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Sleep problems in hotels

Sleep problems in hotels

Old Mar 18, 2017, 8:54 pm
  #31  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chicago
Posts: 425
I have trouble sleeping at home as I live next to a double streetlight that shines directly into my window and live in a neighborhood with a lot of drunks. When I'm on the road, it's even worse.

1. white noise machine. I travel with it.
2. earplugs
3. Kindle Paperwhite
4. a very cool room
5. total darkness as others have mentioned - towel under the door.
6. this song: http://www.self.com/story/this-song-...help-you-sleep

The last one seems absolutely goofy. It is! But I was going through a bad spell a few weeks ago with zero sleep. My doctor even went to far as to prescribe Ambien. I stumbled upon that song, and found that it really does help. Does it work like it says? For me, no. I do, however, find it very, very relaxing. Try it and see what you think. It's on Spotify.
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 8:44 am
  #32  
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: Aeroplan, AAdvantage
Posts: 2,100
The Kobo Aura One actually is way better than the Kindle for this because it has an orange-capable backlight which disturbs you a lot less than the white.

The best sleep I have ever had in a hotel was NH Budapest because they have an extra door inside the room to block any noise or light coming from the corridor. This is something to look into at other hotels, too.

Take a hot shower and do
before going to sleep.

Carry your favorite pillow. It might matter a lot. I am lucky that Tempur created the travel version of the neckpillow I use normally.

Last edited by chx1975; Mar 26, 2017 at 8:50 am
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Old Mar 26, 2017, 9:32 am
  #33  
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Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 1
Originally Posted by eastflyer123
Hi all.

I stay in various standard hotels about five nights a month. Business is usually at a Hilton and pleasure will be the best thing I find on Trivago.

No matter where I am, Ibis or a Hilton, I struggle to sleep.

My work means entertaining until late at night so I often lie in until 10/11am but this means putting up with noise of the maid, other guests and traffic.

Does anyone have sleep problems in hotels (I'm absolutely fine at home)? And if so, do you have any tips and tricks? I have tried ear plugs and eye masks. I am not looking for pills.

The other main thing I struggle with is smoke in bars and social venues. Smoking is banned in the UK so I'm fine at home in London but as soon as I'm in Berlin, Madrid, etc, I leave the place feeling like I have a cold which stays for a few days. I'm a non smoker and find dealing with smokers horrendously difficult (this is not an attack on smokers, I just become ill when I have to socialise with you!).

Thanks
Might be time to look for a new job. Lack of sleep and the smoke for a job is not worth it. You can't buy health.
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Old Mar 27, 2017, 1:18 am
  #34  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: LH FT, AA Plat
Posts: 198
I understand your struggle and here is my advice: emulate your sleeping arrangement like you're at home. We are creatures of habit and have a hard time with change. I personally travel with my own pillow (it's a small memory foam pillow). Sleep on the same side of the bed, close the shades BUT don't wear eye mask/ear plugs if you don't do this at home, it will feel unnatural and that's the opposite of what you're trying to recreate. You want to trick yourself into believing that you're in your own bed.

When it comes to dealing with noisy environment, I usually find comfort in using the hotel pillow over my face as a shield, so to say. Close your eyes and try to imagine that you're in your own bed, that the closet is over there, the chair is over here, imagine it. Not being able to sleep in a hotel is very much a psychological thing, play with it.
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Old Mar 30, 2017, 10:49 pm
  #35  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 431
Some tips from someone who used to have bad nights sleep in hotels and now sleeps very well:

1. Towel under the front door. The amount of light it lets in is awful.

2. Close the curtains tightly and push a chair right into them. So much light leaks through the cracks in the curtains, a heavy chair holds them in place, nice and shut.

3. Unplug the clock radio and the telephone. They have lights on them in very close proximity to the bed. And you don't need them.

4. Put the AC on, make sure the fan stays on constantly, pick a room temperature 5 degrees lower than you are used to at home.

5. Put your phone in 'do not disturb' mode. Emergency phone calls from the family back home can still get through, but it ensures that the backlight on your phone doesn't glow every time you get an alert, email, or text. Again, any light in close proximity to your eyes as you sleep is going to disturb you.

6. Download the app Bed Time Fan in the app store. The extra white noise helps drown out street sounds or people in your hallway.

7. Eat a good meal no longer than 1 hour before bed. A full stomach helps you sleep, your digestive system being put to work makes your body tired.

8. No soda, no coffee, no alcohol on the road.

9. Download the app DigiPill in the app store. If all else fails, you play one of the sleep programs and the guy who is talking to you is actually hypnotizing you to sleep. It works every time and its free.

10. Sleep in the same position in bed as you do at home. I sleep on the left side of the bed, the wife on the right. In the hotel, don't sprawl out in the middle of a king bed, go to your traditional side.

11. Masturbation can relax you and make you sleepy.

BJ
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Old Mar 31, 2017, 11:51 am
  #36  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: AKL
Posts: 59
Originally Posted by boltjames
8. No soda, no coffee, no alcohol on the road.
Hops is one of the best things to make you sleepy.
Some people have a small bag of it, under their pillow, to help them sleep. But I prefer taking it in liquid form
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Old Apr 20, 2017, 10:32 pm
  #37  
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Join Date: Jan 2016
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Posts: 262
I find room temperature and humidity are the two factors which can influence my sleep situation when I travel. The third is the pillow.

I have found though if I am exhausted I can sleep through anything.

Do you use the gym at the hotel before bed? Go for a work out? I always seem to sleep better when I do this, or go for a walk outside for about an hour before bed.
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Old Jul 17, 2017, 12:32 pm
  #38  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 16
Long haul pilot's view

Hi , I am constantly trying to recover my sleep deficit in hotel rooms during daylight hours whilst the rest of the world goes about their (noisy) business. The best sleep mask I can find (and I have tried a lot) blocks out all light......reduces noise by about 50 decibels ( which takes the edge off cleaners hoovering next door) and is washable / reusable ( lasts around a year for me in constant use. Available at www.sleepmastereurope.com . To kick myself back into a time zone the natural non addictive Best Buy (only available in the US) is "sleep well" by liquid health....this blend is unique and is a best seller in many natural health shops.
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