Last night the hotel where I stayed was very empty. There may have been a dozen cars in the lot this morning at a property with 6 floors and, I'm guessing, well over 100 rooms. So, I'm amazed to notice on my way to breakfast that half the doors on my floor have a newpaper hanging from the handle (signifying occupancy), including rooms on both sides of mine.

I realize that cramming all the guests into adjacent space makes the housekeeping job easier. But, my #1 requirement in a hotel is a quiet room. Last night was Super Bowl XL. I was up late, and heard the usual sounds - doors closing, goodnights in the hallway, the whoosh of the elevator, tv's tuned into late night programming, the flush of a toilet, footsteps on the floor above. God forbid they'd actually put sufficient insulation into the walls and ceilings. I know at least one airline provides the benefit of empty middle seats for elite flyers when possible. Why won't some hotel chain make a similar promise to its most frequent guests - a guarantee that, if space permits, the rooms above and beside yours will be unoccupied? They'd have all my business for life! Has it been done?

Not long ago I stayed at a Starwood Luxury Collection hotel with my wife and my two kids (ages 3 and 8 mos. at the time) in the same room. We were given a room all the way down at the end of the hall, with no room on one side or ours and evidently no one in the room on the other side. Nice for us, of course, as nighttime noises didn't wake the kids. But I suspect we were put there more to protect other guests from sounds the kids might make than to protect us.

I think you hit the mark right there.....

I'd rather they did it for me than to me. I really should inform them at check-in that I suffer from night terrors and not to mind the screams coming from my room in the middle of the night. I guess that would get me what I'm looking for.

That would either be very effective if rooms were available, or might cause them to suggest you look elsewhere for a room.

here are couple options..

1) Get (pay extra) a suite with more room at the end of a hall this should keep you further away from neighbors
2) Find a hotel with better insulation
3) Request to be switched to another room
4) ear plugs????

I feel its safe to assume you dont live in an Apt but a house and are use to the extra quiet space. In my opinion if you are going to travel that is one of the many things you need to sacrifice.

You are correct. I live in a single family home. I spent a few years in apartments. Some were quiet. Some nurtured my desire to own a home. It's no guarantee of quiet. Inconsiderate and insensitive people are everywhere. There are loud parties, dogs that bark all day and night, stereos that can be heard through open windows in the summer etc.

Most suites I have slept in were no quieter than single rooms. Several suites I've been given are the dreaded "adjoining room" which is the noisiest accomodation in the building. I've never seen one at the end of a hall. I've never stayed in a hotel, apartment or condo that was sufficiently soundproofed. I've switched rooms in extreme circumstances but it's an inconvenience, especially at midnight. I don't like earplugs.

Based on my having read the complaints of other fters I know I'm not the only one sensitive to hotel noise. If there are enough of us, wouldn't some chain (or even individual properties) see the advantage of offering quieter rooms. Spacing guests costs little. Far less than adequate soundproofing.

Honestly, most people don't need the extra room afforded by First class aircraft seats. They exit the aircraft after 3 hours in coach and they're not crippled for life. But, even smaller folks enjoy the larger seats. Would you tell us that enduring coach seats is a necessary sacrifice? No, because some airlines have taken unsold F seats and allowed frequent flyers to sit there at no additional cost. My suggestion is no more radical than that. But, for some reason, I feel like a voice in the wilderness.

I always travel with ear plugs, my advice is learn to love them. If I forget to pack a pair, I head to the nearest 24 hr Wallgreens and buy some. No matter how many stars a hotel has or how big your suite, when you have hundreds of people coming in and out at all hours, many of them drunk, many of them with loud kids, most of them on vacation and not worried about a 6:00am wakeup call, things will get noisy. That is how hotels work and I don't think there's much anyone can do about it.

I would think this could be a nightmare for the hotel trying to implement. On planes you basically have aisle or window, plus you can typically make your own choice online if you wish.

Hotels you have smoking, non-smoking, king, queen, single, double, accessable, adjoining, upper floor, lower floor, "view"..... plus combinations of the above. Trying to get a non-smoking king with a particular view on the 6th floor, with empty rooms on either side, would be pretty tough to figure out.

Also on a flight, everyone is there for the same duration. Hotels people come and go on different days, making the scheduling even more difficult.

I just look for the well insulated quiet hotels and don't go back to the bad ones.

tev9999,

You are a wise and observant traveller. I was ignoring all the other room features and scheduling conflicts Still, It would be nice to see "quiet" listed on preference selections in a frequent guest profile. I already have a selection of bed type, smoking preference and elevator proximity. Of course, who would select "noisy" as a preference? If only I could select it for some people!

And yes, some chains are more notiously thin walled (Hampton Inn) and I avoid them when I can.

I have been staying at the Club Quarteres in Chicago and usually the hotel is filled with business travellers expecting that 6am call. In addition they offer the corner suites. Rooms are pretty tight and close to each other but i have yet to have a problem sleeping. There was one night when i had a guy next to me playing a guitar and signing. I went to the bar had couple drinks and it was all good.

A deaf guitar player! It's hard enough to sing and play, let alone use your hands for both!

BamaVol, some properties are listening to you. Last place I worked, we routinely put elites in corner rooms, no adjoining doors, and on higher floors (more expensive -- rarely in the price range of loud families). When we had construction projects, we'd go so far as to try to fill a lower floor with elites to distance from the noise.

I used to work at a 14 building Residence Inn complex. Some buildings tended to be extended stay. And some buildings tended to be short stay. And some... rarely housed elites.

It's all about keeping people happy. Put people who don't care about noise near each other. Solves a lot of problems in advance.