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NYC hotel's sleep concierge guarantees zzzz's

Tuesday, October 9, 2007 | 03:00 PM ET

The Associated Press

A New York City hotel is so determined to make sure its customers get a good night's rest that it has its own sleep concierge.

"I've learned a lot about sleep since I started this job," said Anya Orlanska, who took the job at The Benjamin, a midtown Manhattan hotel, four months ago. "There are so many things that can be done."

The hotel, which created the position several years ago, is serious about its mission. The Benjamin offers customers a mattress specifically created for the hotel and a menu of over a dozen different pillows, including one with a speaker built into it and a cord that plugs into an iPod.

Guests also have the option of a before-bedtime massage and snacks believed to make you sleepy — for an extra charge.

"We've done a lot of research regarding sleeping, how to make people comfortable," Orlanska said Monday.

She said she's taken the hotel's different types of pillows — some made with buckwheat, others with down — home with her to try them out for a couple of days.

"You have to experience it yourself to actually sell the product," she said.

The hotel guarantees customers will sleep as well at the hotel as they do at home, or they get a free night's stay.

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