According to a recent Jetsetter poll, yes, sex is indeed better in a hotel than at home. Out of 3,100 people surveyed, 81% said that sex is better in a hotel. Only 10% responded "no" and 9% "wouldn't know" (and probably should start doing some of their own research).
But, what exactly makes hotel sex so much steamier? If you ask Ildiko Tabori, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, it's a mix of having a new and potentially romantic environment with luxury you might not have at home, combined with the chance to get away from typical life stresses like kids, work and chores. He explains:
"People are much more relaxed when they are in hotels. With newness, romance and relaxation, people are more akin to engage in pleasurable activities, including sex."
Colleen Clark, Managing Editor of SmarterTravel, adds that checking into a hotel feels akin to trying on a new identity, which can make you more apt to swap the typical missionary for something a little more 50 Shades of Grey.
Science agrees. According to Nicole Prause, Ph.D., founder of the Liberos Center, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, a team of American researchers known for their human sexuality studies, reported improvements in patients with low sexual drive when staying at hotels. To participate in their treatment, couples were asked to travel to their clinic, away from their jobs and family obligations, to a hotel for weeks.
Prause says:
"Scientists now widely recognize that it is unlikely their 'treatment' did anything special, so much as they provided couples a formal respite from the usual stressors on their relationships and libido."
Along with the poll, Jetsetter provided a list of its top accommodation picks for getting it on, including:
· Jade Mountain, Saint Lucia
· Secret Bay, Dominica
· 1 Hotel South Beach
· Gramercy Park Hotel, NY
· SLS Las Vegas
· Shangri-La Paris
· Sextinio Le Grotte, Tuscany
· Drake Hotel, Toronto
· Alila Villas, Uluwatu, Bali
· Auberge Du Soleil, Napa
· Adronis Luxury Suites, Greece
· Calistoga Ranch, Napa
· Four Seasons Resort, Bora Bora
· Ventana Inn, Big Sur
· Standard Downtown, LA
· 60 Beverly Hills, LA
· Banyan Tree Mayakoba, Mexico
· Standard High Line
· Melia Zanzibar Hotel, Tanzania
· Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve, South Africa
· Riad au 20 Jasmins, Morocco
Each has its own personality, with myriad different ways to be sexy.
Clark says:
"Some hotels put it all out there — sex toy room service, blush-worthy kits in the minibar — but then there's the raw magnetism of a stay in the South African savannah or the slow sultry rhythms of a beach bungalow in Bora Bora.
