Quiet hotels: how to find one, and how to get a quiet room
192 hotels scanned · 95 cities · data refreshed 2026-11-13
A quiet hotel is the one thing a hotel’s own photos can never show you. So we read what guests wrote. For 1,792 hotels we measured how often reviews complain about noise — street noise, thin walls, bars, lifts, air conditioning, early-morning deliveries.
542 of 1,792 (30%) are quiet by that measure: fewer than 1 in 100 reviews mention noise. 208 of 1,792 (12%) are the opposite — noise comes up in 4 or more of every 100 reviews.
The same reviews also tell us about pests: see hotels with bed bugs and hotel pest reports by city.
How many hotels are actually quiet?
Of 1,792 hotels with enough reviews to judge, 542 of 1,792 (30%) had noise mentioned in under 1% of reviews. We call those quiet hotels.
208 of 1,792 (12%) had noise mentioned in at least 4% of reviews, out of 100 or more reviews. At that rate, noise is a regular part of the stay, not one unlucky night.
Everything in between is a hotel where it depends on the room — which is where the tips below matter most.
What makes a hotel room noisy
- Street-facing rooms on low floors, especially in old town centres with nightlife, trams or rubbish collection before dawn.
- Rooms next to the lift, ice machine, stairwell or service door — doors and voices all night.
- Rooms above or near a bar, restaurant, terrace, nightclub or event hall — music and clearing-up late into the night.
- Connecting doors and thin walls — you hear the neighbours’ television and they hear yours.
- Air conditioning, plumbing and the minibar — the hum and the knock that keep light sleepers awake.
- Building work nearby or in the hotel itself, which reviews from the last few weeks will mention.
How to get a quiet hotel room
Ask in writing when you book, then ask again at check-in. Hotels can only give you a quiet room if they know you need one.
- A high floor, away from the lift and the ice machine.
- A room facing the courtyard, the garden or the back of the building rather than the street.
- Not above or next to the bar, restaurant, terrace or event rooms.
- No connecting door to the next room.
- If the room turns out loud on the first night, ask to move the next morning — the earlier you ask, the more rooms are free.
Pack earplugs and use the room’s blackout curtains: thick curtains damp street noise as well as light.
How to tell from the reviews if a hotel is quiet
Search a hotel’s reviews for "noise", "noisy", "loud", "thin walls", "street", "music" and "construction". Sort by newest: building work and a new bar downstairs change a hotel quickly.
Read what the noise is. "Street noise in front rooms" is fixable by asking for a back room; "music until 3am every night" is not.
The same search habit catches pest reports early — see how to tell if a hotel has bed bugs before you book.
How we measure noise
For each hotel we take the share of English-language reviews that mention noise. A hotel needs a noise read from its reviews to appear in these figures; the city table below shows how many hotels in each city had one.
A low share does not promise silence in every room, and a high share often comes from one side of the building. Use the figures to pick the hotel, and the room request above to pick the room.
Browse researched hotels
Cities where every listed hotel has a full HotelShortlist review dossier:
AlytusAthensBarcelonaBirštonasBonaBreuil-CerviniaCerviniaCortina d'AmpezzoDavos-KlostersDubaiGstaadHolzgauJamaicaJennersdorfKaunasKitzbühelKrakówKretingaLisbonMadonna di CampiglioMaglandMegèveMilanoMéribelPalangaParisPärnuRigaRiminiRubuliaiSan VigilioSanyaSt. Anton am ArlbergSt. MoritzTartuTauperlitzTrakaiTrentoUtzmannsbachVilniusVysoké TatryWagrainWarsawZakopaneZermattŁódźŽiaukos
How we counted
We scanned the English-language guest reviews of 192 hotels in 95 cities for mentions of bed bugs and other pests (cockroaches, mice, ants, fleas and similar). Reviews that deny a problem ("no bed bugs") are excluded, and each hotel counts once however many reviews mention it.
A mention is a guest’s report, not an inspection result — it may be old, and the hotel may have dealt with it since. This page shows totals only and never names a hotel. If you represent a hotel and believe a figure is wrong, write to members@hotelshortlist.com and we will review it.
Questions
- How do I find a quiet hotel?
- Read the newest reviews for noise complaints, choose a hotel off the main nightlife street, and ask for a high-floor, courtyard-facing room when you book. In our reading, 542 of 1,792 (30%) hotels are rarely called noisy.
- Which hotel rooms are the quietest?
- High floors, facing the courtyard or the back of the building, away from the lift, ice machine and bar, with no connecting door.
- Can I ask a hotel for a quiet room?
- Yes, and you should. Put it in the booking note or email the hotel before arrival, then repeat it at check-in. It costs nothing and most hotels note it on the reservation.
- What do I do if my hotel room is too noisy?
- Call the front desk the same night and ask them to deal with the source or move you. If nothing is free, ask to move first thing the next morning.