- Feb 17, 2017
- 10,400
- Tinnitus Since
- February, 2017
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Acoustic Trauma
As a result of tinnitus, I haven't done any traveling in 2017. Recently, I had a chance to travel in the United States. I discovered that these days, many hotels have air conditioning that produces a lot of noise and vibration. I don't remember this being a problem in the past (2016 and earlier). [And I know that had my feet been vibrating throughout the night, see below, I WOULD have remembered.] Could it be that hotels have been switching to some kind of "energy efficiency/green" AC that makes sleep difficult in their rooms?
Unfortunately, even if you switch your own AC off, you can still be bothered by the noise and vibration generated by your neighbor's AC. When I say "vibration", I am talking about your feet vibrating when you lie on the bed. After I had experienced this at a motel, I tried staying at somewhat more upscale hotels (e.g., Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn), and I discovered that about a third of them have quiet AC units, with the rest providing nice amenities and having the ambient noise level identical to the nastiest, loudest motel out there.
Some of the hotels housed in newer looking buildings have central AC. This can be a disaster. You can feel the floor vibrating everywhere in the room, the walls are vibrating, and so do your feet (and head and everything in between) when you lie on the bed. The noise is pretty bad too.
If you drive up to a hotel and notice a truck parked outside it, with its engine on, don't assume that the truck driver had forgotten to turn off the engine while he is paying for his room. It is a refrigerated truck - it will be on throughout the night, and it will be supplying vibration to all of the rooms facing the parking lot where it is parked. After I learned the above the hard way, I was able to get them to move me to another room, on the other side of the hotel. It was an improvement, but I could still feel the vibration from that truck. Of course, the relief I had experienced when the truck had finally departed around 5 am, made it all totally worth it!
Does anyone know whether there exists a hotel or motel chain that is guaranteed to have quiet AC? Are there any strategies one could try to be able to sleep at those loud hotels?
Unfortunately, even if you switch your own AC off, you can still be bothered by the noise and vibration generated by your neighbor's AC. When I say "vibration", I am talking about your feet vibrating when you lie on the bed. After I had experienced this at a motel, I tried staying at somewhat more upscale hotels (e.g., Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn), and I discovered that about a third of them have quiet AC units, with the rest providing nice amenities and having the ambient noise level identical to the nastiest, loudest motel out there.
Some of the hotels housed in newer looking buildings have central AC. This can be a disaster. You can feel the floor vibrating everywhere in the room, the walls are vibrating, and so do your feet (and head and everything in between) when you lie on the bed. The noise is pretty bad too.
If you drive up to a hotel and notice a truck parked outside it, with its engine on, don't assume that the truck driver had forgotten to turn off the engine while he is paying for his room. It is a refrigerated truck - it will be on throughout the night, and it will be supplying vibration to all of the rooms facing the parking lot where it is parked. After I learned the above the hard way, I was able to get them to move me to another room, on the other side of the hotel. It was an improvement, but I could still feel the vibration from that truck. Of course, the relief I had experienced when the truck had finally departed around 5 am, made it all totally worth it!
Does anyone know whether there exists a hotel or motel chain that is guaranteed to have quiet AC? Are there any strategies one could try to be able to sleep at those loud hotels?
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