In luxury retail, the memorable moments are rarely the most theatrical ones.
Hästens Nice has been recognised by the Luxury Experience Awards with a Commendation for Client Experience Excellence, a distinction that speaks to the quieter craft of empathy, discretion and patient service.
For a brand built around sleep, bespoke craftsmanship and long-term client relationships, the honour feels especially well placed.
At a glance
- Hästens Nice has received a Luxury Experience Awards Commendation for Client Experience Excellence.
- The recognition centres on the showroom’s discretion, empathy and handling of highly personal client moments.
- The award was presented to owner and manager Eric Sturma, with the next Luxury Experience Awards taking place in January 2027.
A commendation for a very human kind of service
The commendation was presented at the Hästens Sleep Spa in Nice to Eric Sturma, the showroom’s owner and manager.
It recognises a standard of client care that goes beyond product knowledge or polished hospitality.
In the ultra-high-net-worth world, service is often measured in privacy, anticipation and emotional intelligence as much as speed or access.
Hästens Nice appears to understand that distinction particularly well.
The Luxury Experience Awards, co-organised by Lexden Luxe and The Luxury Report, singled out the showroom for the way it handles clients at moments when sensitivity matters more than selling.
The story behind the recognition
The most striking example involves a bespoke Hästens bed commissioned by a client and handcrafted to his specifications.
Before the bed could be delivered, the client died, and his widow initially chose not to proceed with the order.
Rather than place the bed elsewhere, Hästens kept it carefully stored for several months.
The decision left space for grief, uncertainty and the possibility that the bed might still hold meaning for the family.
Months later, the widow asked what had happened to it.
When she learned that Hästens had kept it for her, she was moved by the gesture and ultimately accepted the bed after a few adjustments, treating it as a lasting tribute to her husband.
It’s a rare example of luxury service stripped of performance.
No grand spectacle was needed, only patience and the judgement to protect something personal when there was no immediate commercial advantage.
Why discretion still defines the best luxury houses
Hästens is among the twenty ultra-high-net-worth brands included in The Ultimate Experience Collection, where the emphasis is on exceptional client management.
That category of luxury has little room for generic gestures.
Clients at this level expect discretion as a baseline, but the best experiences tend to happen when a brand remembers the small details without making a display of them.
For Hästens Nice, that means a showroom culture shaped by memory, restraint and emotional tact.
Sturma’s response to the commendation reflected the same understated approach.
He said the award would remain on his desk as a daily reminder of the responsibility involved in serving ultra-high-net-worth clients at the highest level.
A quiet benchmark for luxury retail
The recognition also points to a broader shift in how excellence is judged in high-end retail.
Exceptional materials and bespoke production still matter, particularly for a house such as Hästens, but they don’t complete the experience on their own.
The real test often comes when a client’s circumstances change, when a sale becomes complicated, or when the right answer is to wait.
Hästens Nice now has a formal commendation for that kind of judgement.
With the next Luxury Experience Awards scheduled for January 2027, the Nice showroom has set itself a clear benchmark.
More importantly, it has shown that the strongest luxury relationships are built not only through craft, but through care when it matters most.
