Rest assured: Why Health Pak's new guest amenities help guarantee a good night's sleep

Published on Aug 10, 2017

HealthPak is expanding its range of guest amenities and launching a new aromatherapy product to help people get the sleep they deserve when staying in New Zealand.

The new moist aromatherapy towelette will also mark the debut of a new HealthPak brand to be known as Still Botanicals, inspired by the company’s latest acquisition, Daisy, a traditional copper still that’s being used to distil hydrosols and essential oils from New Zealand-sourced herbs and plants for use in New Zealand customised hair and skincare products.

The other products to be added to the ranges are ear buds and eye masks, just to ensure light sleepers have all they need to ensure a great night’s sleep.

General manager sales & marketing Jimi Kennedy-Grant said he’d long wondered about introducing these sort of products to the sanitary bags, shower caps, dental, shaving, vanity and sewing kits already available in many guest amenity ranges, but had often received feedback from accommodation providers that they somehow intimated that guests might find rooms too noisy.

“Then, the weirdest thing,” says Jimi. “Out of nowhere, three hotel chains contacted me in the space of a week all requesting these three products: ear buds, eye masks and some kind of aromatherapy product.

“In the past people haven’t gone for this kind of product as they think it somehow implies their rooms are noisy – but this goes to show that guests are totally fine with seeing these products in their rooms. It’s far more about the fact that guests who are travelling for business or on holiday simply don’t want anything to come between themselves and a good night’s sleep. They may have children at home and are looking forward to a night of peace – they just want to guarantee it.

“And when you get three hotel chains in a week requesting these products, you realise that it’s time to launch them on to the market.”

The moist aromatherapy towelette is made using a blend of marjoram and lavender essential oils and is packaged in a foil-back sachet. It is designed to be left on a guest’s pillow as part of a turndown service so that the guest can apply the soothing oils to their wrists and temples before they tuck in for the night.

Jimi says the 3.5 million visitors who visited New Zealand in the year to April and the hundreds of thousands of Kiwis who travel for business each year are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding about what they expect of their accommodation. Add to that the fact that our fastest growing market, Asia, is also changing from a tour group style of tourism to more individual tourists who want a more tailored experience, and it’s becoming ever-more important to provide as wide a range of guest amenities as possible.

“The starting point is having guest amenities which point to New Zealand-made and sourced ingredients to help give visitors that authentic New Zealand experience,” Jimi says. “But then you find that more and more guests are looking for those small added extras and points of difference – they can make a real impact on how a guest rates their experience in their chosen accommodation.

“It all comes back to guest experience: it doesn’t matter how good or flash the bottle of shampoo is in the room, all guests expect it. But if they see just one item they haven’t seen before, even if they don’t use it, the reaction is ‘look they’ve got an aromatherapy kit’ and they’ll tell someone else about it.

“They might even have brought their own version that they’ve spent lots of money on and then they see something offered as part of their room’s inclusive amenities. These things make an impact and certainly make guests sit up and take notice.”

For more information on HealthPak’s new guest amenities contact us on +64 9 579 6268, at info@healthpak.co.nz or contact us via the website.