How to sleep well in a hotel: noise, light, dry air and a strange bed

Sleeping well in a hotel comes down to controlling four things the room gets wrong: noise, light, temperature and dry air. Earplugs, an eye mask, a cooler thermostat and a clear nose cover most of it, and a familiar bedtime routine helps with the strange-bed feeling. Here's what the research says about each problem, the requests worth making at check-in, and what to put in a small kit.

Why is it hard to sleep in a hotel?

Hotel sleep is hard partly because your brain treats a new room as something to keep an eye on. A 2016 study in Current Biology found that on a first night somewhere unfamiliar, one side of the brain sleeps less deeply than the other. That more wakeful side reacted more strongly to unusual sounds, and those sounds caused more arousals and faster responses. The bigger the gap between the two sides, the longer people took to fall asleep. The authors describe it as a night watch, and none of it showed up in later sessions.

So the first night is the hard one, and the room itself makes it harder. Doors close in the hallway, a lift hums, a standby light glows, the heating blasts, and the pillow is the wrong height. Most of these are fixable in a few minutes. Our travel sleep kit checklist covers packing for the whole trip; this guide is about the room itself.

How do you block noise in a hotel room?

Earplugs are the best-supported way to block hotel noise. In a 2026 sleep-lab study in Sleep Health, 25 healthy adults slept through intermittent recordings of environmental noise, such as aircraft, traffic and alarms. Pink noise reduced arousals and awakenings from aircraft noise, but foam earplugs did better. The sounds most likely to wake people were a crying baby and a fire alarm, which is worth knowing if you're next to a family room.

That study matters for hotels because the noise there is mostly intermittent: a door, a voice, a lift arriving. The 2016 first-night study found the more alert hemisphere was especially quick to react to unusual sounds. Earplugs reduce how much of that reaches you.

A fan or white noise app is the other common choice. Some people like it, and it costs nothing to try. But a 2021 systematic review in Sleep Medicine Reviews looked at 38 articles and rated the evidence that continuous white noise improves sleep as very low quality, noting it may also affect sleep and hearing. If you use one, keep it at a modest volume. Our guide to white noise for sleep goes through the studies, and the best earplugs for snoring explains how to get a good fit.

A few requests at check-in also help, and they cost nothing:

• A room away from the lift, ice machine and stairwell
• A higher floor, away from street noise and the bar
• A room that doesn't share a connecting door with the next one

Hotels can't always say yes, but asking is free.

How dark should a hotel room be?

A hotel room should be as close to fully dark as you can make it. In a 2022 laboratory study in PNAS, healthy adults slept one night with moderate overhead light (100 lux) and one night in a dim room (under 3 lux). With the light on, their heart rate was higher during the night, heart rate variability dropped, and they had more insulin resistance the next morning.

Most hotel rooms aren't that bright, but they leak light from curtains that don't quite meet, a glowing TV standby light, a hallway gap under the door and a phone charging face up. Simple fixes:

• Close the blackout curtains fully and clip the gap shut with a hanger clip if you have one.
• Put a hand towel over the TV's standby light or the clock.
• Turn your phone face down.
• Pack an eye mask for anything you can't cover.

What temperature should a hotel room be for sleep?

A hotel room should be cool enough that you don't wake up warm. A 2012 review in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that in real-life conditions with bedding and clothing, heat exposure increases wakefulness and reduces deep sleep and REM sleep, and humid heat adds to the load. Cold mattered less for sleep stages when people had enough bedding, though the review notes it still affects the heart's nervous system responses during sleep.

In practice, that means turning the thermostat down before bed, swapping a heavy duvet for a sheet if the room runs warm, and asking for an extra blanket if it runs cold. Our guide to the best bedroom temperature for sleep has more on the research.

What can you do about dry air in a hotel room?

If a hotel room feels dry, you'll usually notice it as a tight, dry nose and a parched mouth in the morning. A room that feels stuffy and dry makes it tempting to breathe through your mouth, which only adds to the dry mouth.

A saline spray is the simplest fix and packs small. A glass of water by the bed helps, and turning down a heater that's running hot helps the temperature too. Some travelers pack a small humidifier. If you do, the EPA advises against humidifying a room above 50% relative humidity, because higher levels can encourage mold and other biological growth, and it recommends keeping humidifiers clean. Our article on dry nose at night covers the feeling in more detail.

If dry air leaves your nose feeling narrow, a nasal strip gives the front of it a gentle lift. The Titan Sleep System pairs TitanAir Nasal Strips with Titan's mouth tape, which is handy if you also wake up with a dry mouth.

How do you get comfortable in an unfamiliar bed?

No study we found tested how to adjust to a hotel bed, so this part rests on common sense rather than research. The two things that usually feel wrong are the pillow and the mattress firmness.

Hotels often have a pillow menu, or at least firmer and softer options at the front desk, so it's worth asking. Some people pack a pillowcase from home for the familiar smell and feel. If the mattress is too soft, a folded extra blanket under your hips can help, and if it's too firm, a spare duvet underneath you softens it.

The bigger lever is your routine. Since the first-night effect is about the brain treating the room as new, keeping your usual bedtime steps the same gives it something familiar. Brush your teeth, read the same kind of book, wear what you'd wear at home and go to bed at your usual time.

How do you handle a new time zone in a hotel?

If you've crossed time zones, light timing matters as much as the room. The NHS says to change your sleep schedule to the new time zone as quickly as possible, set an alarm so you don't oversleep, and go outside during the day, because natural light helps your body clock adjust. It also advises against sleeping during the day and against too much caffeine or alcohol.

The NHS notes that melatonin isn't recommended on the NHS for jet lag because there isn't enough evidence that it works. If you're considering it, ask a doctor or pharmacist first. On a short trip of two or three days, the NHS suggests you could keep your home schedule instead, so you don't need to change it again when you get back.

What should you pack in a hotel sleep kit?

A hotel sleep kit only needs a few small things, each matched to one of the room's problems.

On tape, the usual rules come with you. Sleep Foundation advises testing mouth tape during the day first, avoiding it when your nose is blocked by allergies, a cold or structural issues, and folding over one corner so it's easy to remove. A hotel room is not the place to try it for the first time. Pack enough for every night of the trip, plus a few spares. We don't recommend mouth tape for children. Mouth taping when traveling has more on using tape and strips away from home.

When should you see a doctor about poor sleep away from home?

See a doctor if poor sleep follows you home, or if anyone notices worrying signs while you're away. A shared hotel room is sometimes the first time a colleague or friend hears you sleep. The NHS lists breathing that stops and starts, gasping, snorting or choking noises, waking up a lot and loud snoring as signs of sleep apnoea, along with feeling very tired during the day. If someone has seen these, it can help to bring them to the appointment. Tape and strips don't treat sleep apnea, so read sleep apnea warning signs and get checked.

A nose that stays blocked for weeks, rather than just on a dry hotel night, is also worth a doctor's look. If you're pregnant, ask your midwife or doctor before trying any new sleep product. Our safety page covers who should skip mouth tape.

Our pick (paid partner): Titan Sleep System

For hotel nights, our pick is the Titan Sleep System. It's our recommendation rather than something we've tested against other kits, and it fits two of the problems above: dry air that makes your nose feel tight, and a mouth that falls open in a strange bed.

Titan describes it as TitanAir Nasal Strips and Titan Mouth Tape together as one nightly system. Titan says the strips are drug-free external nasal dilators with flexible spring-loaded bands, placed just above the flare of the nostrils on the soft part of the nose, on clean, dry skin. The tape is bamboo silk, which Titan describes as soft, breathable and moisture-wicking, in one oval size of 76 by 38 mm worn horizontally across the lips.

Titan suggests 20 to 30 minutes of daytime practice with the tape before the first night, which is best done at home before you pack. It says every batch is third-party tested and certified PFAS-free, and its 30-night guarantee refunds you if your sleep isn't better after 30 nights. Both pieces are flat and light, so a trip's worth fits in a toiletry bag. You can see sizes and supply options on the Titan Sleep System page.

Read next

• The first-night effect: why you sleep badly in a new place
• Travel sleep kit checklist: 12 things to pack
• Mouth tape and nasal strips for sleeping on planes and in hotels

* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.