SPA DOCTOR treats... INSOMNIA
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Do you get enough sleep? One Briton in six has trouble nodding off and, as one of them, I’m always keen to try things that might offer a (non-medication based) solution.
My main trick at home is to use a white noise machine, a small alarm-clock-size gadget that emits a soft whirring sound, a bit like a fan. This constant background noise tricks the brain into not hearing any of the other noises in the night that might wake me up, and it works for me.
The only drawback, I’ve found, comes when I’m not at home – staying at a hotel on holiday or for work, for instance. There are phone apps that do a similar job, but you get a bit addicted to a particular sound and routine. So when I heard about a hotel that was offering a special in-room mindfulness relaxation package, I was keen to give it a go.
WHERE’S THE SOLUTION?
Dukes Hotel, Mayfair, once part of St James’s Palace. Fans call it a ‘home from home’ and love it because it’s a world away from the bland chrome and polished glass of many five-star properties. Quirks include old-fashioned locks on doors at knee height, because the staff used to have to enter and exit while bowing!
WHAT’S THE TREATMENT?
Dukes offers a Beditation Butler service – billed as Britain’s first mindfulness room service. For an additional £45 on top the cost of the room, you get a special stereo set-up, connected to an iPad pre-loaded with a range of guided mindfulness podcasts, as well as calming herbal teas brought to you by your own ‘butler’ who will also draw you a Floris aromatherapy oil-infused bath.
For the uninitiated, mindfulness is a modern spin on ancient Buddhist meditation practices which is NHS-recommended for helping poor sleepers like me.
The recordings feature soothing music, and a female voice takes you through various mental exercises that can be done while you lie on your fabulously comfortable bed – breathe in, tense the muscles in your arms or legs or neck or whenever you feel tension, release tension as you exhale, and so on.
After checking in, I have a session in the well-equipped hotel gym with on-site trainer Henry Barratt – a former Harlequins and Wasps professional rugby player – who takes me through a 90-minute session designed to help realign my spine and correct my desk- induced poor posture. Back in my room, I try the Beditation Workout Recovery podcast. I’d like to tell you what it contained, but after the first few breathing exercises, I fall fast asleep for 30 minutes.
I call for my butler, who soon arrives with chamomile and mint teas, and then I head off to dinner at the hotel’s fantastic new restaurant, GBR.
Back in my room, I call again for my butler, who runs my bath, turns down my bed and sprays my pillows with a soothing lavender scent, and leaves more herbal tea.
Once dipped and back in bed, wrapped in an fluffy robe, I try the ‘sleep’ podcast. What can I say. I was out like a light.
Rooms at Dukes, London (dukeshotel.com), start at about £320. The Beditation Butler service is an extra £45 per night. Two-room deluxe suites start at about £724 a night (ideal for the Beditation service as your partner can sit in the other room while you do the mindfulness thing). A 90-minute consultation for posture and training with Henry (henrybarratt. com) can be booked via hotel reception and starts at £200.