Sleep Deprived? These Luxury Mattresses Will Have You Counting Sheep in No Time

When the thaw starts in Svalbard, Norway, and midsummer looms, the female eider ducks start shedding their down. The balls of fluff trap air, which makes eiderdown the perfect insulation for winters that plummet to a brisk four below zero—and the ideal material for what is the king of duvets. Norvegr , a family-run Norwegian company, will make just 100 eiderdown duvets in a good year, 50 if pickings are slim, with prices starting at $3,600 and soaring to $33,200 for the polar style, the brand’s plumpest option. Oceans away in New York, the Netherlands-based company FreshBed delivers one of its $50,000 mattresses to a customer. The price includes an assessment by a sleep coach and a doctor, the latter of whom might, say, prescribe the popular sleep aid magnesium if a blood test finds a deficiency. FreshBed might also suggest structural changes to the bedroom, such as a new ventilation system to ensure that humidity from the bathroom doesn’t raise the temperature above the 64 degrees many doctors recommend for a good night’s rest. Welcome to the world of super-high-end slumber, in which sleeping in is the new going out. Whereas a few decades ago it was a Wall Street badge of honor to survive on four hours’ shut-eye a night, today there is a new interest in self-care, wellness and mindfulness, not to mention a spate of news coverage on the potentially devastating impact that a lack of sleep wreaks on the heart, brain and longevity. “The idea that sleep is passive time is not the case; it is vital for cognitive function in memory,” says Alanna Hare, consultant physician in respiratory and sleep medicine at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Specialist Care, whose London patients are mainly stressed-out executives. “The brain has a waste-disposal system that […]

Click here to view full article