Along with pillows, hotel bedding duvets are the most important part of your bedding, helping you achieve a better night’s sleep, no matter where you may be.
When staying at a hotel anywhere in the world, the comfort of the bed is one of the most important factors for the hotel in question to consider. Thick duvets in a good hotel are often seen as the gold standard for a cosy bed at night.
A good night’s sleep simply cannot be rivalled and when staying in a hotel, the likes of goose down duvets and goose down pillows can make a hugely positive difference to the quality of sleep that any guest in the hotel enjoys.
The best hotels always have nice, thick duvets that aren't too heavy or too warm. Find out how you can bring the hotel comfort to your home, by understanding what types of duvets and pillows hotels use, and better the quality of your sleep for good.
What Is a Duvet?
A duvet is the bed blanket or cover that goes on top of the rest of the bedding and is often used for warmth and insulation. Duvets are also commonly referred to as quilts.
A duvet is not only used in cold weather, as materials used on the outside such as cotton or bamboo can also be cooling for the hot seasons. On the inside, duvets are filled with feathers, microfibres, down, and other materials that serve as insulators, depending on the specific duvet you choose to use.
What Types of Duvets Are Used in Hotel Bedding?
The quality level of the duvet used by any hotel will depend on the type of hotel. Luxury hotels will of course use higher-quality duvets, but this is a luxury that a mid-range hotel may not be able to afford.
This may mean that goose down duvets are used, or it may mean that another type of luxury bedding is used by the hotel. On the other hand, a hotelier will not necessarily want to equip their hotel with brand new duvets every few years, so the duvets and bedding used for guests must be both robust and durable as well as comfortable.
Hotels may use different types of bedding, ranging from percale bedding to cotton and more. Besides, what type of duvet hotels use will depend on the hotel in question.
Duvets in hotels must also be cleaned and washed regularly, so they must be easy to care for and withstand many washes. In this regard, one of the most durable fillings is a Hungarian goose down duvet.
Another difference, which also depends on the type of hotel, is the change between summer and winter duvets. In luxury hotels it is normal for the hotel to switch between summer and winter duvets as the seasons change and, depending on the season, there are usually thinner or thicker spare blankets to choose from.
A good duvet should allow you to move freely and at the same time protect you from temperature fluctuations. These ideal characteristics are mainly provided by the duvet filling material.
So, is there a difference between a down duvet and a polyester duvet for a hotel guest? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one? Keep reading to find out.
Down Duvets and Goose Down Duvets
For a healthy and restful night's sleep, a duvet serves to regulate the temperature and comfortably warm the sleeper with the minimum weight possible. Down duvets, and specifically, Hungarian goose down duvets, fulfil this purpose perfectly, and at the same time are distinguished by their natural breathability.
Goose down in duvets is very often used to fill the duvets in luxury hotels, as it is light and has a fluffy, cloud-like feel. Goose down is also available in various qualities and the higher the filling power, the better the capacity and the lighter (and fluffier) the duvet is likely to be.
Duck feathers and duck down, which may also be used in hotels are similar, but smaller, and therefore heavier and less durable than goose feathers. These qualities make goose and duck down ideal materials for duvets, able to be used in both winter and summer. They are also usually accompanied by covers made of cotton with a high thread count, which gives them a fresh and airy feel. However, these advantages come at a cost.
Down duvets, and specially Hungarian goose down duvets, can be the most expensive types of duvets, and are therefore often used in luxury and higher-end hotels.
Polyester Duvets
Synthetic duvet fillings, such as polyester, are typically made from materials such as microfibres, hollowfibre polyester and even recyclable materials like plastics. They seek to mimic the attributes of feather and goose down and are more affordable and often more accessible. Microfibre is similar to hollowfibre, except that it is a tighter weave.
Thus, microfibre duvets are usually lightweight. Synthetic materials often do not insulate as well as natural fillings but can be washed much more easily and without fuss. Down fillings tend to be more delicate to wash, as certain detergents can deteriorate them.
Many hotels use polyester duvets, as they are pleasantly warm in winter and can have good insulating properties, such as in the case of hollowfibre duvets.
However, they can sometimes be a little hot and heavy in summer and do not really outperform the qualities of a down duvet filling.
Feather Duvets Explained
Feather duvets or duvets with a mixture of feathers and down are rarer and are mostly used in winter, as they are somewhat bulky and warm very well.
This is mainly due to feathers having a firmer core and so, in addition to the feather's natural ability to store heat better and return it evenly, the cover must be made of a thicker material.
As a result, feather duvets tend to be somewhat heavier compared to down and polyester duvets, which are comparatively light and breathable. So in hot weather, a feather duvet would be inadvisable.
What Duvets Do the Best Hotels Use for their Bedding?
Five-star hotels always pay attention to bed linen as well as any other detail within their facilities. Many of them even have mattresses, pillows, sheets and duvets for sale, so you can have access to them.
Generally, goose down duvets are available in the best hotels around the world, but there are also synthetic and hypoallergenic options.
The W Hotel chain for example uses duck down fill, as well as synthetic down alternatives. Meanwhile, The Marriott hotel chain sells down duvets as well as synthetic and hypoallergenic alternatives, but does not specify if they have goose or duck down.
Last, but not least, The Ritz-Carlton hotel uses a combination of down and natural Lyocell in its duvets. Lyocell is an environmentally-friendly semi-synthetic fibre, made from cellulose wood, that has amazing properties.
