March 2019 – Decor UK

Promote good sleep

As a hotelier, you know that getting a good night’s sleep is a key factor in getting a good review and seeing repeat business. Whilst you may already be proud of the quality of your bedrooms, are you using it in your marketing?

Getting good sleep is paramount to health and wellbeing just as getting exercise and eating a balanced diet. So, go the extra step and help achieve a high sleep quality for your customers:

Help your guests avoid caffeine and alcohol before bedtime. A fruit and oat smoothie is a better option than a nightcap as the oats and dairy contain sleep-inducing compounds.

Blackout curtains and/or eyemasks will help eliminate unwanted light

With people coming and going, it isn’t always easy to reduce noise levels, especially in urban areas. So how about complimentary ear plugs for all your guests?

Give your guests the option of no TV in their room.

You can help set the mood from the very moment your guests arrive and create a relaxed lobby. The use of plants and greenery to bring your guests closer to nature will have a beneficial effect.

Review your menu

One of the best things about staying in a hotel is someone else does the cooking (and the washing up). For many travellers, this is an opportunity to indulge. However, for a wellness hotel, this may be an opportunity to indulge your guests in healthier options as well:

Ensure you offer healthy, balanced meal options on your menu.

Consider including calorie information. This helps your wellness guest make informed choices about when they indulge.

Local and organic produce has long been a staple for many hoteliers and is a must for a wellness hotel. To push this further, you could include information about the local producers such as the ethics behind their business.

Include more plant-based choices on your menus – and make them accessible. How about an indulgent (and not particularly healthy) vegetarian main course? Better for the planet but also good for the soul. Avoid treating gluten-free or vegan options as afterthoughts.

Find out about wellness activities in your area

What is there to do near you that would appeal to a wellness traveller? Activities or experiences that will help relax or enlighten are perfect and why not try them out yourself first so you can give informed advice. Show your prospective guests there are lots to choose from near your hotel. It also helps create a stress-free experience when you’ve done the legwork. Activities to consider include:

Yoga, meditation or alternative therapies.

Walking groups or maps for local walking routes or sightseeing tours

Expressive and creative activities such as drawing or painting classes, craft experiences like weaving or woodworking.

You can also bring the activities to your guests and organise events in your hotel.

Got gym facilities? Promote them.

Whilst fitness is probably secondary to relaxation, exercise and mental health are closely connected. And a hotel gym is a great asset so make sure your guests know about. However, perhaps consider the choice of words when promoting your gym. To attract a wellness traveller, its often more about de-stressing and being active than it is about working out or getting ‘pumped’.

If you don’t have gym facilities, is there a local gym that offers day passes? How about the optional extra for guests to have an exercise bike or a yoga mat in their room for the duration of their stay? Make sure you have a solution for the physically active wellness tourist.

What to take away for your Wellness Hotel

Wellness isn’t all about exercise and healthy eating. It’s a holistic approach to looking after the mind and body. So take a step back and think about what really makes people feel happy and healthy and implement that in your business.

Floresy can help set the mood with some well-chosen artificial plants and trees. Our products are low-maintenance, realistic and perfect for your wellness hotel vibe.

It’s easy to access green space when living in rural areas. There are sprawling fields and woodland scenes painted across the rolling green hills of this sceptred isle. And the chances are that you can see green space from your home or drive through it on your way to work.

We know that living closer to nature can have benefits to our mental and physical health. But can people who live in cities gain the same health benefits by having access to green spaces?

What is a ‘green space’?

Green space is defined as:

an area of grass, trees, or other vegetation set apart for recreational or aesthetic purposes in an otherwise urban environment.

Green space and health

There are many health benefits that come from living where you have access to green space:

Green spaces make us more social

Urban design that incorporates green and colourful elements can increase social wellbeing. Simple and low-cost ideas such as painting concrete or adding planting along a roadside can promote happiness, our sense of environmental stewardship and community plus a greater trust of strangers.

Green space slows cognitive decline among the elderly

In addition to combating social isolation through a greater number of connections, green space can also help promote healthy ageing. Living in greener neighbourhoods, and the lifestyle associated with it (physical activity and social support) can slow cognitive decline that comes with natural ageing.

Green space is good for children’s behaviour

Just as green space may increase our sense of community, a greener urban environment may reduce aggressive behaviour among adolescents. Also, children who live closer to green spaces maybe better at paying attention, such as when at school. And students who have a view of greenery from their classroom can improve their performance during tests.

Green space helps us concentrate at work

Green roofs are good for the environment but having a greener view from your office window may help boost a worker’s concentration. Study participants performing a boring, mind-numbing task were given a 40-second ‘micro-break’ by looking at a city rooftop scene. The participants who looked at a green rooftop subsequently made fewer mistakes and showed better concentration when the task resumed than those who viewed a concrete roof.

What are the health impacts of living in a city?

Surprisingly, there are many health benefits associated with living in urban areas:

City dwellers often have a lower carbon-footprint than people live in more rural areas due to denser housing and better use of public transport.
Obesity rates are lower in cities, maybe because people walk more.
You’re also less likely to die as a result of a road traffic accident in cities.

But living in a city also some negative impacts on health:

People who live in a city are more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders and from mood disorders
The brains of urbanites handle stress less well than their rural counterparts
Air pollution is higher in urban areas and can contribute more premature deaths per year if proper controls are not put in place.

Why is green space important in a city?

In developed countries, the majority of the populations live in urban areas such as cities. In 2010, a staggering 90% of the UK’s population lived in urban areas compared to 82% in the US, and 76% in Germany.

Incorporating green space design into urban areas means being able to address some of the negative health effects of city living. And because of the higher density of people, these green spaces can impact a significant proportion of a population.

Green space can also help reduce air and noise pollution and also help keep a city cool.

So providing access to green spaces in cities becomes vital for maintaining the health and wellbeing of the majority of a country’s population.

Adding a rooftop garden helps you and your community

If you run an urban business, you can help improve the environment for your local community – as well as your staff or guests – by adding a rooftop garden.

To help limit the weight and maintenance of such a garden, consider combing natural elements with some well-chosen artificial trees and plants. Floresy stock a range of artificial plants for outside spaces and can help you choose the right options for your exterior space. Call us today for more information on how we can help ‘green-up’ your environment.

How to become a wellness hotel