London hotel guests may find strangers in their beds

Check into one London hotel and you might find there's already someone else in your bed since the property, the Holiday Inn Kensington (www.hikensingtonforumhotel.co.uk) has started encouraging staff to hop under the duvet.

That's right. The hotel is asking staff to jump into guests' beds, but they say it's all part of the service.

Aware that some guests don't like to get between cold sheets, the hotel is offering a free human bed warming service. Employees dressed in head-to-toe sleep suits will get into beds and warm them for up to five minutes.

A hotel spokeswoman likened the service to 'a giant hot water bottle', but of course the member of staff is expected to vacate the bed before the guest gets in. A free snuggle is not included.

The complimentary service is on trial in London's Kensington Forum Holiday Inn until January 25 for bed warming sessions between 9pm and 11pm. Of course you don't have to have a stranger sleeping in your bed, even for five-minutes. The service is available only on request.

Sleep scientists say a warm bed at the start of the night helps people to get a decent sleep, so taking the chill off the sheets seems to make sense. But why a quality hotel has cold beds to begin with is a little mystifying - can't they just turn up the central heating? More efficient perhaps, but cynics might say that wouldn't earn them quite as much publicity!

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