If you don’t sleep well last night or the other night and any night, you’ll have a cluttered mind. There is no way to insure you’ll get a quiet and peaceful room. You can think on one with the reservations clerk, but that seems to work about as often as flipping a coin just to decide. You can make reservations online, but forget it. I am a very light sleeper and here’s what has worked for me. Don’t try to waste your time telling the 800 number reservations clerk. How about try searching on the internet where you can type it into comments online, because it might help to have something in writing. Also you can get the local phone number of the hotel. Try to call and tell the desk clerk what you want. Get his name and tell him that you will personally pay him to put you in a quiet room. Five dollars might do it, but no more than 10. I learned this traveling in Mexico and it works fine here in the U.S., too.
If you can stay with the same chain, you will be more familiar with what you are getting. That means a lot in reducing stress and relaxing for a while. I have found really good deals and pleasant surprises with independent motels, but there have been about as many unpleasant ones. Hilton Hotels one which you can afford them, offer dependable quality and familiarity, as do Holiday Inns. I am more likely to be found in the Red Roof Inns, Comfort Inns, Howard Johnson’s, and Econo Lodges. Despite their name, Econo Lodges generally have large rooms and decent furnishings for less money. Red Roof has rooms with real computer desks! Not all of the locations have them, but they are certainly a plus.
Reservations usually don’t really know what a quiet room is, so you have to be specific and direct to the point. If you are staying in a hotel with a bellman, you are in luck. These guys have actually been to the rooms and, for a fiver, can fix you right up. You want an interior room in a large hotel, not facing the street. A courtyard is ideal. In a motel you want a room on the end, in the back of the parking lot. First floor rooms have less street noise than second floor rooms, but you get the early morning and late evening traffic. Second floor is quieter than third. People think higher is better. It isn’t. Being next to an elevator doesn’t bother me, but some people hate it. Personally, I prefer it, since it is usually shielded from traffic noise and keeps you from having another room on one side.
1 love rooms with Jacuzzi’s, but try not to get a room next to a Jacuzzi suite. Jacuzzi users tend to be night owls. I always make sure my room has a bathtub. A hot bath after a long trip can be a real life-saver. And, if you’re like me, it’s a great place to meditate.
As soon as you arrive in your room, check out the air conditioning! heating. It should be loud enough to mask noise, but quieter than a B-52. it’s easier to change rooms right away than it is later. Pack three clothespins to keep the drapes together. Even in the nicest places (except in Las Vegas), they never seem to completely close. A thin shaft of light can keep you from sleeping.
Even with the best precautions you will get burned sometimes. I checked into a marvelous hotel near Boston one night and it was a big quiet room on a corner and away from the street. A group of college kids took over the floor and had a party. I called the front desk and they did nothing. I called the cops and they threw the kids out. Sometimes you have to take care of yourself. Don’t delay. Those things don’t get better with time.
Today there are white noise machines on small clock radios. They don’t take up that much space and will pay you back the trouble of carrying them and then some. Get one with a battery backup. Do not ever trust the alarm clock in the hotel to be accurate. I’ve seen them set to 9:00 a.m. when it is 9:00 p.m.
Put two or three neon-colored dots, from an office supply store, on your appliances.