My five-star hotel gets no stars for ignoring my noise complaint

March 3, 2026 — 5:00am

I was just getting into bed in my five-star hotel room when I was almost blasted out of it by the sudden amplification of rock music from the floor below me.

Bass-heavy music, high-pitched vocals, and thumping drumbeats. It was more Yacht Rock than heavy metal, but it was still turned up to 11.

It wasn’t merely noisy, the sound reverberated through the bed and walls. Through me. Noise-cancelling earbuds hardly made a dint in it.

I’d gone to bed early, around 9.30pm, after an exhausting day at a conference. The party below was just setting up when I’d gone to my room, but it appeared to be a cocktail event, attended by people at the same conference as me.

At first, the sounds were muffled. People were having a good time. I wasn’t particularly disturbed. Then the band started up. The hotel could have at least warned me.

I waited until 11pm and called reception, asking when the party would finish. Surely it would be soon? It was a hotel with guests who wanted to sleep, after all. Wasn’t that the point of hotels? I’m sorry, madame, they said. It won’t finish until 1.30am.

I was outraged. I told them so. How can you put guests in a room knowing they won’t be able to sleep? I was on the first floor above the ballroom – this must have been a common complaint from guests in this room?

We can send up earplugs, they offered. When I protested that I already had them and they weren’t good enough, they offered to find me another room. But I was in my pyjamas, I had an early morning alarm, and moving would have been as disruptive as staying.

There was nothing else they could do. No apology the next morning either. I was much angrier with them than I would have been if it happened in a motel.

I’m sure we all have had moments in hotel rooms of all standards where we’ve had to suffer through noisy neighbours, exterior construction noise, internal repairs or the occasional big event.

Often, the disruption is short-lived and the hotel isn’t really to blame, although you’d expect luxury hotels to at least have good sound insulation.

If they claim they can’t do anything, you should demand to be moved to another room, even if just for a few hours.

A few years ago, I was travelling with a friend in Scandinavia and we’d treated ourselves to one night in a plush room in one of Stockholm’s grandest hotels.

It faced the water, which was lovely. But it also faced the front courtyard of the hotel, where a very large and noisy wedding party started up in the evening. That one went on well into the early hours of the morning. The hotel was unhelpful – although, after much negotiation, my friend managed to get a reduced tariff the next day.

I was once staying in Mumbai in a renowned hotel, only to find the room’s air-conditioning was making such a racket we couldn’t sleep. It couldn’t be repaired in the middle of the night, but they moved us to a room across the corridor, swiftly and without fuss.

I wish I’d taken up the offer to move rooms the night of that noisy party. I would have had some sleep at least.

The hotel was at fault because it didn’t give ample warning of the disruption. They clearly knew about the event and knew that the rooms directly above would be affected.

Hotels make a lot of revenue from events, but usually they send notes to guests ahead, apologising in advance for the disturbance. That’s appreciated.

If I had known about the party, I would have stayed out later. Or frocked up and gone down to join them. But I’d taken my make-up off, packed for the next morning, and I wasn’t in the mood.

If you’re faced with a room that doesn’t deliver what it promises – a good night’s sleep – you can firmly ask that they do something about the disruption.

If they claim they can’t do anything, you should demand to be moved to another room, even if just for a few hours.

If none of this happens, and you haven’t had prior warning, you should negotiate a refund or discount.

These days I always travel with an eye mask to block out annoying lights that can’t be turned off and silicone earplugs to block out unexpected noise.

But I get just a bit cross when I need these things in a hotel that claims it is five star.