Morag Preston, The Times, 19 June 2003

Lust

WISH FULFILMENT
BESPOKE BED £5264

I HAVE been satisfying my desire to sleep around. With not long to go before the birth of my first child, this may seem reckless. But I have been led astray by the likes of Madonna; learning of her classy nocturnal habits, I was no longer prepared to put up with second best.

It began in a showroom on Wigmore Street, Central London, in the company of Alistair Hughes, the managing director of Savoir Beds. He gave me my first taste of a real bed, as opposed to the Ikea monster I have at home, erected by my unhandy husband. Savoir Beds are a different breed. Only five are hand-made a week, and 80 man-hours go into the production of each one. The Savoy, Claridge's and The Berkeley all have them. The late King Hassan II of Morocco was so rested after a night at Claridge's that he furnished his palace with 24 bespoke beds. A night at the Savoy, gushed the actress Emma Thompson, was "like sleeping on a cloud" - she bought an identical bed.

"It's difficult to relax in a showroom, so we encourage clients to test out our beds in a hotel," Hughes says. "If they make a purchase, we'll refund the cost of their room."

The beds - each of which is unique and can be made in two parts if couples want different levels of firmness - come in every shape and size, with superking the most popular. And you choose your trimmings - Scary Spice plumped for an oyster version à la Austin Powers, finished off in cappuccino-coloured suede.

It was to the Robert Adams elegant Home House that I went for my test drive. The bateau lit, topped and tailed in caramel suede, looked every bit as inviting as it felt. The softness is strangely guilt-inducing at first, then it absorbs you. You melt into it like you would a good massage; within moments, I was asleep.