Does anyone EVER get to sleep in at a hotel?
 

It seems like no matter what we do to ensure quite and privacy in the morning, I can never, ever seem to sleep in at a hotel, e.g. beyone 9:00 am. Either housekeeping is banging on the door wanting to clean the room, the people next door sound like they're moving their entire household in and out, or the kids down the hall party all night!! Anybody have similar stories? Any tips?

Have you considered buying some earplugs and hanging the "Do Not Disturb" or "Privacy Please" sign outside your door?

either you are uneasy with new surroundings or you are selecting lowend dives. I only had problems when I selected a budget budget hotel for merchant marines along the Bosforus sea in Turkey. I am female and was thinking how stupid I was being tosaving a buck....a few years back now. Just a guess of course but I just don't have a problem sleeping even though I am frequently a woman traveling alone.

As a frequent business traveller, many of my nites are disturbed by all kinds of things - airplanes, kids, parties, or the rain on the flashing outside of the hotel window that sounded like gunfire!! I could go on forever....here's what I do....ask for a quiet room when you check in - usually the staff will be clued in as to what parts of the hotel are quieter than others. Put the "do not disturb" sign on your door.Ask for the top floor - not always possible. Know the hotel and if you find a good one...keep going back!!If something looks wrong on check in, change rooms immediately - your first reaction to a perceived problem is usually correct.

Choose better hotels.<BR><BR>Put out your "Do not disturb" sign.<BR><BR>I can't think of a time during the past 5 years I've been awakened by anything at a hotel except the alarm clock.

Tylenol PM--works every time.

Some people are much lighter sleepers than others. My husband and I usually are very sensitive to noise in any hotel, no matter how luxurious or expensive. Our solutions: (a) we bring a "noise machine" (they sell them at Hammacher Schlemmer) to block hall and "next door neighbor" noise; (b) we bring a fan -- on a driving trip, it's required for packing. When not driving, we've even bought them in the town we're visiting and left them behind -- a worthwhile $20 investment for a good night's sleep. Love it when a hotel room has a guest-controlled air unit where you can crank up the fan noise too. How I envy those of you, like Chuck, who can sleep through anything.

Oh please, I am so curious, what is a "noise machine"? <BR>How does it block noise as you mentioned?<BR><BR>

A noise machine creates what's called "white noise". There are many types of white noise: sound of air blowing, mountain stream recording, waves on the seashore, or simple low grade humming noise.<BR>It drowns out novel background noises for people who are easily distracted. My roommate in medical school used to require one on at all times while studying. (Good thing she decided to become a psychiatrist instead of an ER doc or surgeon).

Ever heard of earplugs? Permanently in my suitcase...

Speaking as a Sleepless Expert, earplugs have their use -- if I'm trying to nap on a plane or train ... but in a hotel, husband and I can't talk to each other with 'em, worry about not hearing a fire alarm, a knock on the door, etc. etc. White noise is so much more sooooooothing.

My husband got me a great little noise machine for Christmas from Sharper Image. It's a combination travel alarm and noise maker with a bunch of different sounds (rain, stream, waterfall, fireplace, train, traffic, thunderstorm, etc. etc. etc.). It has earphones and batteries for use on the plane or wherever. We have a big one from Brookstone that we use at home, and I liked it so much that I wanted one to take everywhere. I'm a VERY light sleeper and really love the falling rain sound.

Thanks for the info, cg. That sounds perfect for light sleepers. Here's the info I found on it:<BR><BR>Travel Sound Soother 20 with LCD Alarm Clock<BR>#SI601TNM<BR>$69.95 <BR><BR>Enjoy 20 relaxing sound environments — wherever you are!<BR><BR>*Features 20 digitally recorded natural soundscapes. <BR>*Includes 120-minute timer and ramp-up alarm with snooze. <BR>*Backlit LCD shows time, date, year and temperature in °F or °C. <BR>*Comes with earbuds, handstrap and soft travel pouch. <BR>

I'm laughing at myself as I write this, so no nasty retorts, please. In a pinch, remember you can always go the low-road: if you sense it's gonna be noisy, hike down to the local drug store, buy a $20 box fan, crank that thang up, and you'll sleep like a baby. And don't be too embarassed to (a) carry it through the lobby to your room (I make hubby do it) or (b) take the call from the hotel about the item you left behind, ma'am...

In my experience places with an outside hall are quiter than the big hotels with loud slamming doors. We have better luck sleeping at a Red Roof Inn than a Hilton. The door slamming at most major hotels with inside halls are terrible.

I agree about the doors! They are either so big and heavy they shake the walls, or paper thin, so you can hear EVERYTHING in the halls, including people's TV's leaking out. At a hotel in Williamsburg, the doors were louvers for God's sake!! Not only could I hear everyone on the floor, they could hear us doing ... well anything. <BR><BR>If hotels can't do a better job of helping peace and quiet, I wish guests could -- laughing and yelling down the halls, blasting TV's early and late, slamming dresser drawers into the wall where I'm sleeping. Do people not have any idea how noisy they are??

Thanks for telling me about the noise machines.<BR>I have seen them before but never knew they had that name.<BR>Wish they had them around when I was still in school, I think they would have helped me study as well.<BR>I think I will get one and try it on long flights, as I hate flying.<BR>Thanks everyone.

It's the inconsiderate guests I cannot stand. People who know perfectly well they are making a noise yet dont seem to give a toss. Even had a cleaning crew enter the room after banging very hard despite the DND notice hanging there.

I've travelled all over the world with small portable fans and even a battery powered one for Europe. A combination of the white noise and air circulation is great. I also have a bad back and pack a twin size foam orthopedic pad when I travel. It adds to the luggage (although little weight) but has saved many a vacation with multiple hotels for me!! Do what you need to do to get the most out of your trips!

I swear by earplugs and a blindfold, but asking for a quiet room when you check in is sometimes useful -- they'll often put you in a part of the hotel or motel where not all the rooms have been booked and may remain empty.<BR><BR>Otherwise, a big nuisance for me is the middle-of-the-night alarm clock going off -- see my other post about that.

This is a very useful thread for me. A combination alarm/white noise gadget is on my wish list now.<BR><BR>I agree that for a light sleeper hotel room doors are a nighmare. They BANG shut when you let go of them, and inconsiderates simply let them, rather than gently supposting them while they close. <BR><BR>Last summer in Orlando I emailed the Wyndham By Request manager at the hotel we were going to stay at and requested a quiet room. The Wyndham Orlando is built in a series of about 15 2 story buildings with interior corridors for the most part. We were given a room, and there was only one of them, just outside of the corridor. Voila! No banging doors! It was wonderfully quiet.

There could be a whole new thread on this topic about sleeping in New York City hotels. As a virgin tourist I made the mistake of accepting a room on the 3rd floor, streetside, of the lovely Wyndham Hotel. From midnight until dawn, trash trucks and laundry trucks slammed metal containers around, made those back-up beeper noises, there were workers hollering, since the Wyndham faces the back of the Plaza and/or Essex House where these services are handled in the middle of the night. Felt like they were in the room with me. I actually cried, drank a whole bottle of wine to be able to not care enough to sleep. Next night, asked for an inside "airshaft" room and AAAAAHHHHH, the peace. Forevermore, it's a high floor, or an inside one, in NYC.

That is great advice about NY hotels, to avoid exposure to the side where garbage is picked up, and I would never have thought of it!!<BR><BR> If I have a neightbor with a loud TV I go crazy and can't sleep, but I've slept all my life next to windows facing all-night garbage-hauling activity (different businesses use different commercial haulers, so there are many visits on one street) and early-morning (6 is early to me) church bell ringing. These things never keep me awake!!

Once having stayed in a room facing a noisy street, in order to get some sleep my wife turned on the TV to a non-station and we used the static as "white noise." It was not exactly soothing but it helped drown out the racket outside.

Chris -<BR><BR>Your post about NYC hotel room noise brought back a memory of a business trip to Minneapolis. I stayed at the Marriot Residence Inn downtown, and happened to be there when a few inches of snow fell. Well, downtown the snowplows hit the streets in the middle of the night, so I was woken up at 2 a.m. to the sound of scrape, scrape, scrape, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... I'm not sure why they have to have the back-up beeper on the plows on at 2 a.m., but I just about lost my mind.<BR><BR>I also have a good story about sharing a hotel room with my husband and mother-in-law, trying to save a few bucks. She immediately fell asleep and started snoring loud enough to rattle the panes of glass in the window. I tried earplugs and Tylenol PM to no avail. Finally at 1 a.m. my husband took pity on me and went downstairs and got an adjoining room (the clerk was very nice and gave it to us for 1/2 price). The next morning, we went out, got coffee and went back to wake my m.i.l. up. She'd slept through the whole thing and didn't even realize we'd never left. I will never, EVER make that mistake again!!!

Wanna snoring nightmare? Sent to NYC w/ a co-worker, had to share room in Roosevelt w/ only twin beds. Noise all night from jackhammer and backup alarms from many stories below, but worse noise was his snoring. 12:30; 1:15; 2:45 ...6am STILL no sleep, then I hear him yelling for me to get up at 7:15. I decided to head back home, my axx would be draggin' too much for anything else. I sat on floor in Grand Central waiting for train, fell asleep and woke up, lying on floor almost 2 hours after my train had departed. snnxxxxxxxk<BR>

What about "amorous" couples in the next room ( when your partner is at the other end of the country ? ).<BR><BR>What about the bells of Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin directly opposite Jury's Hotel ? ( enough to wake the dead ! ).<BR> What about the son of a camel who got the front desk to wake me up because he had said I was snoring too loudly !!!!!!<BR>( He got an early morning call at 4:30 AM he was not expecting ).

Hi Sleepy, I use a Homedics sound machine(affectionately termed noisey) with adaptor and battery pack. We stayed over a pub in Dublin, Ireland, AND had a decent night's sleep. <BR> The one time I forgot noisey, were in a Chattanooga Marriot, It was a lovely place, but had old fasioned very thin walls. We fell asleep ok, but at 3 am a rather loudly amorous couple(noises similar to Sally's in "When Sally Met Harry") returned to the room next to ours, and had a marathon session. <BR> Lesson: Always bring your noisey!<BR>Judy :-)

A good point was made earlier: If you have any inkling that your room might be noisy, ask to be switched before you even put your bags down. All hotels will switch you if they have the room.<BR><BR>I am an early riser, and don't have the problem of not sleeping in. But I often have the person who feels the need to fall asleep with their TV on at loud volume.

I have travelled with a white-noise machine and found it useful, although there is a limit to what it can drown out, so sometimes I combine it with earplugs.<BR><BR>But there are some "noises" that verge on physical percussion, including the slamming fire-doors -- but what about the ubiquitous air-conditioner/heater that sounds like a howitzer going off when it kicks on AND when it shuts down? I'm just getting used to the roar of the compressor or the fan when KATHWUMP! it shuts off. Then I'm just getting settled into the nice quiet (which might allow other noises to intrude but they are usually manageable) when KACHUNK-WHAAAAAAAAAAA the damthing comes back on again.<BR><BR>Need I add that the temperature setting is either Bake or Off, or Freeze or Off. I usually try to cope with turning it OFF, and use various changes of clothing to compensate for whatever happens to the room temperature.

Years ago I made a recording of my in-laws at Thanksgiving dinner. On trips I tote it along and play it all night. Needless to say, it has a certain somnolent quality about it.

Earl, that's the best idea yet!

All this talk about street noise in NY makes me laugh. I live in midtown, just down the street from a firehouse in one direction and a hospital emergency room in another. I have become so accustomed to the street noise that I sleep undisturbed for most of the night. However, on a recent vacation to New Orleans, I had planned on sleeping in every morning, but was consistenetly awakened by the slamming doors and chattering housekeepers in the hall outside. I could have used some of that NY street noise to block out the commotion in the hall.

Earplugs, earplugs, earplugs, Nyquil.<BR><BR>And request a quiet room - definitely not near the elevator!!<BR><BR>