Cloud 10

One of my favorite fairy tales, The Princess and the Pea, tells of how a bed was able to weed out the impostors from a real princess. Remember how the true-blue princess in the tale (said to be based on a true story) remained uncomfortable despite dozens of mattresses piled on top of the other because at the bottom was a pea? As far as the princess was concerned, the pea made a mountain of a difference.

What the eye could not tell for sure, the bed told resoundingly.

A bed really is more than a cushioned platform on which to catch a few winks. Thus, it is on a bed–a $2,000, "heavenly" bed–that the Westin Philippine Plaza rested its hopes for a bigger slice of the tourist and business travel market. Worldwide, the Westin splurged $30 million on the "Heavenly Bed" project.

"You simply have to sleep on it," boasts the Westin’s marketing director Rose Libongco.

So what’s in a $2,000-bed? It’s all white and consists of 10 layers of heaven and 900 individual coils.

Rose enumerates: "The Heavenly Bed has a custom-designed pillow top mattress, three sheets ranging from 180 to 250 in thread count, a down blanket for tropical climate, a comforter and five pillows. Of the five pillows, two are king size."

Rica Peñalosa, the Westin’s PR manager, says a sleep survey of 600 business travelers revealed that 64 percent of them believed a "luxurious bed" was the best service a hotel could provide. The better to face the next day’s challenges, my dear!

As a result, Starwood (The Westin belongs to the Starwood chain) executives filled a hotel ballroom with 35 beds from 50 different hotels. After much sleeping around–literally–they came up with the Heavenly Bed.

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I was invited by Rose and Rica to try the Heavenly Bed, which is available in all 54 rooms and suites in the hotel’s 10th floor (the executive floor).

A hotel room is a hotel room is a hotel room. For a journalist in search of a story or in the midst of a fam tour, it is just a place to deposit luggage, transmit a story, bathe and sleep.

But sometimes, it could be heaven.

You have an inkling that you could be on Cloud 9 in the Westin’s 10th floor when on your room key is the promise: "Your key to heaven."

Well, one is never really prepared for heaven. Our suite exuded luxury and serenity that was as welcoming as music from the harp of the gods. There were no loud colors or bulky furniture pieces that jarred the soothing ambiance. No clutter to remind you of your tasks in the workplace or at home. Although there is no place like home, you sometimes need to take a breather from the mundane tasks associated with keeping house. And to give each room the warmth that is often missing from centrally air-conditioned hotel rooms, dainty clusters of rosebuds are perched on many tabletops in the Heavenly Suite. You awaken the next morning to sunshine filtering through the windows and the refreshing sight of rosebuds that bloomed in the night. If you’re a woman, the ambiance is bliss. If you’re a man and you’re with a woman, this is also bliss. Your partner couldn’t be in a better mood.

Each Heavenly Suite will also leave you with wet dreams–memories of the suite’s shower and sauna, that is. There are two shower heads in the cubicle which also doubles up as a sauna room. Director of Rooms Emma Tapang says the shower is heavenly because each shower head may be regulated to get the water pressure you like. As you bathe with water from one shower head, you get a tingling massage from the water that cascades from the other shower head. And if your idea of heaven is doing things in tandem with your mate, well, you know what to do.

Things get can really steamy in the bathroom. There is a push-button sauna in the expansive bathroom of the Heavenly Suite, but test that it works before you enter the cubicle. You don’t want to call for assistance when you’re already in your sauna suit.

And the Heavenly Bed? It felt warm and secure. Soft without being jelly-like. I tried feeling for a pea but fell asleep almost as soon as I let the Heavenly Bed cradle my body. Couldn’t tell if I was a princess but I dreamt I was one.

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At the Westin Philippine Plaza, occupancy is hitting over 90 percent despite the decline in tourist arrivals. The peak occupancy is attributed to the locals, especially to those attending conventions and seminars in the hotel. Tourists from Southeast Asia are also coming in droves.

If you’re hesitant about hopping on a plane these days, and yet are itching to go on a holiday, then by all means stay put. Save your dollars (Emma Tapang says heaven is affordable) and take a short drive to the Westin (more accessible now because of the Diosdado Macapagal Highway). Then take another trip (about five seconds without any stopovers) to the 10th floor. There is really such a thing as Cloud 10, you know.

(For inquiries, please call 832-69-91)

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