Janet Heller wishes the hotel she recently booked in Chicago had come with a warning label. After she checked in, she started hearing sirens. And that’s when she looked outside her window.
“We were right across the street from a hospital,” says Heller, a retired college professor from Portage, Mich. “I heard ambulance sirens all night. I couldn’t sleep.”
On second thought, maybe the entire travel industry should come with a warning label. It’s getting harder to sleep when you’re on the road. And worse, the travel industry doesn’t seem to care — with some notable exceptions.
A recent Hilton survey suggests that two in five travelers select hotels where they can get a better night’s rest. But the travel industry can’t always deliver.
In hotels, blackout curtains don’t close all the way, and ice machines rattle in the hallway. Getting any shut-eye on planes is pretty much impossible unless you have the money for an upgrade to a lie-flat seat in business class. And even then, don’t expect too much.
“Getting sleep while you’re traveling is becoming a challenge,” says Walter Meyer, author of “If You Weren’t Here, This Would Not Be Happening.”
He should know. Meyer spent most of last year traveling through Europe, staying at hotels, vacation rentals and in friends’ apartments. He’s struggled to sleep on a variety of beds and through loud music, trains, and nightclubs at the end of the street. And he says quality sleep is a precious and vanishing commodity.
But how is it getting more difficult to sleep, and is there still a way to find some rest when you’re on the road?
What’s the problem with sleep and travel?
Here’s the problem: The travel industry doesn’t really care how well you sleep, despite what it says.
Consider Paula Doherty’s recent flight from Tampa to London.
“I felt like I was a prisoner in a closet, that’s how small the seats were,” she says. “I was shocked.”
She tried to use a pillow to lean against the window and get some rest, but there wasn’t enough space. She remained awake for 8 ½ hours. Doherty had considered buying an upgrade to premium economy, which offers a little more room, “but an extra fee just doesn’t seem to buy less suffering.”
For all the talk about flying in comfort — and with one or two important exceptions — flying is a slog. If you can afford an upgrade to something like Qatar Airways’ business class, Qsuite, or can fly on one of Singapore Airlines’ new long-haul aircraft, you might be able to sleep all night. But you’re still in a pressurized aluminum tube. (Here are a few tips for sleeping on a plane.)
It’s the same story with hotels. Using the cheapest building materials or rotating mattresses less frequently can save a hotel money in the short term. But down the road, these practices lead to complaints and cranky customers who don’t get enough sleep.
In other words, cutting corners and cramming extra seats on the plane is more profitable, so good sleep is a secondary consideration. And with more people traveling, these grievances about sleep deprivation are on the rise.
But that doesn’t have to happen to you.
How to get a good night’s sleep when you travel
Whether you live on the road or travel only occasionally, there’s no need to end your trip looking like an extra from Night of the Living Dead. Here’s what the experts told me.
- Pack your sleep gear. That’s what Pattie Haubner does. “I always bring my own pillow and an oversized cashmere,” says Haubner, a retired communications professional and frequent air traveler from West Nyack, N.Y. That helps her feel at home and comfortable and makes it easier to sleep.
- Make a cave. “Make sure your sleep environment is dark, quiet and cool,” says Whitney Roban, a sleep expert and founder of Solve Our Sleep. And if you can’t? Bring a sleep mask to block the light, earplugs to drown out the noise, and crank the air conditioner up (if available). In other words, create your own cave.
- Book with a company that cares about your sleep. For example, Westin’s legendary Heavenly Bed consistently wins high ratings from travelers. I’m a big fan of Hilton’s beds. I’m staying at the Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus at the moment, which features the Hilton beds. They’re so comfortable, I even bought one for myself a few years ago. (You can purchase them online.)
One more warning from the experts. Don’t cut corners on sleep, especially if you’re driving. Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, and teens need 8 to 10 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation. That’s essential to preventing drowsy driving.
“Getting only three to four hours of sleep is similar to having a few drinks and is also likely to cause a crash,” says Joseph Dzierzewski, senior vice president of research and scientific affairs at the National Sleep Foundation.
Here are a few pro tips for maximizing your sleep
The first night of your trip is the hardest. That’s because of the “First Night Effect,” a phenomenon that practically guarantees you terrible sleep on the first night in a new environment.
“It’s attributed to an evolutionary response that keeps the brain more alert in unfamiliar surroundings, even when you’re safe,” explains Bob Bacheler, managing director of Flying Angels, a medical transportation service.
His advice is to make your bed as familiar as you can. Even something as small as bringing a favorite stuffed animal or travel pillow with you can do the trick. (Yes, even some adults have a favorite stuffed animal. Don’t judge.)
Oh, and the blackout curtains that don’t close are easy. Bring two clothespins with you and use them to eliminate that crack that lets light flood into your room.
And how about that ice machine churning away in the hallway? If your hotel won’t move you, you can always do what tour operator owner and frequent traveler Phyllis Stoller does: She unplugs it.
“Should I be ashamed to admit that?” Stoller asked me.
Actually, no. The hotel should be ashamed to put a loud ice machine so close to a guest room.
Are there any hotels or airlines to avoid? No, because it varies based on conditions. You could get a great night’s rest in an inexpensive chain hotel out in the middle of nowhere. And you might never fall asleep in that five-star property in the heart of downtown. If you’re going through rough weather in a plane, a lie-flat seat will do you no good. You’re not going to get any rest.
But there are hotels that take sleep seriously. For example, the boutique hotel chain citizenM designed its rooms with sleep at its center. I’m talking about custom bedding and the ability to fine-tune the temperature and lights for the best possible experience.
“The rooms are also designed to be exceptionally quiet, with soundproofing well above industry standards,” CitizenM’s chief brand officer, Robin Chadha, told me. The hotel even published a white paper on sleep and has an online quiz that determines your sleep type, a measure of how you sleep.
You can also ask about special sleep packages. At the swanky Hotel Valley Ho’s in Scottsdale, Ariz., you can get the Bubbles & No Sleep Troubles Package, which comes with a velvety flamingo eye mask, a wellness patch, an aromatherapy rollerball and a sleep meditation book “for a warm and peaceful finale.”
It would be great to see more initiatives like citizenM’s or Valley Ho’s. But in the meantime, if you care about getting a good night’s rest, book your next trip by prioritizing sleep — even if it costs a little extra. The zombie look is not right for you.
