First of all, I consider myself a professional napper. I’m the girl who is taking a nap before we hit the club, I get up five minutes before it’s time to go and I’m dressed. I sleep until the last minute before work, church and any other event I have to attend. Being the nap queen I am, of course I heard about Nap Bar Houston. I even had the pleasure of meeting the owner, Khaliah Guillory, this past Friday, at a happy hour for her executive coach, Landi Spearman. Khaliah was very friendly and I believed in the power of her business, but I wasn’t sure I was gonna spend MY money to take a nap. Spoiler alert folks, she made me a believer. Leaving the Nap Bar, I had the same euphoric and relaxed feeling that I have when I leave a massage or cupping appointment – but it only took 26 minutes and it was considerably more affordable.
The Nap Bar is situated inside of New Living mattress store in Rice Village, so walking in, it immediately puts you in relaxation mode. The store is bright and comfortable with beds all around. When I walked in, I was quite stressed. All day I had been trying to turn in a proposal that was due by 3pm and I was having a Murphy’s law kind of day (everything that could go wrong, DID go wrong). As an entrepreneur, proposals like these are paramount for me. Even with all the trials, I turned it in at 1:25pm and at 2:15, I walked into the Nap Bar and was warmly greeted by Khaliah, her wife Camille and their nephew/intern, John.
Khaliah and John escorted me to the back of the store where the Nap Bar is. The first thing I noticed was how clean everything was. Even after touching my belongings, John changed gloves to prepare my sleep materials. He locked my phone away into a small lock box and provided me with the key, which made me feel very secure. I stepped into the bathroom with the most plush rug I’ve ever stepped on. There were a pair of black silk pajamas and a robe waiting for me. I opted for the pajamas and slipped on some very comfortable blue slippers. I’m 5’5 and 115 pounds, but everything FIT and I was so comfy!
When I stepped out, John had a warm neck pillow ready for me. I stepped out in my headscarf (because black girl hair), but I was informed that I already had a silk pillowcase! Color me impressed. Khaliah sat with me to complete my online profile, then provided me with a “green shot”. She encouraged me to read the label, and after verifying I wasn’t allergic to anything in the shot, I tossed it back and it was actually tasty. I expected a bitter wheatgrass taste, but it was pleasant. Khaliah explained that the Nap Bar has a partnership with Earthcraft Juicery and they make juices specially for this purpose. The shot I took included spinach and Ahswagandha which is a root that promotes relaxation. If this wasn’t enough, I then had the opportunity to choose my pillow mist – lavender and violet, lavender and chamomile, or pure lavender. I chose lavender and chamomile and I was ready to go to sleep! The last step was to receive my own personal headphones that plugged into a MP3 player that had sounds curated by the Nap Bar’s DJ, Dr. Cwanza Pickney, aka DJ Code Blue. It wasn’t just any music though, the Dr. Pickney has designed the music to trigger brain waves brain waves that help you to sleep by releasing melatonin in your body by up to 97%.
Khaliah asked me my favorite color, and when I answered purple, the Nap room was a dim purple when I walked in. I experienced the VIP suite, where the full size bed was made neatly and surrounded by plants. Evidently, plants in a room not only help oxygenate the space, but they increase your creativity by up to 40%. All quick but useful scientific facts that Khaliah explained while I prepared for my nap experience.
Now that I was all set, all that was left to do was sleep. I laid my head on the freshly washed silk pillowcase and I was legit too excited to sleep. Instead, I focused on the music and found myself very relaxed in minutes. With the warm pillow around my neck and the room set at an optimal 69 degrees, I had the perfect temperature balance. I felt my weight sink into the bed and I drifted into a very deep state of relaxation. The best part? 26 minutes later, I was done. Khaliah has studied recommended nap times, which is great because as a busy business owner, I didn’t think I had a lot of time to take a nap. However, when the DJ in my headphones gently chimed in that it was time to wake up, all the chaos of earlier in the day had melted away.
I stepped back into the bathroom and changed into my clothes and John had a beet juice shot waiting for me. It wasn’t as good as the green one, but also wasn’t bitter. I used my lockbox key to retrieve my phone, thankful that it wasn’t allowed in the room because I truly had a chance to unplug. The whole experience took about 40 minutes total and I suspect that was only because I was a new customer. Now that my profile is set up, I’m sure it will take even less time. Awesome for a lunch break or right after a meeting. I told Khaliah, “You guys literally thought of everything.” She told me that she took a lot of suggestions and three rounds of beta testing helped The Nap Bar perfect the methodology.
And perfect it was. You could take a nap at home, but for a reasonable fee, you could have the luxury pampering and deep refreshment of The Nap Bar Houston. They made me a believer and I purchased a monthly membership because I felt great! I went on to tackle the rest of my day with renewed energy and a cute little pop socket for my phone that says “I ♥️ naps”. From a true skeptic, I would recommend the Nap Bar to anyone. Not only is it “white glove” clean just like the website advertises, the customer experience is backed by science. Don’t sleep on the Nap Bar!
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