Forget lounging around in your hotel room while donning a bathrobe, the standard in-room amenity at many mid-level and high-end properties. Some hotels want their guests to have pajama parties instead. They’re selling and giving away pajamas to guests and turning to popular sleepwear brands to design fashionable pairs.
Claridge’s, in London, recently introduced women’s silk pajamas in a black and white striped pattern that is inspired by the hotel’s Art Deco floor in its lobby. The handiwork of the British sleepwear designer Olivia von Halle, they are available to purchase for £350 (about $450) and also included with certain room packages. Some guests, such as those who stay at the hotel frequently, receive a free pair monogrammed with their initials, said Paula Fitzherbert, the hotel’s public relations director.
But why offer pajamas, and why now? Fitzherbert said that the idea was inspired by the fact that a growing number of guests were ordering dinner or evening cocktails in their rooms. “We thought, why not make hanging out in your room fun and slightly decadent? Pajamas that reflect our heritage seemed like the perfect way to do so,” she said.
The Lowell hotel, in New York City, selected the Italian linen brand Frette to design 300-thread-count pajamas for men and women — both are white with gray piping and cost $300, but like Claridge’s, the Lowell occasionally gives them free to guests.
In addition, at select times throughout the year such as Fashion Week, the Lowell offers white cotton pajamas with red piping from the sleepwear label BedHead Pajamas. They cost $150.
BedHead is also behind the cotton pajamas at the Beverly Hills Hotel, in California — they come in long and short sleeves and in pink and white stripes for women and blue and white stripes for men. They cost $179.
Another brand, Sant and Abel, designed the property’s other sleepwear collection for men, women and children ($95 a pair for children, $290 for adults). These cotton pajamas are adorned with a vibrant green banana leaf motif that was inspired by the Martinique print that the decorator Don Loper created for the hotel in 1942.
Guests staying in select suites get to choose a pair to keep, said the hotel manager, Christoph Moje, but they’re also gifts for repeat clients or those celebrating a landmark occasion during their stay. “We see people wearing their pajamas down to breakfast and bringing them back on return stays, and we love that,” he said.
At Belmond Maroma Resort & Spa, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, all guests receive not pajamas in a traditional sense, but a locally made beige cotton caftan to slumber in during their stay. These oversize tops are embroidered with butterflies to match the ones that flutter about on the property’s gardens. The caftans can be purchased for $50.
For the boutique cruise line SeaDream Yacht Club, pajamas — in this case, a unisex white and navy cotton set — have become a brand signature. Passengers receive a personalized pair as a turndown amenity on the first night of their trip, and they’ve been a hit, said the company’s president, Bob Lepisto. “Our guests rave about the pajamas and even wear them while they’re having drinks on the top deck bar,” he said.
Long an amenity for business- and first-class airline passengers, pajamas are a creative marketing tool and a way to encourage brand affiliation, said Chad Clark, the owner of the Phoenix travel consultancy Chad Clark Travel Ventures. “When you take them home, you’ll be reminded of the good time you had on your trip. And besides, who doesn’t appreciate a set of comfortable, good-quality pajamas?” he said.
The New York Times
