Kensterfly

ive been disturbed far more by barking dogs in nearby hotel rooms than I ever have by cycling refrigerators.

And i can't imagine shutting off the a/c at any time of year. I put the fan on Constant/ON. It's a pretty good mark for outside noise, plus- I just like my room cold year round. But I hate the units that don't allow the Constant On fan so that it cycles off and on all night.

I have an an app called "Ambiance" that can play all kinds of background noise--babbling brook, gentle rain on the roof, staticky white noise, and dozens of others. I play this through a small Bluetooth speaker. It totally covers anything short of the hotel fire alarm. And barking dogs.

HomerJay

At times, I've needed a fridge to keep medication at a cold temperature, and it is annoying as hell when I check into a room and someone has unplugged the fridge.

If you turn it off or unplug it when you arrive, make sure you turn it back on when you leave.

darthbimmer

I have turned off the room's mini-fridge a few times when it's been a problem. Fortunately that's rarely the case. A smooth, quiet hum from a unit that's working well doesn't bother me. Often the device is in a cabinet, anyway, which further muffles its sound. If the compressor sputters and rattles when it runs, then I'll turn it off. I estimate it gets to that point in fewer than 1/20 of the rooms I stay in. To put that in perspective, at least twice as often I call down to the front desk to request a new room because of noise-- street noise from outside the window, machinery noise and human chatter from being too close to the elevator, etc.

FlyTrey

Yes I always unplug them because I am very sensitive to the noise.

Loren Pechtel

Second this.

Allan38103

It's a refrigerator after all. Do whatever you like, and accept the consequences for your choice.

Or don't.

linsj

I always use the fridge, and I've never noticed any noise. So obviously, it doesn't bother me. One time a loud bang woke me in the middle of the night. I discovered a can of pop had exploded in the refrigerator because it was set too cold. Since then I always check the temperature dial.

gobluetwo

There have only been a few times when I've felt the need to unplug the fridge, and that's only when it's very loud and rattle-y. Otherwise, they generally don't bother me. Fortunately, I'm a fairly heavy sleeper and have gotten used to some amount of noise in hotels (other room doors, ice machine, elevator, loud room fan, etc.). If I can control it (unplug the fridge), I will.

I'll also spread out a towel by the door if the bottom gap is large and a lot of light leaks in.

FlyerWx

I hope I am not the only person who gets bothered a lot more by the AC noise than the refrigerator.

And I hope this goes without saying, but look inside the refrigerator before unplugging it.

Often1

If the noise bothers you, unplug the fridge. Leave the cord over the thing so that Housekeeping can see it and plug it back in when they put the room back in order after you check out. Sam goes for the alarm clock, TV's which don't really shut off unless separated from their power source and anything else that glows or bothers you.

All of these things are with Managements ability to control and certainly ought to be on Housekeeping's checklist before the room is cleared. If Management has cheezy old fridges when there are new silent ones out there, the consequence is that staff spend a few extra minutes a day plugging them back in.

There are things you can control and things you can't. Nothing to be done about creaky A/C other than shut it off and that is a tradeoff. But, before I spend 10 minutes figuring out whether there is an alarm set on some complicated clock, it's just as easy to pull the plug and know that it won't buzz.

CabinChief

This is a great idea, and something I never thought to do. Saves energy, although I have never noticed noise as a problem......

Kagehitokiri

can also ask for them (and other things) to be removed from room

apodo77

Stayed at two Embassy Suites properties recently and both had fridges that froze everything even when on the lowest setting.
That annoyed me.

pinniped

I've honestly never noticed an annoying loud refrigerator in a hotel room.

Stayed in plenty of cheap motels that had crappy window A/C units that sounded like a jet engine at close range. The problem is, I like to sleep in a cold room. So I'm going to have to use it to some extent...whether I can set it on a bone-chilling setting in the evening and then turn it off right at bedtime kind of depends on where I am.

Winters are nice, because I can usually get by with no HVAC at all, especially if I can crack a window. (It seems like hotels are always naturally warm...I've literally been in hotels where it's snowing out and I sleep with the windows open.)

Proudelitist

Absolutely...It is rare to have one even in a high end hotel that doesn't make a continuous buzzing noise. Once you hear it, you cannot un-hear it. As I rarely keep anything perishable in the room anyhow, I always just unplug it.