Relearning How to Sleep at A Swiss Spa

When I arrived at Chenot, I was informed that the purpose of Sleep Cycles is not to cure insomnia. “We try to synchronize your circadian rhythm with the day,” said Gaitanos. This happens through daily treatments meant to have a lasting impact. Your day begins when you wake each morning in your Sleep Room, swathed in FDA-approved Nanobionic bed linens that contain minerals activated by body heat. The sound of birdsong drifts from a speaker for 20 minutes, while lights that mimic natural rays flash from a panel on the ceiling. This is followed by another 20 minutes of neuroacoustic sound therapy, during which you put on headphones and stream calming sounds from an app. I found the idea of lounging in bed for so long sans coffee deeply anxiety-inducing, but Gaitanos assured me that the acoustic environment cuts off disruptive (i.e., low and high) frequencies, which in turn helps us to sleep better later on. Next came a trip to the spa for a few treatments: first, cryotherapy—I did three minutes at minus 166 degrees inside a chamber—followed by a mud wrap and then light therapy.

After a few days of swishing through Chenot’s hallways in a bathrobe, bouncing from detoxing baths to energetic massages and acupuncture, I had the confidence to skip my nightly sleep medication. The next morning I woke up at 5 a.m., but, to my relief, I felt rested. I had slept through the night. Yet I had to wonder how sustainable all this was. Is it worth traveling somewhere to reset and fix your circadian rhythm only to potentially mess it up again on your flight home? Who has a cryotherapy chamber and a specialized ceiling panel in their house? “What we’re trying to do is kick-start you into creating habits,” Gaitanos said. Many of Chenot’s treatments and technologies can’t be replicated, but there are substitutes for some—like the ceiling panel: “Wake up, open your curtains, absorb the sunlight,” Gaitanos said. And there are ample ways to improvise. When an unlikely snowstorm dumped two feet of snow outside Chenot, I turned to nature for my afternoon cold fix and took a dip in the ice-covered lake. While I can’t pack the Nanobionic linens in my carry-on (though guests can purchase them), I can travel with the pajamas and stream the neuroacoustic app from my phone. When I told Gaitanos my sleeplessness is likely linked to stress, because I wake with swirling thoughts in the wee hours of the morning, he suggested an easy solution: Grab a pen and piece of paper before going to bed and write down what’s worrying you.

This article appeared in the March 2025 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.