Snooze News at the Benjamin Hotel, Just in Time for National Sleep Awareness Week

In case you didn’t know, we just wrapped up National Sleep Awareness Week, which culminated at 2 am on March 13^th.   That’s the day we “spring forward” and return to Daylight Savings Time, one hour blearier (but oh, those long evenings).

It’s not exactly a national holiday, but don’t tell the Benjamin Hotel in midtown, which has celebrated sleep awareness for a decade.  Ten years ago, the hotel introduced their Sleep Concierge, a regular concierge who took on the added duties of helping guests have a good night’s sleep, whether by sending up a white noise machine or delivering milk and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at bedtime (the amino acid tryptophan found in milk, peanuts and turkey is supposed to help the brain produce serotonin, the relaxation chemical).

The Benjamin also popularized the pillow menu with a dozen offerings from a NASA foam pillow and a music pillow that connects to an iPod to the Snore-No-More, which raises the head to open nasal passages. Ask to vote their favorites last year, guests eliminated the gelly neck roll, a gel-filled head cuff; the replacement cloud pillow is filled with air-beads designed to keep you cool.

The hotel is also celebrating sleep with a package from $249. Available through the end of the year it includes a one-bedroom suite, bedtime snack, 25-minute massage in the spa, an eye mask, late check out and two Nightcaps in the hotel bar. What’s a Nightcap? Averell Damson Gin Liquer, Zafra 21 Reserve Masters Rum — and chamomile tea.  Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z.