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Whether at home or travelling, getting a good night’s sleep is essential to start the day well. All hotels have the mission to offer this benefit to travellers and some of them are pretty serious about the matter, providing signature beds to make sure their guests snooze well during their stay. But a bed in Singapore can be very different to a bed in the USA.
Ahead of World Sleep Day, travel search engine KAYAK.sg has compiled a list of the world’s quirkiest facts for this important piece of furniture that everyone relies so heavily upon to get their much needed rest.
1. Exotic names for triple room beds
The research revealed that the most exotically named beds can be found in the United Kingdom, where beds in triple rooms can have names such as Eastern King, Emperor or Caesar. Here up to three hotel guests can snooze comfortably in a very spacious bed of up to 245cm wide and 220 cm long.
2. Bonne nuit in “French” beds
One double bed type that can be found In Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Greece is the “French Bed” – so-called perhaps because the French are known for romance…? Commonly these beds are also smaller than standard-sized double beds, so it can get quite cozy for two people.
3. Conservative sleeping time
At the conservative end of the bed name spectrum, hotels in Italy and Poland use the moniker “Matrimonial” for double bed types, a seemingly old-fashioned presumption of the marital status of a couple.
4. The king amongst the double beds
The USA is the kingdom of the biggest beds around: the Grand King Bed is the longest double width bed available at 250cm, but travellers can go even further and request a custom oversized bed, which is an impressive 360cm x 300cm.
5. Mind the gap in the double bed
Travellers to Germany, Austria or Switzerland who are looking for a comfortable stay on a double bed with one mattress, should take care to check with their hotel ahead of time, as a ‘double bed’ in these countries often consists of two single beds that are pushed together.
6. Bed types unlimited
When heading for a stay in the USA or Japan, a vast array of bed options awaits, with a choice of up to 11 bed types depending on hotel offers and availability.
7. Spacious single beds Down Under
Beds in Australia and New Zealand are all about comfort for the solo traveller, with King Singles at a spacious 107cm wide and up to 204cm long.
8. Compact single beds
Hotels in Britain join those in Norway, Sweden and Ireland by offering the world’s narrowest single beds to travellers, measuring a width of just 75cm. Singapore’s singles come in wider at 90cm.
9. California Dreaming
In the USA and Canada, travellers can rest up on a curiously named ‘California Bed’, or ’California King Bed’. Why California? The name harks back to the bed’s origins in 1960s Los Angeles. These days a ‘California King’ can be found as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
10. No name bed types
Heading further East and on a trip to the land of the red dragon: in China beds are commonly classified and named by their width alone.
