I’m gazing out a window at the Equinox Hotel New York‘s spa when my NutriSleep IV treatment starts to kick in. The somnolent solution of magnesium, glycine and taurine being pumped into my veins is meant to help usher in the deeply restorative sleep that I came here to experience. Feeling pleasantly drugged and overlooking the 26-acre Westside Rail Yard while stretched out in a windowed nook, I contemplate counting the silver train cars like sheep, but as a second IV bag deflates into the best vein the spa attendant could find on my robed right hand, I begin to drift into woozy oblivion.
I’ve already been softened up with relaxing treatments in an infrared sauna, MLX i3 Dome sauna, and waterbed-like Spa Wave Table at the 212-room luxury hotel. It’s all part of the programming for Equinox’s new Sleep Lab suite, a collaboration with sleep scientist and bestselling author Dr. Matthew Walker. It’s also among the most elite examples of the sleep tourism packages that hotels are lately offering to guests. A 2024 Hilton Trends Report found that the top goal for travelers surveyed was “to rest and recharge, with more emphasis on sleep than ever before,” while Aspire Travel Club reports that one in three travelers have difficulty sleeping.
Equinox’s nearly $2,000-per-night sleep chamber aims to change that. It features a temperature-cooled mattress, a shower that doubles as a spa-quality steam room, guided circadian soundscapes on the TV, blackout blinds, and a bedside Eight Sleep app to monitor the quality of your slumber. The snoozeworthy suite also boasts sweeping 31st floor views overlooking the 150-foot-tall, honeycomb-like Vessel structure that serves as a visual centerpiece for Hudson Yards, the $25 billion mixed-use shopping and commercial real estate development sprawled across Midtown Manhattan’s West Side.
Despite the hubbub below, sleep seekers are coming here to book two-night stays at the health-focused hotel, which notably features a massive, 60,000-square-foot gym. The Equinox New York’s general manager, Jeff Rednour, a dapper bald guy with the buff physique of someone who runs a high-end fitness brand’s flagship property, informs me that the room’s Greek-made Cocomat mattress is constructed from “all-natural materials like coconut fiber, seaweed and horsehair,” and is topped with two separate duvets and temperature controlled via a remote control on the nightstand.
The mattress is designed to start off cold, then warm up as morning approaches, culminating in the blackout blinds rising at your preferred time to the gentle strains of New Age music wafting into the room. Should the steam room shower or high-tech bed somehow not do the trick, there’s also a minibar fully stocked with night masks, earplugs, “Power Down” herbal teas and other sleepy supplements. Design-wise, the suite is dressed in soothing grays and oceanic blues, from the leather tufted bench next to the bed to the aqua velvet sectional and marble coffee table in front of a window with Hudson River views.
Equinox is hardly the only hotel that’s sleepwalking into this restful, if somewhat gimmicky, travel trend. Nobu Hotel Miami Beach, of Japanese superchef Nobu Matsuhisa’s hospitality empire, just launched an “Ocean Breeze Sleep Retreat” this month. The offering includes a two-night stay in a Zen Ocean View Suite with a white noise machine and green tea turndown service, a Tatami mat for relaxation, and instructions for yoga poses that Nobu himself does every day to stay grounded.
“I think everyone can agree today’s world is very chaotic and hectic, so what better way to tune that out a little bit and just relax?” says Liz Segel, Nobu Hotel’s Director of Marketing. ”Our guests come from all over the world and we want them to take a break from their everyday life and just have a tranquil, peaceful vacation.”
While Nobu guests can indulge in a Zen-inspired sleep retreat when they’re not snacking on the property’s signature rock shrimp tempura and black miso cod, Miami’s nearby Carillon Wellness Resort offers a likeminded sleep package just a short drive away. Farther afield, there’s sleep programs at Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles, Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, and scores of other hotels around the world.
Back at Equinox New York, the abundance of relaxing spa treatments and drowsy nighttime rituals have combined for a seriously restful experience. I typically need to pop a melatonin capsule or sleep gummy as I nod off listening to the droning of a purposefully boring podcast, but once my pre-scheduled lights dimmed at 11:30 p.m, I soon sink into a deep slumber.
When the New Age music gently rouses me the next morning, I check my “Sleep Fitness Score” on the bedside app. It reveals that I slept for 8 hours and 48 minutes, with 100 percent consistency and 92 percent quality, including an hour and 45 minutes of “deep sleep,” for an overall score of 87 out of 100. (I may have lost a few points due to two hours and twelve minutes of snoring.) Still, as I head down to the glass-walled gym after a final steam in my suite’s shower, I honestly haven’t felt this rested and recharged in ages.
