Is a $1,000 pillow really better? The expensive pursuit of comfortable sleep

Australians are spending more money on pillows than ever before, but millions across the country are still waking up exhausted. Photograph: Daniel Lozano Gonzalez/Getty Images

The room inside Hästens’s “sleep spa” is calming. Lights dimmed low, soft piano music and a subtle lavender scent linger in the air as I sink into the Swedish bedmaker’s signature blue-and-white checked mattress.

It feels less like shopping and more like checking into a boutique hotel. The luxury brand, which has showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne, has celebrity fans, too. Emily Blunt loves her Hästens pillow so much she gave one to Oppenheimer co-star Cillian Murphy.