HOTELS TRY TO SHUT OUT NOISE FROM GUEST ROOMS
Hilton testing devices that emit white noise and help you relax
Hotels are trying to lull guests to sleep by proactively minimizing the noise they can hear in their rooms.
From double-insulated walls to thicker headboards to quieter airconditioning units, there are several steps hotels can take to provide a more calming sleep environment.
“We believe that overall that we are in the business of sleep,” says Lisa Checchio, senior vice president of global brands at Wyndham Hotel Group. “We all know sleep is a universal need, and travel is stressful.”
Studies have shown that too much noise can drastically affect a person’s sleep. According to a National Sleep Foundation study, 74% of 1,004 travelers said a quiet room was key to getting a good night’s rest.
Hilton says too much noise is one of the top three complaints its properties get.
“With noise emitted from a range of sources — traffic, voices, the bustle of a lobby bar or the sounds of construction — all with a different frequency of sound, combating noise is one of the most complex to solve,” says Jonathan Wilson, vice president of product innovation and brand services at Hilton.
Jason Robertson of Olathe, Kan., who works in sales in the engineering and construction industry, is a Hilton Diamond member and has a standing request in his profile to have a room on a high floor and away from the elevator to minimize noise problems. It has worked, he says.
“I travel around 180 days a year in sales, and being well-rested after early mornings and late nights is key to look and feel your best,” says Robertson, a member of USA TODAY’s Road Warriors panel of frequent travelers.
He was at a conference in Las Vegas and was woken up every morning by a garbage truck. He suggests that hotels have noisereducing windows.
“I usually have a weekly story around noise and sleeping,” he says.
Dan Luttrell, an insurance consultant in Wellsville, Kan., was recently placed in a hotel room next to the ice machine and a busy stairwell.
His advice to hotels: “Insulate walls and floors better. Install doors that don’t slam loudly, Remove swing locks that let doors bang into them.”
At the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in Virginia, the company is testing several noise-masking and -canceling initiatives.
One of them is Solid Drive, a device that effectively turns any surface into a speaker. That could be a door, a table or a headboard. The device is embedded close to where guests rest their heads and essentially creates a sound bubble of white noise, a podcast or calming music. Guests can control the device with a tablet on the nightstand.
Hilton is also trying out the Nightingale, a device that can lull guests to sleep at a set time and switch itself off when they are waking up.
“With noise emitted from a range of sources, ... combating noise is one of the most complex (problems) to solve.”
Jonathan Wilson, Hilton’s VP of product innovation and brand services
In the chain’s “Sound Sleep” rooms, various speakers are built around the room to emit white noise. Guests can control the amount of white noise through a knob next to the thermostat.
“The white noise enables better concentration and relaxation in the room, minimizing outside noise and distraction,” Wilson says
Wyndham is testing a new room at its Hamilton Park, N.J., property that has several features to promote sleep. They include night lighting, blackout curtains and a calming blue palette for décor. Beds have a full wall headboard to add a noise barrier. Flat-screen TVs are mounted on a padded wall to avoid spreading noise to the room next door. Depending on guest feedback, the features could become brand standards for all Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.
At Choice Hotels’ Sleep Inn brand, every property is a new construction. Designers consider noise impact throughout the planning and construction and once they open. In guest rooms, televisions are backed by a sound-dampening media board. Elevators have been situated to direct sound away from the guest rooms. Most of the properties do not have bars or lounges.
Advances in window production have helped hotels in their noise-battling efforts. When the Loews Regency New York was renovated two years ago, designers installed windows throughout the entire property to reduce noise heard by hotel guests..The hotel added laminated glass, which keeps out unwanted sound.