holiday inn

Human Bed-Warmer Service Offered in UK Hotels

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Services

Three Holiday Inn hotels in Britain are doing a trial this month of a very strange new take on a very old-fashioned service: they're offering human bed warmers.

Yes, on a cold winter's night you can have a Holiday Inn staff member climb into your bed and pre-warm it for you to the optimal temperature of 68º F (they carry a thermometer). Details on exactly how this service plays out are a little sketchy but we do know the staff member will wear an all-body fleece sleeper suit while they're in your bed and cover their hair, plus they'll get out before you get in. Unless they fall asleep, of course. Then you might have to give them a nudge.

Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall told Reuters "It's kind of like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed." Um, no. It's kind of like when you sit in a chair that's still warm from the last person and you can't help but feel a little dirty.

So why not just use one of those old-fashioned bed-warming pans that looks like a frying pan with a lid and a long handle? Slip that between the sheets with some nice hot coals inside and that bed will be nice and toasty in no time, minus the creep-factor. Or even an actual hot water bottle would work. There's something very luxurious and pampered about having a staff member come warm the sheets right before you get in (like you're royalty or something) but there's something distinctly not luxurious about having a stranger show up in a giant Snuggie with feet and a hair net ready to climb into your bed while you're brushing your teeth.

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