How to sleep at a hotel
Hotels have a special place in every flight attendant’s heart. They are our rest and refuge after a long day’s work. We get to see a lot of them, too; in fact, most crew members will stay in at least one hotel every time they go to work.
Flight crews keep odd hotel hours. We might check in at 2 a.m. and check out at 10 p.m., so getting a good night’s sleep can be a challenge. For example, at 8 a.m. the attack of the housekeeping staff begins, accompanied by the whining of vacuums, slamming of doors, and yelling of instructions from one end of the hall to the other.
In Europe, I have been awakened many times by hotel staff checking for a depleted minibar. Can you imagine waking up to find some strange man at the foot of your bed counting drinks? The “Do Not Disturb” sign may be on the door, but the minibar counter seems to have a waiver.
I value my sleep, so through the years I have gathered some tricks for getting a good night’s rest away from home. Here are the top 10.
1. Location, location, location. Don’t accept a room by the elevator or ice machine. You will feel the vibration all night long. It might not be apparent at first but, believe me, when the lights are out you’ll notice. And if the hotel has a disco, make sure you get a room at least two floors away. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve spent in South America trying to sleep to a samba beat.
2. Do Not Disturb! If your room does not have a “Do Not Disturb” sign, call the concierge or make your own sign out of the hotel stationery. Without it, the housekeeping staff will drive you bananas in the morning. I’ve lost count of the times a maid has caught me stumbling to the bathroom, naked.
3. Earplugs. I love earplugs. They can make an otherwise miserable flight bearable, and they can be your only chance for a good night’s sleep in a hotel. Keep a pair on the bedside table and pop them in if you need them.
4. Party time. If there is a party going on next door, do not — I repeat, do not — call security. Instead, pack your bags, return to the front desk, and request another room. It’s very easy for the front desk clerk to say there are no more rooms on the phone, but hard to do so in person. If you’re feeling vengeful, you can give the revelers a call early the next morning, when they’re snoring away with a hangover about to explode. Mind you, the problem isn’t always alcohol. My advice also applies to that besotted couple next door who seem to be going for the sexual marathon record. It’s fun to listen to the whoops and hollers for the first 10 minutes, but after a couple of hours, you’ll be hoping for a visit from the vice squad.
5. Television timer. If there is a timer function on the TV remote control, set it to turn off the TV no matter how awake you feel. Waking up to a horror movie or war movie on high volume is a scary experience. Besides, the guy next door might have forgotten his earplugs.
6. Operator. Wrong-number calls are common at hotels, so call the operator and place a “do not disturb†order on your in-room phone when you want to sleep. You can request a “do not disturb†until a certain time or until you call and cancel. Alternately, you can just unplug your phone.
7. Trailblazing. Clear a path from the bed to the toilet. That way, you won’t have to turn on a light or stub a toe on the way to the bathroom for your nightly visit.
8. Liquids. Keep water within hand’s reach. Looking for some in the middle of the night can ruin any chance of getting back to sleep.
9. Curtains. Close the curtains all the way so the sun doesn’t wake you in the morning.
10. False alarm. Make sure the alarm clock has been turned off. There are people who get a kick out of setting the alarm to go off in the middle of the night as a practical joke on the next guest. Not my type of humor, but it’s out there.
If you value sleep as much as I do, these strategies are well worth considering. Sweet dreams!
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7 Responses to “How to sleep at a hotel”
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I also recommend an eyemask to go with earplugs. The cheap ones are better than nothing, but I really like the Tempur-Pedic mask. It’s fairly expensive at about $35, but it’s worth it. The dense viscoelastic foam molds to your face, and the foam is very light-tight. The wide elastic band beats those tiny straps on the cheapies. (No, I don’t own stock in Tempur-Pedic or Brookstone!) Crowne Plaza hotels offers inexpensive eyemasks and earplugs as part of its’ good night’s rest guarantee in every room, but go for the good stuff and bring your own.
Speaking of parties. I had been flying across the country and was very tired. At about 10PM it got really noisy and stayed that way till @ 2AM. And on top of that I am a light sleeper. Very early in the morning, I walked up to the front desk still in my sweats and told them straight up that I was not paying for the previous night and that I wanted to be moved to a quiet area. Apparently there had been a wedding reception that went on long the night before. Happily, the hotel removed the charge from the previous night, and moved me, and there was not another occupied room near me for at least 5 or 6 doors on either side.
Thank you very much for the interesting, informative and well written article. I always look forward to reading what you have to say.
I’ve always wondered if there are any issues with ear plugs and the fire alarm.
Best regards.
I didn’t know that Tripso recycles three years old articles: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7386057/
:-(
I remember getting stuck on a trip where the couple next door were going for a marathon record.
When I got up at 6:00am to make my flight out (to Home), I turned their “Do Not Disturb” sign over to “Please make up room early”
Thought I had read this before! All great ideas but none will save you from the vibration and wall jarring of your neighbors door innocently slamming shut after you are asleep. Why 90% of hotel doors do this is beyond comprenshesion.
My tip, born out of sleepness night frustration 3 years ago:
Turn your laptop into a “white noise / sleep machine” by buying a $5 download mp3 of a fan with white noise and place the laptop on the bed with you. Run it all night. Serves to block out most other noise.
Best $5 you will spend, I can’t sleep without it now…
Thanks to Joshua, it had never occurred to me that white noise MP3s might exist, and best of all you can get for .99 on Amazon.com!