The Equinox Hotel Gave Me the Best Sleep of My Life
For World Sleep Awareness Month, the Equinox Hotel New York is offering a new program to give guests a wellness experience the minute they enter their room.
In a world filled with never-ending phone notifications, Netflix binges, TikTok, and the general stresses of life, sleep can escape many of us. As March is World Sleep Awareness Month, there’s no better time to introduce rest into your health goals for the year. But if you’re unsure where to begin, New Yorkers (or those visiting New York) are in luck. As a hotel focused on giving guests an all-encompassing luxury wellness experience, the Equinox Hotel in Hudson Yards has developed an initiative, The Art + Science of Sleep by Equinox Hotels, described as a “science-backed approach designed to give guests the best sleep, each and every night of their stay.”
As a typical, 24-year-old American who often finds herself working even after business hours are over, sleep has always been an issue for me. Going back to my teenage years, actually falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up feeling well-rested has never been easy and is usually only achievable via sleep aids. But save for prescription drugs, I’ve tried them all to little avail. But I’m not alone. Medical experts have determined that adults ages 18-64 need seven to nine hours of sleep per night. However, a CDC study showed that 32.6 percent of working adults in the U.S. were sleeping less than six hours per night on average in 2017-2018.
At the Equinox Hotel, the experience begins in the room. The bed is temperature regulated to avoid that warm-side-of-the-pillow feeling; sleep-promoting teas and CBD tinctures are available in the RoomBar, as well as a light-blocking eye mask; the room itself is designed to deflect any noise or light pollution (a hot commodity in the city that never sleeps); and the bedside iPad, which controls the rooms A/C and light offers a “Dark Quiet Cool” mode that immediately brings the room to a pitch black, 67-degree setting. In addition, the AM + PM Rituals Program offers breathing techniques to optimize your circadian rhythm for falling asleep or waking up. In the shower, spa-level bath products from Grown Alchemist are available to enhance both support both winding down in the evening and waking up energized in the morning.
Outside the room, The Art + Science of Sleep by Equinox Hotels offers two rounds of cryotherapy, as well as two sessions on the Spa Wave Table, a “sound and harmonic resonance therapy” that simulates three hours of deep sleep in 30 minutes. Guests may also visit The Equinox Club for a workout and/or try out the hot and cold plunges to improve muscle circulation, soreness, and cortisol production which can improve sleep.
For those looking for a little something extra, there are add-ons to the package like Tier X Training (a full-body health assessment that includes sleep coaching and personal training), NutriDrip Sleep IV which offers a streamline of sleep-inducing vitamins, and a curated Superfood Menu for in-room dining.
While trying out the experience for myself, I did walk in hopeful, but skeptical. Hopeful that I would finally get some much-needed rest, but skeptical that one day of treatments could give you “the best sleep of your life.” On the Spa Wave Table, I didn’t fall asleep, but I did leave feeling distinctly less groggy than I usually am at 2 p.m. I was assured by my attendant that with repeated visits, it gets easier to fall asleep. After three minutes in the cryochamber, my main takeaway was I am very, very cold. This, I learned, is incredibly normal, and was also told that with increased visits, I would really begin to see a change. Hearing that I would “really start to see the results” with continued usage did make me slightly more skeptical about whether or not I would actually get a better night’s sleep. But nevertheless, she persisted, and I moved on to the next part of my day.
From there, I received a NutriDrip Sleep IV. While I’d seen celebrities receive IV drips to stay healthy amid a busy schedule or after a night of partying, as someone not necessarily afraid of needles but certainly averse to them, I certainly went in with some hesitation. However, the registered nurse that saw to my treatment explained the process at every step as she administered a mix of vitamins, specifically magnesium, glycine, and taurine—three key nutrients for boosting your sleep quality and fighting fatigue.
By the evening, after a good dinner, a cold walk back to the hotel, and some light reading, I drank my nighttime tea, hit the “Dark Quiet Cool” button, slipped on my eye mask, and set off for sleep.
So, to the big reveal: did I have the best sleep of my life? The short answer is yes, but I wouldn’t have known it immediately. In truth, it took me a while to fall asleep. For me, that’s normal, especially if I try to go to bed before midnight, which I did. When I woke up, I didn’t feel different. However, about an hour later, after finishing off a latte and some delicious avocado toast, I did notice that I felt more energy than I do on an average Sunday. And when I checked my Apple Watch, I saw the change.
My main goal for this sleep experience was to 1. Stay asleep 2. Get more deep sleep (this is when your body repairs itself, experiences cellular regrowth, etc.) 3. Get more sleep overall. In the month prior to my stay, the average time per night that I spent awake was 36 minutes, the average time spent in deep sleep was 1 hour and 4 minutes, and my overall average time spent asleep was 6 hours and 25 minutes. While staying at the Equinox Hotel, I was only awake in my sleep for 8 minutes, spent 1 hour and 9 minutes in deep sleep, and slept for a total of 9 hours and 16 minutes.
In a single night, I saw dramatic results. While my time in deep sleep was much the same, there was a dramatic change to the time I spent awake in my sleep, as well as the time I actually spent asleep overall. And yes, as the wellness experts that I met during the day suggested, with repeated visits I will probably start to see more benefits, but even after a single day at the Equinox Hotel, I can say that I did have the best sleep of my life.
The Art + Science of Sleep by Equinox Hotels is now available for booking here.
