How to Build a Home Bedding System Worthy of Your Favorite Boutique Hotel

Your eight hours deserve to feel (and look) this good

Updated March 14, 2023 6:22 am
A hotel bedroom
Here, we assemble all the pillows, blankets and sheets you need for better sleep.
Unsplash

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Hotels (and increasingly, Airbnbs) know how important it is that you grab a solid eight hours of snoozin’. If the sheets are too scratchy, the bed platform’s too rickety, or, god forbid, the outlets are too far away for you to charge your phone while lying supine, the front desk is probably going to hear about it.

That’s why they largely (highway motels excluded) take great pains to provide a superior sleeping experience. They prioritize sheets with high thread counts and stack the bed with more pillows than you’ve probably ever owned in your life. And younger, hipper boutique hotels have recently taken the production a step further, including high-performance memory foam mattresses, or bedspreads dotted in designs from local artists.

That same care and pride doesn’t always filter into our home bedspreads. Which is silly. Why should we have to trouble for effective, beautiful bedspreads? We’re of the mind that if you’re going to spend a third of your life doing something, you should probably be doing it right. The first step, then, is finding the right materials. There are a million brands fighting for attention in this space, and a billion bloggers fighting for clicks on which products are most worthy of your attention. Some of it is exciting. Most of it is bad.

So you don’t have to filter through all that, we’ve rounded up some of our favorites for filling out a hotel-worthy set-up in your bedroom. Below, you’ll find a platform frame from some Detroit designers, memory foam pillows and the best comforter on the planet. The idea is to assemble something you can be proud of, and then sleep in, so you can wake up and be proud some more. Here are our picks.

FLOYD Platform Bed Frame

Less frame is more. The wizards at Detroit-based Floyd ship their furniture flat-packed and ready to assemble in a measly five minutes. Their plywood Platform Bed relies on a pared-back design that allows you to maximize mattress space and minimize your chance of a stubbed toe. It doesn’t need a box spring, easily attaches to a headboard, and would look right at home in the studio apartment of a Scandinavian sculptor, let alone a downtown boutique hotel.

Saatva Classic Mattress

This is the mattress your knees deserve after a day spent wedged in an airplane seat. Saatva was started in 2011 and makes its Classic mattress with a “hotel style” organic pillow topper, above layers of memory foam and coiled springs. People spending big on a bed 15 years ago can get higher quality here for thousands less. The brand makes all its beds Stateside, using eco-friendly materials in the their construction, with options for every type of sleeper. Choose between “Plush Soft,” “Luxury Firm,” and “Firm” to suit your sleeping needs; you’ll likely end up in the middle category, but be sure to check out the fine print for each.

Leesa Pillow

This Virgina Beach-based brand has only been around since 2014 but already has an exclusive partnership with West Elm and is gunning for $1 billion in sales by the end of its first five years. If it gets there, it’ll be thanks in part to these American-made memory foam pillows, which are cut as one shape from the same fabric (literally) as the brand’s mattresses, and much beloved by the internet. Leesa also donates one pillow for every 10 sold, in case you have a heart.

Buffy Cloud Comforter

Our favorite comforter here at InsideHook. We tested out this comforter earlier in the year and were most impressed by its self-regulated body temperature. Steamy, chilly … it doesn’t matter. It feels the same either way, thanks to a unique eucalyptus fiber-recycled polyester weave. Buffy is a new kid on the block, so you definitely wouldn’t find it used at a Hilton or a Ritz, but that firehouse-turned-hotel around the corner with just 14 rooms and a speakeasy? Hell yeah, they know.

Brooklinen Luxe Starter Set Sheet

Don’t get us started on Brooklinen sheets. The OG sheet disruptor has been making sheets that out-punch their price for years, and you’d be wise to enlist them for your bedding needs. For a distinct hotel feel, we recommend the Luxe Sateen set. The thread count is high (480), they’ve got a high-sheen finish, and they’re also just cleverly made; Brooklinen (discreetly) labels the underside of the sheets “SHORT END” or “LONG END” so you get it right the first time when dressing your bed, while their pillowcases come with a closure feature that mimics an envelope.

Four Seasons Down & Feather Pillow

Four Seasons recently launched a shop to sell the famously plush robes, towels and bedding you get to use at their hotels. We’re tagging the luxury brand in here for their throw pillows — those smaller cushions in front of the main sleeping pillows, which come in clutch during TV or reading time. These particular pillows are filled with a down and feather blend, a nice slice of old-school luxury. They have high thread counts, piped edges, and come in a classic white.

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