Sharing hotel room with stranger to save money

This article discusses a company that attempts to pair strangers up in the same hotel room to reduce the cost of the room. This would not appeal to me, however. Being asleep means I am vulnerable, and I wouldn't be comfortable with a stranger in the room. For more secure travelers, it may be a way to save money.

Hotels focus on giving good night's sleep

Many of you may have trouble falling asleep, at least on the first night, in a hotel. It's a phenomenon we sleep doctors call the first night effect. Typically this short term sleep problem resolves by second or third night. It's due to being unfamiliar with the sleep environment. Now, hotels are trying to improve their customers sleep. Some chains have "sleep ambassodors" whatever that means. They offer massages, aroma therapy, supplements, or wide choice of pillows. Of course, like the article points out, many of the things offered in these hotels can be done at your home. Maybe I should higher a sleep ambassador for my practice?!

Bed bugs on the rise (at least in Central Nebraska)

This article discusses bed bugs, which are apparently on the rise in central Nebraska. I've never seen a bed bug or had a patient come in because of bed bugs. But this article does a nice job of discussing most things you would want to know about the little guys.

The bed bugs are small and live in tight spaces in and around a bed. They feed at night - and their food is blood. Some people have more severe reactions to bed bug bites, so you can't tell if you bed bugs by how your skin may look after a feeding.

The article mentioned that you should be careful in hotels - and advised to inspect for bed bugs. If there were bed bugs in your hotel room, what would you do? I'd go to a different hotel if there was availability. Hotel bedspreads are bad enough - don't need blood sucking bugs added to the mix!

Hotel lets you sleep as if you are homeless

At first, I thought this could not be true. But this is a real hotel in Sweden that is trying to raise awareness for people that are really homeless. For $14 a night, you can sleep in what looks like a run down park bench - I guess to mimic what sleeping on the street may be like. I assume the experience would be unpleasant, motivating the sleeper to donate to homelessness charities.

Crowne Plaza Hotel and Snoring

The Crowne Plaza Hotel chain, owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, recently unveiled a room designed to minimize snoring. The rooms have soundproofed walls and sound-absorbing headboards. A white noise machine is provided in the room. They provide a wedge pillow for the snorer to sleep on - this could reduce snoring some by changing the angle of the upper airway and lessening gravity's affect. Finally, there is an anti-snore pillow which uses magnetic fields to open the airway and stiffen the soft palate. I was all for this until the anti snore pillow with magnets. I've never heard of it and am not sure how the magnets will improves snoring at all. But the other additions should make the snoring less bothersome to the other person.

I would add that ear plugs might help. Minimizing alcohol consumption and other sedating medications before bedtime could reduce snoring. Sleeping on your sides, rather than your back, can reduce snoring in some. And if the snorer has obstructive sleep apnea, they should bring their CPAP with them to the hotel. Both people will sleep better with that.