I’m all for luxury when it comes to where I lay my head abroad — and I’m a great believer too in the luxury of choice, for a lack of options is the worst, most invidious deprivation. However, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Nowhere is this more evident than in breakfast buffets and pillow menus. I submit that first thing in the ack emma and last thing at night is the worst time to plague a patron with multiple-choice questions. Worst, it is often a non-choice or one so abstruse as to be largely academic.
Take W’s idea of a ‘privilege’ for patrons — making them choose not just between firm foam and 100% goose down, but also neck rolls and body pillows. The excess of choice at the Benjamin New York includes buckwheat vs ‘cloud’, maternity or lullaby, upper body or five-foot body, snore-no-more or magnetic therapy… for sleep’s sake! The Conrad has a legendary 75-strong list, including an essential oils-infused Cold and Flu Pillow in Chicago; a thermal Water Pillow in Miami; a Shogun Pillow in Bangkok and a Porcelain Pillow in Singapore. I’ve seen shorter spa menus!
On one recent trip, housekeeping checked whether I had slept well — and would I like to double up on my preferred pillow tonight, or be offered a choice once more! Some brands apparently have gendered pillows, for ‘ladies’ and ‘men’, not to mention the ubiquitous hypoallergenic and organic. Did you know an anti-ageing pillow existed? And who chooses horsehair head support?
Why not just lay seven pillows per bed for sleepers to play Goldilocks’ game with? Because I assure you, enumerating pillow variants is nowhere near as relaxing as counting sheep. In fact, call me neurotic, but I find it a surefire way to spend the night on a sleepless pillow, second-guessing my ‘choice’.