Dh399,950: cool price for a lifetime of royal sleep

Would you buy a bed for Dh399, 950? If so there is one available right here in Dubai.

The Vividus bed, handcrafted with horsehair, Arabic pine and other luxurious materials, is good enough to hand down as an heirloom. Courtesy Hastens

At what price gentle sleep, Shakespeare’s insomniacal Henry IV almost asked.

The answer: Dh399,950.

The latest technological innovation in the war on being awake comes from the Swedish bedmakers Hästens in Dubai. The Vividus bed promises to lure you to Lethe’s shores faster and with greater comfort than other beds.

“You’re talking about art when it comes to this bed,” says the Hästens franchise owner Salim Kermally, who adds that with a 25-year guarantee this version will last forever and should be treated as a family heirloom. “It’s a lifetime investment. It’s the kind of thing you will hand down to your kids. Like a beautiful artwork, handed down from generation to generation.”

The bed is hand-built by the “perfectionist” Jan Erik Leander, Hästens master craftsmen with more than 24 years of experience and one of seven bedmakers in the world who can make this exclusive bed. He is also lucky enough to sleep on the first Vividus prototype ever made.

This kingly couch, which takes between 140 and 160 hours to produce, has two mattresses – one containing “hand-teased horsehair” – and its frame is lined with flax. Each spring is coiled exactly ten times. This, apparently, is the perfect number of times to coil a spring. Its frame is built from dovetailed Arctic pine, while its base is oiled oak and neither nails nor screws are used.

It is delivered with a brass plaque, attesting to the purchaser’s exquisite taste.

Hästens frames the bed as an investment in a better quality of life – presumably echoing Wordsworth, who asked: “Without [sleep] what is all the morning’s wealth?”

But purchasers would do well to remember Henry IV’s words of caution: sleep may give sailors on stormy seas repose, but “ ... in the calmest and most stillest night / With all appliances and means to boot / Deny it to a king”.

Q&A

Salim Kermally, the general manager of Hästens Dubai, reveals more about the Vividus bed.

Why should I buy one? If money is not an object, and you're looking for the perfect bed, the Vividus is for you. It's for those who do not want any compromises in quality. It is the celebration of 160 years of expertise in bedmaking. It's the most exclusive bed in the world.

How easy is it to clean?

We strongly recommend not using any cleaning agents that have chemicals in. It is easiest to use water and cotton. We also sell bed-protecting accessories: a bed-skirt that will cover the whole bed, that will protect it from spills or water damage, and a mattress protector that covers the topper.

Do you have one at home?

I don’t have a Vividus, but I have a 2000T. It’s the closest bed in the range to the Vividus. It’s absolute bliss. I bought it two years ago. It transformed my sleep and enhanced my lifestyle and well-being.

What happens if I jump up and down on it?

Funnily enough, it is highly recommended that from time to time you do jump up and down on it. It increases the bed’s springiness. It is medicine for your bed, because it increases the resistance of the horsehair. Obviously it depends on how big you are and how vigorously you jump up and down on it. Each bed is tested by rolling a 120kg wooden barrel across it about 5,000 times.