THE ROVING EYE.

EVERY year hotels come up with some kind of gimmick meant to attract customers and outdo the competition. For a while it was sample-size selections of toiletries. Then it was in-room high-speed Internet and/ or TV screens that doubled as computer monitors.

Now, it's goose-down featherbeds and extra comfy mattresses guaranteed to make you want to stay in bed all day and night.

Just over a year ago Westin Hotels & Resorts launched its Heavenly Beds concept after a survey showed that a good night's sleep, more than fancy shampoos, was the best thing a hotel could offer. Westin executives put 50 beds from 35 hotel chains in a hotel ballroom and tested them out before coming up with their Heavenly Bed, which consists of a pillow-top mattress, a down comforter and goose-down pillows.

The better bed quickly progressed to other major chains.

Marriott Hotels & Resorts announced it was coming up with the "Marriott Bed," a 7-inch thick mattress which has a soft, plush top that is expected to be in 75 percent of the company's full-service hotels by the beginning of 2003.

"The hotel chain industry has gotten very homogeneous," explained Bruce Baltin, a hotel expert with PKF Consulting in L.A. "If the cultures aren't real different, what do you do you differentiate yourself? Heavenly Beds is the latest fad."

What's next? The Hyatt Hotels & Resorts announced it was going to upgrade the quality of its toiletries. And Westin is offering Heavenly Baths with dual-headed showers, velour bathrobes and oversized bath sheets so you never want to leave your hotel room.