Hotels Cash In as Millennials, Gen Z Embrace 'Sleepcations'

Forget the packed itinerary: Some travelers are now checking into hotels with plans to do almost nothing but sleep. The Wall Street Journal reports on the rise of the "sleepcation," especially among millennials and members of Gen Z, who are trading sunrise hikes and sightseeing for blackout curtains, comfy mattresses, and 16-hour snooze sessions. Hotels are eagerly catering to them with add-on sleep packages—think CBD gummies, weighted blankets, lavender eye masks, and even a pillow "menu" that lets guests fine-tune their head support.

The trend is lucrative for the industry, and even high-end chains like Four Seasons are taking advantage. Patrons who linger in bed don't usually strain facilities, but they do tend to splurge on room service and upgrades that include high-tech sleep-tracking beds. Sleep specialists, however, warn that these marathon rest weekends don't solve chronic sleep deprivation and are no substitute for a healthy nightly routine.

Still, for exhausted nurses, overworked developers, and stressed-out travelers, a weekend of doing nothing can feel like the most indulgent trip of all—and it's not as small a group as you might think. Per HuffPost, a recent travel trends report found that "sleeping" outranked "shopping" and "nightlife" on the list of main vacay activities for US travelers.

Some adventure-seekers, however, say they can't imagine using their vacation time like that. "If I'm paying a lot of money to go somewhere, and fly across the world, why would I want to waste the time sleeping?" one asks the Journal. Looking to catch some shut-eye outside of the US? Here are the best EU cities for overseas snoozefests.