The First Night in a Hotel: Why Your Brain Doesn't Always Switch Off

The first night in a hotel, why your brain doesn’t switch off.

For many people, the first night in a hotel can be surprisingly different from the nights that follow.

You might arrive tired after travelling, settle into a beautifully designed room and look forward to a good night's sleep.

The bed is comfortable, the curtains are closed and everything appears to be in place. Yet when you finally turn out the light, you may find yourself more aware of your surroundings than you expected.

A noise from the corridor catches your attention. The heating sounds unfamiliar. Light from outside comes through the curtains in a different way. You wake during the night and, for a moment, have to remind yourself where you are.

There is nothing particularly unusual about this experience. It is part of the way our brains respond to unfamiliar environments, and it is one of the reasons why the First Night Effect (FNE) is so relevant to the hotel industry.

At Soothr, we are interested in what happens during this transition from being somewhere new and stimulating to feeling sufficiently settled to relax.

We believe that the first few hours of a hotel stay provide an opportunity for hospitality to think beyond the traditional idea of a comfortable bedroom.

A hotel room may be comfortable, but it is still unfamiliar

Hotels spend considerable time creating environments that are visually appealing and physically comfortable.

Quality mattresses, carefully selected bedding, blackout curtains, temperature control and good sound insulation all contribute to a positive sleeping environment.

These things matter, but comfort is not purely physical.

When we sleep at home, our brains are familiar with almost everything around us. We know what the room sounds like at night and how much light normally enters through the curtains.

We know the feel of the mattress and pillows, the temperature of the room and the sounds that occasionally come from elsewhere in the house.

We don't have to consciously process any of this.

A hotel room is different because it is a new environment. Even when the room is exceptionally well designed, the brain has not yet developed the same familiarity with it.

That unfamiliarity can contribute to changes in the way we sleep during the first night.

What is happening while we sleep?

The First Night Effect has been observed in sleep research for many years.

Studies have found that people can experience changes in sleep when spending their first night in an unfamiliar environment, including taking longer to fall asleep and experiencing more disrupted sleep.

One explanation is that part of the brain remains more responsive to the environment during the first night. Rather than completely switching off from the surroundings, it continues to monitor what is happening around us.

This is not something we consciously decide to do. It is an automatic response.

From an evolutionary perspective, there is a logic to being more alert in an unfamiliar environment. If we don't know our surroundings, remaining responsive to unexpected sounds or changes may have provided a degree of protection.

Modern hotel guests obviously aren't sleeping in unfamiliar environments because they need to watch out for predators, but the basic mechanisms that influence how we respond to unfamiliar surroundings haven't disappeared.

The result can simply be that our first night somewhere new doesn't feel quite the same as sleeping at home.

Travel itself can make the transition harder

The unfamiliar bedroom is only part of the story.

By the time a guest reaches their room, they may already have experienced several hours of stimulation.

They may have driven a long distance, travelled by train or plane, attended meetings, dealt with traffic, navigated an unfamiliar city or simply spent the day doing things that are outside their normal routine.

Even when the journey has been enjoyable, it represents a change from the familiar patterns of everyday life.

Then comes check-in, finding the room, unpacking and deciding what to do for the evening.

Eventually, the guest closes the bedroom door and expects to relax.

The problem is that the mind does not necessarily work according to the same timetable.

Being physically tired does not automatically mean that we are mentally ready to switch off.

This is one of the reasons we believe the transition into rest deserves more attention in hospitality.

The importance of what happens before sleep

When we talk about hotel sleep, the conversation often focuses on the bed itself.

Of course, a comfortable bed is fundamental. However, there is a period of time before the guest gets into bed when they are making the transition from the outside world into their temporary environment.

This period can be surprisingly important.

At home, that transition is often supported by familiar routines. We might make a drink, shower, read, listen to music, watch something for a while or use a particular product before going to bed.

Over time, these behaviours become associated with the end of the day.

In a hotel, those routines can disappear.

The guest may have travelled without their usual bedtime products or may simply find themselves following a completely different routine.

This doesn't mean that a hotel needs to recreate everything a guest does at home. In fact, trying to do so would miss the point of hospitality.

Instead, there is an opportunity to introduce a few simple cues that encourage the guest to slow down.

This is where the Soothr concept begins

Soothr was created around the idea that calm can be deliberately introduced into the guest experience.

We don't claim that a sensory wellbeing box can eliminate the First Night Effect, and we don't believe that hotels should make promises about guaranteeing sleep.

Our approach is much simpler.

We want to give guests an opportunity to create a short personal ritual that helps them move away from the stimulation of travel and towards a calmer evening.

The Soothr experience brings together a selection of sensory wellbeing tools with access to the Soothr app. Guests can choose how they use them rather than being presented with a prescriptive routine.

For one person, that might mean using a pillow spray before getting into bed. For another, it could be enjoying a cup of tea, using a calming balm or listening to a relaxing soundscape through the app.

The products are not the entire experience.

The ritual is the experience.

Giving guests permission to pause

There is another element that we believe is important.

Modern life gives people very few natural opportunities to stop.

Even when we travel for leisure, we can remain connected to emails, social media, messages and everything happening at home.

A hotel room can become another place where we continue consuming information rather than somewhere we genuinely disconnect.

A thoughtfully designed wellbeing experience can provide a small interruption to that pattern.

Opening a Soothr box creates a moment where the guest is encouraged to stop and choose what they need.

It might take only a few minutes, but those minutes can create a clear distinction between the activity of the day and the quieter part of the evening.

That is particularly relevant during the first night, when the guest is still becoming accustomed to their surroundings.

The sensory environment matters

Our experience of a hotel room is influenced by much more than what we see.

Sound, temperature, lighting, touch and scent all contribute to how a space feels.

Scent is particularly interesting because it can become closely associated with memories and places. A distinctive fragrance experienced during a relaxing hotel stay can potentially become part of the memory of that stay.

This is one reason why the sensory elements within Soothr have been carefully considered.

We are not trying to fill a hotel room with fragrance or overwhelm the guest with products. The intention is to provide subtle sensory cues that can become part of an individual's personal ritual.

There is also an opportunity for that experience to continue beyond the hotel.

A guest who takes a Soothr product home may encounter the same scent again weeks later, potentially bringing back memories of the hotel and the feeling associated with their stay.

For a hotel, that creates an interesting connection between the experience of staying somewhere and the memory of having stayed there.

What can hotels do differently?

The First Night Effect isn't a problem that hotels are expected to solve. Sleep is influenced by countless factors, many of which are outside the hotel's control.

What hotels can influence is the environment and the experience they create around the guest.

That might involve paying attention to lighting in the evening, reducing unnecessary noise, making the room feel welcoming when the guest first enters or providing thoughtful touches that encourage relaxation.

It might also mean thinking about what happens between the guest arriving in their room and finally going to sleep.

This is where we believe there is a growing opportunity for hotels to think about wellbeing differently.

Rather than simply adding another product to the bedroom, the focus can be on creating an experience that helps the guest transition from arrival to relaxation.

The first night can become part of the experience

A hotel stay is made up of hundreds of small interactions, but not all of them have the same emotional impact.

The first evening is particularly significant because it is when the guest begins to form their relationship with the room and the property.

They are moving from somewhere familiar into somewhere new and establishing their own sense of comfort within that environment.

The First Night Effect helps us understand why that transition may not always be straightforward.

For Soothr, it also represents an opportunity.

We believe the role of a modern hotel amenity should not simply be to provide something useful. It can also create a moment, establish a ritual and contribute to the emotional memory of the stay.

A comfortable bed matters enormously, but so does everything that happens before the guest gets into it.

Perhaps the question for hospitality isn't simply "How can we help our guests sleep better?"

Perhaps it is also:

"How can we help them feel settled enough to switch off?"

That is the space in which Soothr operates.

Not by promising perfect sleep, but by creating a thoughtful opportunity for guests to pause, settle into their surroundings and experience a little more calm during their stay.

Soothr. The gift of calm.