GOOD soundproofing in hotel rooms is one of those things that you only notice when it is absent. More often than not, in Gulliver’s experience, rooms are quiet enough to allow a decent night’s sleep. But I never really stop to consider whether this peace is down to considerate neighbours, a paucity of guests or a foot of insulation between the walls. And I am quick to curse my luck when the peace disappears. Everyone has their own horror stories. Once, in Sri Lanka, after an exhausting trip, I settled down to a good night’s sleep. Almost the exact moment I was about to enter the land of nod, the sound-system of a popular and, as I quickly discovered, extremely proximate nightclub cranked up. You might think there is nothing more downheartening than the boom-boom of a kick drum that you know is going to go keep you awake until the small hours. I am not so sure. At least it was rhythmical. In Granada one time, I secured a room in a charming backstreet hotel. It was only as I was about to put my head down I discovered that immediately below my window was a castanet shop. Every beat-deaf passing tourist, it seemed, was compelled to stop and give them a go.
Seeping sound seems to be a particular problem with older hotels. Modern establishments, on the other hand, seem to think about soundproofing when designing their rooms, even if their efforts fall short. Many companies offer soundproofing services by, for example, adding fibreglass panels to walls and ceilings and inserting dampening material into the cavities. But most will tell you that the weak point of a room is the door. Noise does not have to be very determined to breach even solid pieces of wood. Hence, Holiday Inn Express in America has started to roll out so-called “acoustic doors”. These are panels placed on rollers on the inside of rooms that can be slid over the entrance. They seem to be going down well with guests.
As yet, acoustic doors are not heading to Holiday Inns on the European side of the pond. There does, though, appear to be something of a war on noise brewing elsewhere. According toBusiness Traveller:
Many of IHG’s [which also owns the Holiday Inn brand] Crowne Plaza hotels, for example, have introduced—as part of the chain’s Sleep Advantage programme—quiet zones between 9 pm and 10 am on five nights a week, essentially limiting housekeeping and any non-essential engineering work during those hours. Last autumn, moreover, the business-focused chain started to install new beds with curved headboards which it claims reduce noise levels by nearly a third.
Other chains, including Hyatt, Marriott, and Ritz Carlton, offer guests in some of their hotels the use of a "white-noise" machine to distract rather than prevent the noise pollution stopping them sleeping. (For other travellers, however, there are plenty of white-noise smartphone apps available for download to achieve the same effect.)
Some hotels in the US are also testing new technology, developed by a company called Quietyme, to monitor ambient noise levels in rooms. Sensors housed in a small unit in the room, similar to a wi-fi base, can not only detect an unexpected increase in noise but also temperature, light and humidity levels.
There is also a nascent attempt to introduce quietness standards. A Dutch organisation called Quiet Room is certifying rooms that are well insulated against noise pollution. It classifies rooms into one of three “silence tiers”. These range from Category III, in which the maximum allowed sound level is 54 decibels—around the level a refrigerator hum—to Category I, which allows up to 43 decibels. Its measurements, it says, are based on different types of sound in and around the room.
Beyond this, travellers must rely on their own ingenuity. There are obvious tips. The ideal room for peace and quiet would be one that is far from a lift, even further from the bar, and on the very top floor facing away from the busiest road. Sadly, these tend to be in demand. For everyone else, there are earplugs.
