When I received a call from Marks and Spencer offering me a night in a hotel (bear in mind I am a mother of a 16 month old boy i.e a tiny tornado) to trial their new range of luxury bedding it was like the heavens answered my prayers all at once!
We stayed at the boutique Artist Residence hotel in Pimlico (which I had never been to before) and it was absolutely gorgeous!
In terms of the hotel- it all started when the owner (not having enough money to design and style his first hotel) had the idea to offer free accommodation to artists in return for them designing their room. The idea was so successful that he now owns a chain of boutique hotels -with each bedroom being entirely unique. (why hadn’t I thought of that idea? Genius!)
The night that I stayed in the hotel, my bed was made up with exquisite bedding from Marks and Spencer’s new ‘Sleep Retreat’ range. My bed was dressed in a waffle duvet set with a pom pom throw and checked cushions to finish it off.
One thing you don’t know about me is that at home we only ever use white bedding. We used to have a couple of colourful duvet sets and strangely I never felt entirely relaxed in them at night. So, now we only ever use white. It feels so zen! We do have two accent cushions on the bed during the day but obviously they come off the bed at bed time.
This waffle bedding is so thick and luxurious but still helps you remain cool. I don’t know how they have achieved that but it’s brilliant!
After we checked in and before we sat down to a beautiful dinner in the colourful, eclectic dining room in the hotel we were given a talk by a fantastic sleep consultant Max Kirsten. He gave us an insight into his own chronic insomnia that led him on his lifelong crusade to help others with their own sleeplessness. The main point he was trying to get across was our obsession with technology and how it has crept into our bedrooms and is depriving us of the best nights sleep possible. One handy tip is to set your phone’s screen to darken at around 5pm in the day and brighten up again at 6-7am when you wake up. This function is called ‘Night Shift’. (it is on the iPhone but not sure if Androids have it) This is so if you use your phone until late in the evening the blue light won’t keep your brain as active as it would if it was a really bright screen.
Another thing is to buy a real alarm clock and keep your smart phone out of your bedroom at night. I like this one in theory but I use the torch on my phone a lot at night if I have to get up. Maybe I should also invest in a night-light? I’ll pop it on my Christmas wish-list!
So, needless to say I had a brilliant night’s sleep! Probably the first one in 16 months! I’m crossing fingers for more decent nights in the future (but not holding out too much hope 😉
Lx
Photos by Sam Mellish