Monday, 18th January 2010
HOLIDAY INN hotels in London have been furnished with the latest in hi-tech gadgetry to beat the cold-snap – human bed warmers.
Staff at two of the chain's London hotels – the Kensington Forum and Kingston South
branches – will be dressed in specially designed all-in-one suits and have a lie down in visitors' beds for five minutes to get the sheets nice and warm.
It's "like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed," said a spokesperson for Holiday Inn. That's probably what Goldilocks, until now the world's most famous bed warmer, told the three bears.
Better still for those fearing that first dip into a cruelly cold bed is that the service comes free and Holiday Inn also have boffin back-up for the scheme.
"There's plenty of scientific evidence to show that sleep starts at the beginning of the night when body temperature starts to drop," said Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre.
"The decline occurs partly because the blood vessels of the hands, face and feet open up and release heat.
"A warm bed - approximately 20 to 24 degrees Celsius - is a good way to start this process whereas a cold bed would inhibit sleep. Holiday Inn's new bed warmers service should help people achieve a good night's sleep especially as it's taking much longer for them to warm up when they come in from the snow."
But it is thought unlikely that visitors can ask for their bed warmer to stay with them for the night, not even if they offer porridge for breakfast.
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