A Good Night's Sleep
- Posted By Andrew Morgan
It’s the dream of everyone to get a good night’s sleep and therefore be fresh for the new day ahead. For some its easy, not so for others. Travelling is often a time that people struggle to get a good night’s sleep. Whether it’s outside noise, thinking about the day gone or the day ahead, being away from family or just being out of one’s own comfort zone or own bed. There can be one other issue that affects whether we have good kip, and that is the standard of the bed and/or bedding we are sleeping on.
We all have a tale of woe at some time in our lives about “the motel bed that we slept on was the worst bed ever, and not even Sleeping Beauty could get a wink of sleep on it. It was a night to forget and there was no sleep had and we will never forget it…” They will continue to bring it up when any conversation allows it to be introduced. It’s a familiar tale told through the ages.
The common story goes something like this. Once upon a time… a motel guest parked their car outside their unit. They chose this motel because it looked like a good quality motel from the street or online that suited their requirements. They opened the front door after a long day on the road, ready for a good night sleep. They comment that they are so tired they could sleep on the floor if they had to. They look around the unit and like what they see, the room is very nicely appointed. They look past the bed, then stop, and look back as something catches their eye. “Does the bed look saggy? It does. It is!”. To their horror, the bed is sagging in the middle and looks as though it was new back in 1989. Albeit very disappointed with the look of the bed after the long drive, they don’t say anything to management, and proceed to toss and turn all night, resulting in the worst night’s sleep they have ever had. The next day they leave the motel vowing never to return because of the bedding, at the same time armed with a story for the ages of how horrible their sleep was at the XYZ Motel in the town of Any Town Australia. Then ensues a lifetime of the bad publicity for that motel brought up when the opportunity arises.
Over the past 28 years of motel brokerage and who knows how many motel inspections, I still cringe when I walk into a motel unit with a potential buyer for the motel, only to see a beautiful room spoilt by a bed that should have been upgraded ten years ago. By the way, I am not the only one who notices as we walk in. One of the first things a potential buyer of a motel does when they enter a room is to lift the bedspread to check the mattress, sit on the bed and inspect the bedding situation. If the bed is sagging and well past its use by date, immediately the potential buyer becomes concerned about what else in the property needs replacing. One of the first things asked is, “when were all the beds last replaced?” Not an easy question to answer as generally beds are replaced as required, not all at once. Nevertheless, they are asking a question they already know the answer to. Too long ago!
As anyone within the motel industry knows, one of the fundamental items of a motel unit is a good quality bed. Without this, you may as well throw away the OLED or 4K LCD television, quiet split system air conditioner, free WiFi and all the other goodies, because that bed has now done more damage than any of these items put together can make up for. When that guest tells one of his friends not to stay at that motel because they will not get a good night sleep, the cost to replace that bed now seems like a drop in the ocean compared to the potential business lost from bad word of mouth reports.
Beds can be easily replaced (at a cost of course), and can be done regularly, rather than when the sag in the centre appears. To a guest a bed is the be all and end all. It is the difference between giving the best free advertising for a motel to everyone they speak to. Or it can also be the worst adverting when they review the motel online or discuss it in person, when the bed is not up to scratch. To a potential buyer of a motel business that is reasonable in nature, it is not the be all and end all, but is a warning sign of what may be to come as they look further. Even though they are easily replaced, it is a concern that such an important item within the complex has been neglected. Human nature then makes a buyer wonder what else is not up to scratch if one of the most important items, such as the beds, are in poor condition.
The difference between a good quality bed and one ready for the scrap heap cannot be overstated, and no one can be fooled by a poor bed dressed up to look five star. Regular replacement of bedding not only ensures happy guests, but (as silly as it may sound) come sale time, can help to play a role in achieving a successful sale.