Hotel Noise Complaints Surge as Guests Demand Better Sleep Amid Rising Costs
Noise is now the second most common hotel complaint after cleanliness, driven by rising room prices and heightened guest expectations for quality sleep. While modern building codes set a sound transmission benchmark of 50, many older hotels lack these standards, and renovations often fail to improve acoustics. Guests are increasingly demanding control over room selection, similar to airline seating, but hotels face financial and logistical barriers to implementing such systems. Experts recommend requesting rooms away from elevators or pools, using white noise machines, and checking specialized quiet hotel ratings to mitigate disturbances.