Weird new job: Human bed-warmers

As England endures an unusually harsh winter, Holiday Inn has cooked up an intriguing way to keep customers comfortable: human bedwarmers. As a complementary service, select hotel locations will send a staffer dressed in a body-length fleece suit to roll around in your sheets for five minutes. As hotel spokesperson Jane Bednall tells Sky News, it's like "having a giant hot water bottle in your bed." Agreed, but will watching a stranger writhe about in your bed actually help anyone get a good night's sleep? (Watch a panel discuss human bed warmers)

It's strange, but there's science behind it: Offering "walking electric blankets" is "surely is one of the weirdest marketing gimmicks I've ever heard," says Barbara De Lollis in USA Today. But there is a scientific "theory behind this" idea: Dr. Chris Idzikowski at the Edinburgh Sleep Centre says a pre-warmed bed has been proven to help people sleep better.

"Holiday Inn wants to get in bed with you; chain employs human bedwarmers"

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Best. Job. Ever: We're "dubious" about the idea of a stranger transforming our beds from frosty to toasty, says Chaniga Vorasarun in Tonic, but, from the bed-warmer's point of view, it "may well be the greatest job we have ever heard of." If you're packing a little extra weight, that's "a plus," and the best part is that "napping on the job is the job."

"Holiday Inn’s new human bed warmers"

Bring your own damn bed warmer: We're all for having somebody warm your bed, says Melanie Nayer at Gadling, and since it's been especially cold in London, we'll even "give Holiday Inn props" for this "creative" service. But come on, it's almost Valentine's Day — need we point out that there's "something to be said for you bringing the heat yourself"?

"Holiday Inn's human bed-warming services"