Travel Tip: Reduce Noise Disturbances in your Hotel Room

When traveling, everyone deserves to enjoy a quiet and restful nights’ sleep. One of the perks of being on vacation is to mentally recharge and have the ability to be transported far away from the stresses and interruptions of everyday life. Unfortunately, as many people find out, sleep is often a challenge because of the loud and vibrant location of the hotel itself.

See Also: How to Sleep Better

Hotel Noise Issues and Complaints

Where are most hotels? If you answered ‘in the most condensed and populated urban areas or next to express roadways’, you’d be right. If you’re heading on vacation or are a frequent hotel guest, here are the 5 tips you must know and what you can do in advance to maximize your sleep experience.

Reducing noise in a hotel can be hard especially since you won’t be staying there for long, and you can’t make any modifications to the room. See our non-invasive hotel room “soundproofing” tips below – some of which include just asking for a room on a higher floor that doesn’t face the road.

Tips for a Quieter Trip – Reducing Hotel Room Noise

Amenities have serious attraction power. Nowadays, hotel amenities include every option imaginable, from custom monogrammed bathrobes, to extravagant dine-in room service for pets. But let’s not forget about the biggest travel must-have there is – sleep. Most hotels proudly list their amenities on their website. Prior to booking your stay, do some research into where the hotel is located on a map, as well as what improvements come with your standard room fee. What is the level of guest experience at their location?

*An insider tip: Even if a hotel or resort is located in a seemingly rural, quiet area, if Sleepy Time Tea or earplugs are being given out, chances are there is an unforeseen noise issue you may not be aware of. Early morning rooster calls are a good example of this when you step into the countryside.

Request a specific room. Typically for a high-rise location, any room above the 10^th floor has less traffic noise. Avoid rooms facing an open parking garage or next to the elevator, and try to reserve a corner room if possible.

Pack the essentials. From the hotel’s perspective, little can be done for the unexpected noise entering your hotel room from outside party guests, a college atmosphere or late night pool use, so bring your own earplugs, noise canceling headphones and a darkening eye mask for emergencies.
Structure-born noise is often not accounted for. Structure-borne sound vibrations are transmitted inward through windows and walls and have the largest impact on sleep, as they can be both felt and heard. Now this tip takes some muscle and determination, but if the headboard in your room is touching the wall or there is less than a 2″ gap separating the two, try to pull it back to create space.

*Especially in hotels that are in close proximity to train tracks, vibrations can be felt by guests which create a truly restless night. Anytime you can add space or a heavy duty material between the vibrations and the inside of your room, sound has a difficult time directly traveling through to you and the waves get absorbed or deflected.

More: See Our Case Study on Hotel Soundproofing with Soundproof Curtains

Reducing Hotel Noise Issues When Traveling

It’s important to understand how to reduce hotel noise disturbances when traveling. Help yourself and then help

Reduce Noise in Hotel Room With White Noise

Some hotels provide white noise machines, whether they expect their guests to experience some noise disturbances, or if they just want their guest to have them just in case. The white noise helps to “mask”, or cover, any noises that might otherwise be pretty jarring during the night.

others:

Make suggestions. If you had a rough night and couldn’t catch the vacation zzz’s you were looking for, let management know so they can take note and make improvements. Hotels next to roadways or railways are looking to reduce intrusive disturbances, and if they understand it’s a problem, sometimes brand-wide solutions can be implemented. Many owners and operators don’t realize the noise solutions available, like soundproofing curtains, which are customizable, durable and easy to install. If all guests highlighted different opportunities for improvement, the bar would be raised for all locations and ultimately, anywhere you visited you’d be enjoying a sleep sanctuary.

How to Reduce Noise in a Hotel Room

6. It’s hard to actually reduce noise in a hotel room since you’ll probably only be there for a couple of nights, and you can’t make any modifications to the room. Traveling with a white noise machine can be one of the easiest things you can do to reduce noise in a hotel room. White noise machines work to raise the ambient background noise level so loud sounds such as traffic noise or partiers won’t seem as loud as they would have without the white noise. Some hotels actually provide white noise machines for their guests to use. The noise sounds just like a louder AC, and is pretty easy to get used to after a few minutes.