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View Full Version : Noisy people in hotels



Dan Karachio
10-22-2010, 10:37 PM
I hate hotels. Why? Because I haven't had to deal with noisy neighbors since I was in my 20s and lived in apartments. Why are some people so clueless, so unaware that they are disturbing other people who, oh by the way, happen to be paying for their stay?

The other night I was in a hotel for a conference. This hotel was $370 a night. I needed to be up at 5:30 and I needed my rest. My head hits the pillow and then I hear my "neighbors" hooting up a storm. They don't stop. Having been in this scenario before, I do what works the best, I call the front desk. They come to their door twice (others may have called) and still the noise continues. I called the desk again and when they offered to come talk to them again, I say no, they are not going to stop, I want a new room. So, at about midnight I pack up and am moved to a nice new quiet room (bigger too).

However, I did something evil. Knowing my old room would not be used that night I programmed the clock radio to blast at full volume at 4:15 am (buzzer and radio staggered by 10 minutes). I was at the end of the hall and the noisy people were right next to me. The clock mere inches from their bed's headboard and the paper thin walls. Heh heh heh...

Might I have also distrubed others? Perhaps, but I see it as unfortunate but neccessary "collatoral damage" against an enemy that had to be attacked. I have no idea what happened, but I get a kick out of imaginging them rudely disturbed after a night of drunken revelry and no easy way to stop the music and buzzer from the other room.

Phil Thien
10-22-2010, 11:05 PM
However, I did something evil...Might I have also distrubed others?

LOL, all I can say is that karma is a.....

Greg Peterson
10-22-2010, 11:31 PM
In the room above me, it sounded like the people up there were stomping around. At one point it sounded like they were playing jacks, too.

I don't get it. It seems as if people lose respect for others privacy in hotels.

Don Alexander
10-23-2010, 2:56 AM
hard to lose what they never had

Van Huskey
10-23-2010, 4:45 AM
I travel about 100+ nights a year. I travel with a small air cleaner, not for its cleaning ability but the whitre noise it produces, it is amazing how much sound it drowns out when on the night stand beside my head. My wife travels with ear plugs.


The worst place is often next to stairwells people walking up and down often sound like elephants.

Brian Elfert
10-23-2010, 10:55 AM
I've never stayed in a hotel that cost anywhere close to $370 a night, but you might think for that kind of money they would have built the hotel with proper soundproofing. It is possible without spending an arm and a leg to do decent soundproofing. We aren't talking a recording studio here. I wish they built all multi story hotels with concrete floors, but it seems onlt the high rises are built that way to save on construction costs.

I shouldn't have to walk around like a cat burglar in a hotel to avoid bothering the neighbors.

Pat Germain
10-23-2010, 6:40 PM
I used to travel a lot and now travel only occasionally. But almost without fail, there's some clown on my floor with his TV cranked to MAXIMUM VOLUME for hours on end; often into the wee small hours. All I can figure is there are morons out there who use their TV as a white noise generator while annoying everyone else around them.

Another problem I often have is when kids are staying in the hotel. I don't mean Tom, Marcia and the two kidlets. I mean like an entire church youth group, cheerleading team, field hocky team, FHA group or whatever. Sheesh, without fail, these kids spend all night running up and down the stairs, running between rooms, pounding on doors and slamming doors shut. Again, and again, and again, again... I've called the front desk in such situations. But what are they to do when the entire place is full of kids running around? They should have a neon sign out front clearly warning other guests, "This hotel will be full of kids tonight!".

Jeffrey Makiel
10-23-2010, 9:30 PM
Why do they design room doors to always slam shut real hard?

I've also been a victim of a hotel filled with kids. I don't get it. Why do kids need to have a vacation or a sports excursion that requires hotel rooms? It seems a bit excessive.

-Jeff :)

Mac McQuinn
10-24-2010, 12:34 AM
I recently stayed in a Motel and stated I wanted the quietest room they had. They offered a "Quiet Zone" room in a specific area of the building at a cost of $5.00 extra each night. This was the best money ever spent. Absolutely whisper quite. Best night's sleep I've had at a Motel.

Mac

Ken Fitzgerald
10-24-2010, 12:38 AM
Why do they design room doors to always slam shut real hard?

I've also been a victim of a hotel filled with kids. I don't get it. Why do kids need to have a vacation or a sports excursion that requires hotel rooms? It seems a bit excessive.

-Jeff :)

Seriously, I think most hotel doors are designed to close sharply for security reasons. It's to make sure it closes when you leave the room. I have stayed in one or two where the door didn't close on its own and I found myself constantly going back to check it.

Lee Schierer
10-25-2010, 12:29 PM
Years ago when I was in the reserves, those of us from out of town stayed a a local hotel. At 1:00 a.m we were awakened by a group of people coming in late from their youth hockey tournament. They kept up the noise for quite a while and were even playing hockey in the hall. It took three calls to the desk and over a half hour to stop the noise. We had to get up at 5:30 so we made note of the rooms involved with the noise making and made a point to call each of their rooms while we were getting dressed in the morning. We would let the phone ring until someone answered, hang up and then call back in a few minutes.

Brian Elfert
10-25-2010, 11:00 PM
I don't quite understand why youth athletic teams need to travel. It isn't like the team does a lot of tourist type stuff when they travel. They usally travel to another city, play a number of games, and then travel back home. Can't they play their sport at home?

I don't understand why people think youth shouldn't vacation. Should everyone have to wait until they are an adult to see the tourist attractions in this country? I guess adults with families are supposed to just stay home until the kids are grown or hire a babysitter while they travel without kids.

Curt Harms
10-26-2010, 9:47 AM
I don't quite understand why youth athletic teams need to travel. It isn't like the team does a lot of tourist type stuff when they travel. They usally travel to another city, play a number of games, and then travel back home. Can't they play their sport at home?

I don't understand why people think youth shouldn't vacation. Should everyone have to wait until they are an adult to see the tourist attractions in this country? I guess adults with families are supposed to just stay home until the kids are grown or hire a babysitter while they travel without kids.

It also seems like an opportunity to learn respect for others and how to not be little jerks. That falls to parents and chaperons. I doubt they'll learn it watching teen oriented TV programming.

Art Mulder
10-26-2010, 1:40 PM
Don't you folks carry earplugs? :confused:

A pair of good foam earplugs cost less than a buck. My wife and I always keep some in our toiletry bags for traveling.

Jim Rimmer
10-26-2010, 1:57 PM
I used to travel 6 months out of the year but, fortunately not anymore. I learned early on to make sure my room was not near the stairs, elevator, or ice machine/vending area.

I kind of got used to not getting much sleep due to noise and being in a different bed. Once I had two rooms near me (one next door and the other across the hall) that were drinking a lot of beer and going from room to room talking and laughing. I stepped out and asked them if they could do one of two things? Either hold it down or give me a beer? No since it starting a problem with drunks. :rolleyes: I got the beer.

Joe Leigh
10-26-2010, 2:06 PM
Consider yourselves lucky, you could have spent a grand for a suite and ended up next to this guy....


http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/10/26/2010-10-26_charlie_sheen_trashes_plaza_hotel_suite_during_ drunk_rage_before_being_taken_awa.html

Colin Giersberg
10-26-2010, 8:02 PM
I have called the desk for people running up and down the hallway, shouting, etc. I believe that they got the message when management showed up the second time, and I opened the door, and voiced my displeasure for their actions. I will admit, I don't believe this will work the next time. It does make you want to carry one of the small boaters type air horns, just to sound the "alarm".

I do like the idea of the alarm clock as described in a previous post.

Regards, Colin

Matt Meiser
10-26-2010, 9:08 PM
I haven't been traveling as much lately but some projects in the past I've had to travel quite a bit. Some of it is dependent on where you stay. Stay at a hotel aimed at business travelers (say Hampton, Courtyard, etc.) and they are usually pretty quiet. If you are staying at a cheap place, its a different story. I try to avoid the Comfort Inns, Holiday Inn Express (with some exceptions,) etc as they tend to attract a different crowd. Conference hotels and resorts are another story altogether. Nothing like a crowd of adults on an all-expense paid vacation!

Rich Konopka
10-29-2010, 9:37 PM
I always ask the front desk clerk for a quiet room because I am a light sleeper. It works well most of the time except for the Late night talking in the halls or the slam of the door. The worse experience was at a convention hotel the same time there was a national cheer-leading competition. The long halls make great practice runs for cartwheels and flips.