How To Sleep In A Noisy Hostel: 10 Top Tips From A Full-Time Traveller
Wondering how to get to sleep in a noisy hostel?
Then you’ve come to the right place as I’m a full-time budget traveller and I stay in hostels everywhere I go.
Hostels are great, and there are so many benefits, but one of the biggest downsides is definitely snoring and other noises at night while you’re trying to fall asleep.
Luckily, I’ve been able to train myself to be able to sleep in a noisy hostel room, and now I’m going to share my top tips with you for falling asleep when it’s not completely silent.
Sleeping In A Noisy Hostel Tips
Like everything in life, practice makes consistent – not perfect! – and this is the same for falling asleep in a noisy hostel room. The more you do it, the easier it will become, and eventually, it won’t be a problem for you. To help you reach that stage as quickly as possible (because who wants to lie in bed awake all night, right?), I’ve put together some top tips. Let’s get straight into it.
1. Get earplugs
One of the most common noises you’ll hear at night while trying to fall asleep is snoring. It’s super annoying, especially those loud snores that go on and on and on and never stop.
I guess it makes sense since statistically, 25% of people snore regularly, and most hostel rooms have more than 4 people, so in theory, there will be at least one person snoring in every hostel room in the world.
Thankfully, earplugs can help to block out snoring and other sounds. Granted, they won’t block out everything and you’ll still hear some muffled noises (probably snoring), but they definitely help to combat the overwhelmingly loud noises.
They’re worth trying since they’re so cheap, you may as well try it for one night and hope that it works. I always tell people who are staying in a hostel for the first time to bring earplugs with them just in case.
Though the chances are, if you’re reading this post, you’re probably lying in a noisy hostel room right now as you’re reading this and you don’t have earplugs. Don’t worry, I’ve been there, searching for this exact question once upon a time.
2. Breathing techniques
Regardless of whether you’re trying to sleep in a noisy hostel room or whether you’re lying in a king-sized bed at home in silence trying to fall asleep, one of the best tips sleep experts have is to use breathing techniques.
Some common breathing techniques include:
- Breathe for 4 seconds then hold your breath for 7 seconds then exhale for 8 seconds
- Belly breathing
- Alternate nostril breathing (block your right nostril for 6 seconds, then your left)
- Box breathing
- Counting your breaths
- Bhramari pranayama breathing
Personally, I just make myself breathe a little bit slower and focus on my breathing rather than the noises in the room and that does the trick for me. But I have known others to use some of the above methods and they swear by them.
If you are that person who needs ways to fall asleep right now without leaving the hostel, try some of the above methods.
By the way, make sure you know what to wear to bed in a hostel, otherwise it might appear a bit odd if you’re breathing really heavily and loudly while wearing less clothes than ideal…
3. Listen to music
What better way to replace the loud sounds of a hostel room than with some music?
Now, I’m not talking about listening to the latest pop hits or some rock classics, but instead, some nice and relaxing music which can soothe you to sleep.
If you follow the advice of my top backpacking hacks which is to keep your subscriptions to Netflix and Spotify as you’ll use them more than you expect and this is a prime example.
Simply choose some headphones instead of earplugs, set your music to stop after 30 minutes or so, and hope that you’ll drift off to some relaxing classical music.
4. Wear an eye mask
Although wearing an eye mask won’t directly help you sleep in a noisy hotel room, it will help improve your overall sleeping experience, which will help you fall asleep when it’s noisy.
Personally, I never go to sleep in a hostel without an eye mask on- as even though hostel etiquette should mean I don’t have to wear a sleep mask, I do anyway.
It solves so many problems such as people turning the lights on during the night, or if someone opens the curtains way too early in the morning. Neither of these affects me as the mask blocks out the light.
But when you’re trying to fall asleep, it removes any distractions and allows you to focus on falling asleep, rather than being annoyed by the glare of someone’s phone or the reading light someone has on across the room.
As a result, you can focus on your breathing, or use any of these other techniques, making it easier to fall asleep. That’s why I always recommend chucking in a face mask when you are figuring out what to take to a hostel.
5. Listen to white noise
If music isn’t your thing, maybe you’ll prefer listening to some white noise. It’ll drown out all of the other noises in the room and allow you to drift away.
There are also other types of noise you can use such as brown noise which sounds a bit like wind or a muffled highway or something like that.
I don’t use this method personally as I prefer natural background noises, which I’ll get into in a moment, but I’ve heard of other backpackers using this one in hostels and saying it works.
Or if you don’t just want to listen to “noise”, you can choose a sound you like such as waves crashing against some rocks or rain falling onto a roof.
6. Allow the noise to become background noise
This is one of my favourite techniques and aside from putting in ear plugs and wearing a face mask, it’s always my first go-to.
What I do is I essentially allow the noises in the room to become background noises and allow them to become consistent, and a rhythm. I’ve even used this on the worst snores I’ve ever heard and it works
It sounds really simple and too good to be true but I basically stop allowing the loud noises to annoy me, and I just listen to them and after like 5-10 minutes, I fall asleep. I can’t really explain how or why, but it works.
When I’m at home, I always sleep with a fan on. No matter what time of year it is, no matter what temperature it is. So maybe this one only works for certain people, and I’m one of them.
By the way, I have a full post on tips for choosing a hostel, and noise definitely comes into it. So read the reviews before booking!
7. Tire yourself out
It’s common sense that if you tire yourself out throughout the day, it’ll be easier to fall asleep at night. And this applies to when you’re trying to sleep in a noisy hostel too.
When I’m backpacking, I’m always pretty active during the day, doing 15-20,000 steps a day on average, so I always find it relatively easy to fall asleep at night.
If you get active during the day, you’ll thank yourself not only because it’s healthy, but because you won’t be lying in bed for hours trying to fall asleep. If you’re anything like me, you’ll fall asleep with the click of a finger.
But if you do find yourself lying in bed, why not go out for a quick mile or two walk? It’ll give you some time to clear your head and relax, and tire you out so you fall asleep when you get back to the hostel.
8. Meditate
Although one of my favourite hostel quotes is “Sleep is optional, but fun is mandatory in hostel life!”, we all still want a bit of sleep at night. And if the room is noisy, meditating is a great way to overcome this.
Meditating prepares your body for sleep, as it gets you into a complete state of relaxation. Not to mention meditation is just good for you anyway, aside from helping you to sleep.
I’m not telling you to start a full yoga routine in the middle of the room at 3 am (though I’m not telling you not to), but simply to meditate while lying in your bed.
You could put on a meditation podcast or a YouTube video, or DIY it by using some common meditation techniques such as using your point of breath as a focus, which relates back to the breathing techniques.
If you find that one of these techniques to sleep in a hostel room that’s noisy isn’t working on its own, try to combine the tips together and see if they work. Bonus points if you make it to needing all 10 tips to fall asleep!
9. Choose your bed wisely
One of the biggest differences between hostels and hotels is that usually, you aren’t given a designated place to sleep.
When you first walk into a hostel room, you choose from the available beds which are free and not taken. This is where you have to be strategic.
First of all, most people prefer the bottom bunk and I am one of them. It’s so much easier to get in and out of bed, it’s easier to pack your bag, and it’s easier to speak to people too.
Second of all, the location of your bed matters. You don’t want to be right by the door as that’s going to get annoying pretty quickly. And the same goes if you have a bathroom in the room too.
So is somewhere in the middle good? Well, yeah, but then you’ll hear all of the sounds from all directions rather than if you’re in a corner, you’ll only hear noise from one direction.
Assuming the door is in the corner of the room, I always go for the opposite corner. If the door isn’t in the corner, then I go somewhere between the door and the middle of the room. I’ve found these to be the two sweet spots, and I’ll always go there if they’re available.
10. Ask to change rooms
As an absolute last resort, if you can’t find any possible way to fall asleep in your noisy hostel room, then ask to change rooms. But as I said, as a last resort.
If someone is just making a general noise, I would ask them to be quiet. I’ve seen people kick beds to get people to stop snoring but I never do this personally as it just starts again when they fall back asleep anyway.
Depending on how late it is, I would leave it until the morning to ask for the change, or else you’ll end up being the person making all of the noise in the middle of the night when you change rooms.
How To Sleep In A Noisy Hostel: FAQ
Below are some questions relating to sleeping in a noisy hostel along with my answers to each question.
To sleep peacefully in a hostel, wear an eye mask, put in ear plugs, and tire yourself out throughout the day so you fall asleep quickly and peacefully without lying awake listening to the sounds in the hostel room.
To sleep in a hostel with light and noise, wear an eye mask and put in ear plugs. They are two easy steps to take to massively improve your sleeping experience in a hostel as they block out most light and sound which would annoy you otherwise.
It’s rare that something happens if you snore in a hostel, but you will annoy everyone else in your room. Sometimes angry hostel stayers will kick your bed to wake you up. Sometimes letting people know in advance that you snore can soften the blow.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, a complete guide to sleeping in a noisy hostel room.
As I said earlier, practice makes perfect, so make sure to use these methods together and before you know it, it’ll be dead easy to sleep in a room that’s noisy.
Or if you still can’t get the knack of it, maybe you’ll prefer flashpacking instead of backpacking.
