever returned from holiday and wished your own mattress was as comfy as the one in your hotel?
Perhaps you've even peeled back the sheets searching for a label to help you track down the very same mattress that had you sleeping like a baby.
Mattress and pillow manufacturers frequently denote luxury by marketing products as 'hotel grade'. And, going a step further, some hotel brands even sell their mattresses and bedding direct to consumers eager for a slice of hotel comfort to last beyond their stay.
With the help of our Which? mattress experts and hotel and bed industry specialists, we reveal the secrets of hotel bed comfiness and offer tips for replicating the hotel experience at home.
Our line-up of the best mattresses reveals five mattresses that beat the rest in our stringent lab tests.
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What makes hotel beds so comfortable?
Bed comfort is subjective but, when we asked Which? members to rate the comfort of their sleep for our survey of the best UK hotel chains, we discovered that it's an important part of a great stay.
Lisa Galliers, Which? mattress expert, says:
'As much as some hotels would like us to believe there's some special magic in their mattresses, their comfortable beds are likely down to a combination of factors – and luckily, many of these are easy to achieve at home'.
Here's why your hotel mattress could be giving you a significantly superior slumber and putting your home mattress to shame:
Hotel mattresses are 'just right'
As a general rule, hotels aim for the 'Goldilocks zone' of mattress firmness in their rooms – a medium mattress of some description.
Tristine Hargreaves, executive director of the National Bed Federation, says: 'To cater for the majority of guests, hotels should carefully select their beds to ensure they are neither too firm nor too soft.'
In other words, it's a mattress that is described as medium, medium/firm or medium/soft and offers sufficient support to prevent bed-sharers rolling into each other in the night and disturbing each other's sleep.
This 'just right' experience may also extend to pillows, with some hotel chains, such as Sofitel, offering a choice of pillow depths and firmness.
Hotel mattresses are well looked after
Hotel mattresses are used for seven to eight hours every night for between seven and 10 years, which is not dissimilar to your home mattress.
Keeping them in good nick for this demanding lifespan requires regular airing, turning and vacuuming, as well as frequent inspections for signs of wear and tear to evaluate if they need replacing – things you might not think to do at home.
Hotels might also use mattress toppers and mattress protectors to improve comfort and extend the life of their mattresses for sustainability and economic reasons (these are cheaper to replace than a mattress).
For example, Sarah Simpson, Premier Inn's head of sleep product development, told us that its Premier Inn 2.0 mattresses only need to be changed after approximately 12 years because their life is extended by their zip-off toppers (which are replaced every six years).
Hotels use freshly laundered bedding
After you've checked out of your hotel room, housekeeping staff strip the bed and air the mattress. They may also remove or turn a mattress protector.
They could decide that pillows, pillow protectors, duvets and throws need laundering in preparation for the next guests, too.
Whether it's your bed linen, pillows or duvet, find out how often you should wash your bedding with our comprehensive guide.
Hotel beds are bigger
The beds in hotels tend to be bigger than a standard UK double.
Tristine says: 'You are more likely to sleep better in a bigger bed because you are less likely to be disturbed by a partner. If your budget and space allow, go for a king or super king bed.'
If you're unsure of whether to go for a queen, king or super king, our guide to UK bed sizes will help you choose.
Hotel mattresses make our own feel old and tired
If you've had your mattress for nearing 10 years, you may have got used to it not being perfect – until a stay in a hotel bed makes you realise how much you've been compromising on comfort.
Mattress market analyst for Which?, Chris Matthews, says: 'We don't notice the decline of our own mattress, so any new mattress feels different and is most likely to be better than an old one we've been sleeping on for many years.'
When we surveyed Which? members in October 2023, 69% said they'd had their mattress for more than eight years before they replaced it, and 47% had theirs for more than 10 years.
Need a new mattress? Read our comprehensive mattress reviews to discover our top picks.
What type of mattresses do hotels use?
Apart from having to meet slightly more stringent safety standards on flammability than domestic mattresses, hotel mattresses share many of the same components.
Despite this, hotel bed comfort levels can vary massively, with some mattresses giving a Sleeping Beauty slumber and others a restless sleep more reminiscent of The Princess and the Pea.
To find out more, we spoke to representatives of hotels that topped the tables for 'bed comfort' in our survey of the best UK hotel chains. This is what they told us...
Premier Inn Hub & Premier Inn
Respondents in our survey raved about the comfort of the beds in both Premier Inn's offerings, so we asked the company for the lowdown on how it delivers this experience.
At both Premier Inn Hub and Premier Inn, guests sleep on the medium-firm Premier Inn Mattress 2.0, a 1,000-zoned pocket-sprung mattress developed over the past four years by Silentnight exclusively for Premier Inn.
It has a memory layer for comfort, a layer for moisture wicking and breathability, and a gel-infused topper that can be easily unzipped and rotated.
You can buy the Mattress 2.0 directly from Premier Inn (£679 for a double) as well as the duvet, pillows and mattress protectors used by the hotel chain. Which? hasn't tested any of these products, except for the Luxury Pillow.
Sofitel
The Sofitel MyBed mattress, created for the hotel chain by Epéda and Dumas, is a 30.5cm-thick medium-firm box-sprung mattress with comfort foam and hypoallergenic fibre filling.
It also has a moisture-wicking soft top layer and reinforced edges designed to increase the amount of sleeping surface you have if you share a bed with a partner (and make it more stable when you sit on the edge to put on your socks and shoes).
The mattress you sleep on in a Sofitel is the very same kind you can buy through the online Sofitel Boutique along with the Sofitel topper, comforter and a variety of pillows, so you can effectively export the experience from hotel to home. Which? hasn't tested any of these products.
Nicolas Gronier, Sofitel's VP global marketing, told us that it made its products available to buy to give clients 'the opportunity to recreate what they have experienced in our hotels, back home'.
See our guides to the best pocket-sprung mattresses, best memory foam mattresses and best boxed mattresses from companies including Emma, Simba and Eve.
How to recreate your hotel bed at home
Carry out a 'housekeeping' check
We often enjoy the hotel bedroom environment because of how clean and tidy the rooms are. Do your own 'housekeeping' by always making the bed, vacuuming the floors and keeping surfaces such as night stands free of clutter.
Don't forget to clean around the bed – pull the bed base away from the wall to clean away any dust and debris that have accumulated around it.
Whether your bedroom has hard floors or carpet, our expert guide on how to vacuum your home effectively should help with your housekeeping endeavours.
Invest in a mattress topper
Not only will this extend the life of your mattress but it can make it more comfortable, too.
More than half of Which? members who took part in our mattress topper survey bought a topper to make their mattress more comfortable (with 85% saying it achieved this), while a third said they'd bought one to help protect their mattress from wear and tear.
Whether you're looking at foam, latex, microfibre or hollowfibre, our best mattress toppers guide can help you decide what will add to your 'hotel-at-home experience', whatever your budget.
Clean and rotate your mattress regularly
Mattresses can harbour dust and bacteria, so follow the six simple steps in our guide on how to clean your mattress to keep it clean, fresh and stain-free.
You should also regularly rotate your mattress 180 degrees to minimise impression marks and, depending on what mattress you have, it may also need flipping (check the manufacturer's care guide).
Don't forget to regularly turn your topper, too. Sofitel's Nicolas Gronier says the brand's 'special secret' is turning its toppers every single day.
Choose bedding you love
Expensive bedding may sound like a key ingredient of a sublime slumber but ultimately, experts say it's down to personal preference.
For example, a delicate silk or satin may evoke a stay in a five-star hotel for some people but for others a thick brushed cotton with a high thread count could be their idea of luxury.
If you really enjoyed your hotel stay and feel that the sheets and pillowcases added to the experience, ask hotel staff if the company has an online store where you can buy a set. Otherwise, hunt for labels on the linen before checking out of your room.
Think about sleep hygiene
It's important to create the best environment for sleep, because trying to sleep in a noisy, bright room that's way too hot or cold may be challenging even if you've shelled out for the best mattress money can buy.
Keep the room as dark and quiet as possible and aim for a temperature of between 16 and 18°C.
Replace your worn mattress and bed – and go bigger
A hotel bed should never feel lumpy and bumpy, look worn and tired, or sound creaky, and the same applies to your bed at home.
Tristine says: 'Check your bed is up to scratch – if yours shows any of these signs, and you haven’t replaced it for over seven to 10 years, it’s time for a new one.'
If it will fit in your bedroom without making it appear cramped, consider a king-size bed – or even larger.
Don't forget to wash pillows every four to six months and replace them every one to two years, and at the very least plump them daily to maintain good filling distribution.
Visit our best mattress deals page to get a great price on mattresses from brands such as Dormeo, Emma, Eve and Simba.
