Helping business travelers cope with jet lag: how to get a restful night at hotels

Whether you travel for business or leisure, adjusting to new climates, environments and a different time zone coupled with feelings of anticipation and jetlag can severely prevent you from getting a good night's sleep.

Travelling can cause an imbalance in the body's biological clock, disrupting the 24-hour natural cycles known as circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms help our bodies learn when to carry out essential functions. These rhythms are measured by the rise and fall of body temperature, plasma levels of certain hormones, metabolism, and other biological processes. And these are influenced by exposure to sunlight.

To delve deeper into the triggers of travel-induced insomnia, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) commissioned a global study to learn more about how travelling can disrupt sleep patterns.

To stay healthy and alert, the average adult needs an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. However, IHG's research showed that a whopping 79% of travelers have trouble sleeping while away from home. The key findings also revealed that business travelers only sleep an average of 5 hours and 17 minutes each night while on the road.

The most significant causes of a restless night while travelling include being in a different environment (44%), unfamiliar noises (35%), and working late (35%). In their attempts to fall asleep, nearly half try listening to music (47%) or watching TV (45%). 47% have also tried other remedies, such as drinking warm milk, to help them fall asleep.

Investing in a wellness experience for guests

(IHG) takes a serious view on travel-induced insomnia as restless nights away from home can severely impair the guest experience. It could also cause business travelers to lose focus and productivity.

To help guests sleep better, IHG has partnered with Healthe by Lighting Science, a global leader in innovative LED lighting solutions, to pilot the use of state-of-the-art circadian lighting in hotel rooms.

Against stiff competition in the hospitality wellness landscape, many other luxury hoteliers have also prioritized a good night's rest. Equinox Hotels, for instance, have rooms featuring extensive soundproofing, high-tech Lutron temperature, lighting and room control systems. Their rooms also come with blackout blinds and mattresses made with layers of coconut fiber and other natural materials.

By investing in blue-free lighting, hotels can help business travelers feel refreshed and adequately align their circadian rhythm. Completely blue-free lighting supports circadian rhythms by assisting guests in winding down, as blue light can cause guests to feel more energized and alert at night.

To be sure,?the use of health-oriented blue-free lighting has been incorporated into the WELL Building Standard . The WELL Building Standard includes healthy design into modern building practices to improve the health and well-being of inhabitants. In addition, hotels now have the opportunity to be WELL certified, which could send a clear message to potential consumers that their health and sleep is a top priority.

In recent years, YanChoo Yeo, an associate at Light Directions, said she sees more lighting technology applications mimicking daylight. "This refers to dimmer warmer light that draws calm and brighter cooler light, which energizes wakefulness in an attempt to accommodate or improve the body's circadian rhythm. According to her, there’s emerging interest amongst hotels to invest in 'wellness suites' to attract guests looking for this level of care.?

While research has shown there is gradual improvement in productivity and subjective positive well-being with 'wake-up daylight', the results are less evident when shifting melatonin onsets, which is typically used in products like blue light eyewear and pills to combat jetlag. Nevertheless, YanChoo said this concept has served as the basis in some of its projects, and the firm had applied it in an airport lounge project.

Guests can dial into their original time zone and destination time zone at the particular airport lounge. An intelligent lighting program is used at the lounge to automate the light scene transition to prepare their senses for the destination condition. “Hotels could look towards investing in such program as part of the room's welcome program if they know their guests’ flight schedule. This will allow guests to have greater flexibility ?and control of what their body clock need rather than prescribing a standard level of light found in most hotel standards,” says YanChoo.

To achieve a certain luxury level, YanChoo notes that some hotels may try to add more lights that may come in the form of a direct view light source, such as commonly found ceiling reading lights above the bed and at the shower head or over the center of a bathtub. "A good hotel guestroom lighting design should avoid causing any glare to guests as this could potentially disrupt their sleep," she explains.

Instead, YanChoo would encourage hoteliers to consider how lighting is applied on vertical surfaces and contrast levels between light and shadow. "Too much lighting may be harsh, too little space becomes flat. So we can balance that with soft decorative lamp shades to create a comfortably lit space for rest,” she adds.

For the hotel lighting projects that Light Directions embark on, they would typically use color temperatures ranging from 2700K to 3000K, and that is the kind of warm white color that lulls you to bed at dimmed level, which is already quite low on the blue light spectrum. “I am excited to see how we can be more creative in the future about using bio-adaptive lights in guestrooms and hopefully this will add value and economies of scale for hoteliers in the next decade,” says YanChoo.

How Does Blue Light Affect Sleep?

By now, you’ll know that our circadian rhythms are closely aligned with light, which is primarily related to sunrise and sunset. But, increasingly, we are being exposed to large amounts of light before bedtime due to the advent of artificial light and electronic devices.

Most of our exposure to blue light comes from the sun. During the day, blue light stimulates parts of the brain that?make us feel alert6 , elevating our body temperature and heart rate. Blue light exposure in the day can help to improve performance and attention. It also suppresses?our release of melatonin8 , a hormone that makes us feel drowsy. But exposure to blue light in the evening can trick our brain into thinking it’s still daytime. This will disrupt our circadian rhythms and lead us to feel alert instead of tired.

In the long run, a misalignment of circadian rhythms can also lead to many health issues, including metabolic disorders and mental health conditions such as depression. So we need to understand the sources of blue light and how to reduce these risks.

Common sources of blue light include:

·???????Fluorescent lights

·???????LED lights

·???????Smartphones

·???????Televisions

·???????Computer screens

·???????Tablets

·???????E-readers

·???????Video game consoles

At Soraa, our professional home lighting and accessories solve this fundamental challenge. One of our products, Soraa ZEROBLUE is tailor-made for consumers to create a zero blue light environment that lays a healthier, more natural foundation for sleep all day long and, most importantly, at night.

?Soraa ZEROBLUE is built to leverage the zero blue from the visible lighting spectrum at the appropriate times throughout the day to keep your circadian rhythm in balance. Designed with ZEROBLUE technology, Soraa HEALTHY lamps help the body recognize the end of the day as nature intended. In turn, people are better prepared for sleep than when exposed to light with blue content in the visible spectrum. By being more aware of how your home and hotel lighting can impact your sleep and work cycle, you can transform your environment to give you the level of restfulness and productivity that you desire.

Beyond lighting, you can also take other steps to prepare your body for a restful sleep at night. I’ve listed a few easy tips below to keep you from getting the blues at night.

·???????Use Blue Light Blocking Glasses at Night.

·???????Make your iPhone Work the Night Shift.

·???????Use a tinted screen cover for your phone or tablet to mute the blue light

·???????Install light-blocking curtains or blinds.