Buy the bed you just slept in

A hotel turns its customer-pleasing innovation into a successful sale item.

What do you do if you’re a major hotel chain and a survey amongst frequent travelers shows that 63% of all respondents rank a good night’s sleep as the most important service a hotel can provide? And that 82% of all respondents have complaints about hotel beds in general? If you’re Westin Hotels & Resorts, you team up with mattress manufacturer Simmons and create the Heavenly Bed, which comes in all white, with a 10-layer mattress, three sheets, and five pillows. When it turns out your customers really like the bed, then SELL it to them. By turning its customer-pleasing innovation into sale item, Westin is now selling more than 100,000 USD worth of Heavenly Beds, per month. And with the introduction of the Heavenly Bath collection, including a dual showerhead (new research showed that almost 30% of respondents sometimes shower or bathe together with another person), Westin seems to have set the standard for a new breed of hotel shop, bringing the luxury of the hotel room to beds and bathrooms back home. Which then in itself will be a branded presence reminding customers to book with Westin next time they travel. Other major (or minor) hotel chains to follow suit? Restaurants? Airlines? Cruiseships?