Hotel Bedding - How to Remake the Experience at Home

Do you remember that time on holiday where you stayed at that really wonderful hotel? Many hotel experiences for holidaymakers, business travellers and others are a delight from the moment you step inside the doorway, to the first sight of the room you'd be staying in, to the very soft and cosy bedding that you sink into, to the soundless ambience that surrounds you, and so on. And now you want to take that experience home. You want to remake the hotel bedding and comfort experience.. You want to take the holiday home. So that's what we're going to help you do.

Excellent hotels generally procure their bedding from reputed hotel-focused companies and brands. That is, while there is a lot of choice of bedding at department stores, a hotel's bedding is perhaps not the every day consumer's type of bedding.

The Quality

This is because commonly found bedding like sheets, and pillows at department stores for the general home-consumer, is sometimes made for being economically priced, and expected to be washed in the everyday home washing machine, with "domestic" detergents. ( - We can't of course speak for every department store.)

Now when you take a hotel bedding specifically, hotels are commercial establishments. And amongst the critical deciding factors is the comfort of the guest (so they leave good reviews, keep coming back for more stays, etc), and the number of "industrial washes" a sheet can go through.

That is, hotels have very specific types of washing that can be demanding on the linen being washed, and therefore require particularly manufactured sheets to withstand this.

So why hotel quality bedding? Let's take those two reasons, the quality and comfort to win guests over, and the "robustness" of the linen to withstand industrial wash cycles. And so you wanting to take home that hotel bedding experience for yourself means you really need to buy quality bedding from perhaps a hotel linen supplier that's reputed and known.

Remaking the Bedding Experience

The Pillows

If you stayed in a really choice hotel, you might have noticed that NOT every pillow was the same. And perhaps, the hotel may have presented you with pillow menu as well!

The variety of pillows for today's consumer could maybe make one's head spin. The choice is vast. From Kapok, to Microfibre, to Natural Latex, Feather Pillows, and so on! But before we go further on each type...

To some people, a single pillow is insufficient in "loft". And they may use two pillows or more. So what's loft? And how does that reflect on the comfort scale? Loft is basically the height of a pillow, when compressed by the weight of a sleeper's head.

Now back to the variety of pillows. The different pillow fillings and types change the loft of the pillow, the fluffiness, softness, firmness, and it goes on. So each pillow that is selected has particular comfort scoring points depending on the sleeper. Oh yes. For us to say that one particular pillow is the best for every single sleeper, wouldn't be correct. Because when it comes to comfort, then it comes down to personal preference to a certain extent.

However, that said, one physiotherapist based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia when asked about the best pillow for neck support, said this:

"...it should not be high, but be of medium height that tends to be small, and it should be arched upwards to preserve the arch of the neck in order to be in the correct position, and that it should not be too soft, but be moderately soft so as not to cause stiffness in the muscles." Dr. Saleh AlDaen Physiotherapist at CMRC Saudi Arabia

Natural Latex Pillows are more firm, and feel heavier than Microfibre Pillows. This could be a champion choice for sleepers. Yet when it comes to fluffiness, and softness, then perhaps sleepers would prefer to opt-in for the Microfibre Pillows instead. Then there's the Duck Feather Pillows, a pretty pricey option like the Natural Latex Pillow. Again, pillows and comfort can vary from person to person. And if you're in the Jeddah, then drop by the Gentelle Boutique to touch and feel and make a better informed choice. And if you're anywhere else in Saudi Arabia, and want to obtain your pillow, then simply shop online here.

The Duvet

When choosing the ideal duvet, there are a few things to keep in mind. They include the thickness of the duvet, commonly measured in GSM (Grams per Square Meter), to the fabric of the duvet cover, to the filling of the duvet, etc.

The thickness of the duvet has a variety of benefits. Some might opt for a thicker duvet if the climate is cold, or the room temperature is cold. While others might opt for a less thicker duvet if they would prefer something lighter in weight to snuggle under.

Then we come to the fabric of the duvet cover. Just like bed sheets, and pillow covers, fabrics play a big role in touch, feel, and airiness, and so on. A 100% cotton fabric can be cooler than a polyester mixed cotton fabric. So when choosing an excellent duvet cover, pay attention to the fabric you're picking. And pick from a hotelier's choice collection. Something that really good hotels would go for.

When it comes to the filling of the duvet, this is very much like pillow fillings. So the choices vary from microfibre, to feather, and so on. And generally, if it's a hotelier's choice, it's time to consider making it your choice!

The Sheets (Fabrics)

[ If you haven't already checked out "What are the best bed sheets on the market?", then it's a good idea to check it out soon after this! ]

Like we mentioned before, fabrics play a big role in the comfort, the feel, etc.. Some common and available hotel-grade picks include sateen striped sheets, 100% cotton sheets, polyester sheets, plain white 100% cotton sheets, and so on.

In a nutshell (and you really must check the article on the best bed sheets on the market), if the fabric is polycotton (in other words a polyester+cotton mix), then the sheet could be slightly warmer to sleep on than a 100% cotton sheet.

Amongst the variety of bed sheets that hotels have, you'd find some hotels having Gentelle's plain white 300TC 100% cotton sheet, and in some others 250TC polycotton sateen striped sheets. These are just two choices from Gentelle's hotel-grade sheets for you to consider. And if you'd like to explore more options, just drop a message to one of Gentelle's sleep consultants. The varieties of sheets on the market are quite very many. But whenever you want to consider buying a sheet to remake that hotel experience at home, then look for sheets from a reputed hotel linens supplier.

You might have been wondering what TC is. It simply stands for thread count, and it's a way of measuring the number of threads per square inch. So technically, the higher the thread count is, the more threads you can expect in that bed sheet.

So what's sateen?

"Sateen has its roots in later textile developments and is known for its distinctive weaving technique and the use of long-staple cotton fibers. While sateen is primarily crafted from these long-staple cotton fibers, which are then spun into yarns to create a fabric that is soft, smooth, and subtly lustrous, it can also be made from other materials like polyester, rayon, and lyocell." - Continue reading.

The Mattress Topper

What's a mattress topper you ask? Well, much like a quilt, a mattress topper is thin cushion like layer you can add atop your mattress. Perhaps the mattress you have at home is too hard? Or if your mattress is worn and you want to buy a new mattress, you could perhaps consider getting a mattress topper instead.

So in conclusion, remaking the hotel bedding experience can be pretty easy. But although you may be able to simply buy a lot of premium hotel bedding, that's still not all it takes for the whole hotel room experience. From the type of flooring that's used, to even the furniture, to the mood lighting and air conditionings, there are still more things you can do to really bring that hotel bedding experience home.