distant_traveler

A bit of advice for those of you who have not traveled to Europe, expect lots of noise. Almost without exception you will hear alot of noise from the people next door, in the hall, traffic and the elevator as you lay down to sleep. It does not matter if you ask for a quiet room facing the back or not, European Hotels are noisy in many cases. Soundproofing is not common and people do not even think about noise, it is just part of life.

After many endless sleepless nights, I have always bought a large loud fan and used it to mask the noise, it helps me sleep.

What do you do to mask the noise of European Hotel rooms?

L84SKY

My husband's snoring.

Travelnut

hmmm.... after 12 trips, I can't say I've ever been disturbed by hotel noise. We stay in 2-3* places. I recall one hotel where I did hear low sound of voices for a few minutes. One other hotel I could hear when another room flushed. Can sometimes hear traffic if windows are left open, but usually a low buzz that actually makes me sleep. I would think soft earplugs would be useful if one is truly bothered by a little 'sound'.

Come to think of it, I could hear road traffic at the Philly Doubletree and water/flushing sounds at the Charlotte Hilton, so.... doesn't seem to be a "Europe" thing at all.

Iregeo

L84SKY, I'm more interested to know what you do to mask the noise of your husband's snoring!!! PLEASE share!

rkkwan

Ear plugs or noise-isolating headphones.

fmpden

Our experience more closely matches travelnut. I cannot say that I have noticed that European hotels are substantially noisier than US. I have been in pretty noisy hoels in the US, European hotels do use more hard surfaces -- tile -- and less carpeting so there can be more hallway noise but I never thought it was bad enough to complain about. We also carry ear plugs to used a couple times when the noise level was a little higher. But if you are overly sensistive to noise, then it could be a problem. I don't believe that a blanket statement about expect lots of noise is true. And I don't know how I could carry a large fan in my luggage,

Zerlina

Distant Traveler has been posting endless complaints about Europe in recent days. Ignore him/her.

wally34949

Good idea, but I like to travel light and would not want to carry around a fan.

I remember getting a hotel room with a view of the alley. The sleeping was much better with a view of the alley than of the main busy street.

I've stayed in hostels where the noise can be bad. I listen to soft jazz music and it puts me to sleep. Classical music doesn't work because it gets too soft and too loud in places.

Linda431

Iregeo,
I swear by these:
http://www.amazon.com/Marsona-TSC-33.../dp/B000F58FMK

I use one at home and keep one in my travel bag. The new ones have auto-adjusting dual voltage.

I find that I need to set it on the rain sound to sleep. The wave sound is too up & down for me.

It took a couple of nights to get used to, now I absolutely cannot sleep without it. In a pinch, you can set the TV to a nonbroadcasting channel to get the white noise and put a towel or coat over the screen to block the light.

That, and my Mack wax ear plugs...I don't hear the snoring.

Christina

I've been bothered by noise in almost every hotel I've ever stayed at, anywhere. I have had a few really nice ones that were very quiet, but not many. Part of this is just being in a big city, and a lot of it is due to hotel guests, the majority of whom are inconsiderate and talk very very loudly in the halls and bang doors a lot.

I don't think it's much different in Europe than other places, at least for the size of hotel and room. THere often is some kind of soundproofing at the windows against street noise, but not between rooms so much (and between the room and the hall is usually the worst).

I use ear plugs, and the AC sometimes if it's needed, both help. No way would I carry around an electric fan with me on my trips -- not exactly traveling lightly. I can't even imagine that, as a large fan (floor or table model) would take up the space of about a 22" suitcase.

quokka

A fan would mean even more noise, not less. That thing would drive me crazy. I never travel without earplugs.

And why should European hotels (where in "Europe", by the way?) be noisier than those in the rest of the world? Doesn't make much sense to me.

GreenDragon

For me, non-constant noise bothers me and wakes me up - traffic, voices, doors, etc. The constant noise of a fan used to be the only thing that would get me to sleep. I've since learned that wax earplugs are a lovely thing, and a wonder to my light-sleeping.

Most hotels I've been to in Europe don't have ceiling fans, or air conditioning, so in order to get cool air (or any air circulation), you need to leave the windows open. This opens up for many more noises. In the US, most places I've stayed at has AC running constantly, and the windows may not even open if you want them to. Therefore, less noise. Also, I've noticed more carpeting and newer walls mean better sound insulation.

I remember one night in London (before I discovered ear plugs) we were in a B&B in Chiswick. The noises from a busy road not far away kept making me wake up, so we tried to put the radio on for 'white noise' static. Didn't work - kept getting an airport beacon beeping every 10 or 15 seconds. Bah.

L84SKY

Iregeo, Constant manipulation! I try to get to sleep before he does, once I get to sleep I'm a pretty sound sleeper.
If he falls asleep first & starts snoring, I roll him over, usually by saying something like, "let me massage your neck". He falls for it every time.
That helps, if it doesn't I repeat and then kind of wake him up. Once he's awake I send him on a little errand. “Honey, would you; check to see if the door’s locked, get me a little glass of water, I can’t get the window shut etc”. Then I try to go to sleep before he does.

Okay, now I know some will beat me up for this. That’s okay, it works better than just b*tching or being mad. After all, sometimes a good marriage is just mutual butt kissing.

distant_traveler

I buy the fan once I get to Europe and use it only when I am at the town, then give it to the hotel maid. It usually costs me about $25 but is worth it because I sleep.

I can not get use to ear plugs and the steady noise from a fan is much better than a sudden loud noise.

I have traveled to Europe ten times in the last five years. I love Europe but hate the hotels. I find almost every hotel I stay at unless it is a businessman's 5 star in the modern side of town, to be noisy.

GreenDragon

it took me a while (like a couple weeks) to get used to using the earplugs. For a while, all I heard was my own breathing and my own heartbeat, and it kept me up - for a while. Then it was very soothing. Now I don't even notice such things - just blessed silence. Don't even notice the cat purring on my head.

lyb

How do I mask the noise? I fall asleep and don't listen for noise in other rooms!

Or maybe I've been lucky but in none of the hotels that I've stayed in have I heard noise in the rooms next to me...during my last trip, I did hear the people next to me come back around 1:30-2am, I heard them open and close their door..but that's because I was still awake myself.

kerouac

The only noise that ever kept me up (in more ways than one) in a hotel was the airshaft in a cheap room in Sète. It was like a sex loudspeaker. I missed not one single detail of a long session (the female orgasmic shout being 'c'est beau l'amour!') and kept hoping to hear more, but even though the guy tried a second time about an hour later, he was rejected. And I was dejected.

GreenDragon

I remember one B&B in Dublin that was on a noisy street - our room had no circulation at all, and it was a warm July night, so the windows had to be open. The traffic noise simply never died down. Constant swoosh! swoosh! roar! of mostly commercial traffic came through all night. Even the earplugs weren't proof against it.

But then again, I'm a VERY light sleeper.

Linda431

I will never forget staying at the Hotel de Lutece on the Ile Saint Louis in Paris a long time ago. Our room faced a very small courtyard, and as it was hot that night we had to sleep with the windows open. The couple across the courtyard went on and on and on for hours. I couldn't believe the stamina. So we decided if you can't beat 'em......


I hope they've since air conditioned those back rooms at least.

suze

I've not had that experience in Europe. Now MEXICO... that's another thing (I take earplugs).