This is a topic I am very familiar with. I have been happily married for 10 years, and my wife and I have had separate bed (and bedrooms) for more than half of that time.
Deciding to sleep in separate beds is one of the best decisions we have made. We have such different wants/needs in a sleeping environment that it is just so much easier to sleep separately. I like keeping the windows open when the weather permits, she has allergies that don't permit that. I like sleeping with a feather pillow, they bother her allergies. She likes to fall asleep with the tv or radio on, I can't sleep with noise in the room.
People give us strange looks when they find out we do not sleep together, but it is natural to us. We both sleep much better this way, which means we feel better, which in turns is a good thing for our relationship. We even look for hotel rooms with 2 beds when we travel. We have only slept in the same bed a handful of times recently, and I never sleep very good when we do.
Obviously I can't know why your partner really wants to sleep separately, but I can say that it is not necessarily a negative thing. It works great in my relationship, and I think it could work well in others if people were willing to give it a chance. I believe there are a lot of people who would sleep better and feel better if they were only willing to look past the negative perceptions associated with separate sleeping quarters.
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