Hotels are placing more emphasis on sleep quality as part of the guest experience. Many properties now promote upgraded bedding, pillow options, blackout shades, and other amenities to help travelers rest more easily away from home. But even a well-appointed room can fall short if exterior noise continues to enter through the windows. For hotels near busy roads, airports, rail lines, or active downtown areas, outside noise can follow guests into the room long after they have turned out the lights.
In those situations, the problem is not the mattress, the linens, or the room design. It is the window or patio door separating the guest from the sounds outside. That creates a practical challenge for hotels trying to make better sleep part of the guest experience. A premium sleep environment depends not only on what is inside the room, but also on how well the room is protected from exterior noise.
To address this, hotels, motels, and inns can soundproof existing windows and patio doors to reduce external noise by as much as 95%, without replacement or major renovation. Research shows that most external noise passes through windows, not walls, and costly window replacement is not always a viable solution. Traditional double pane replacement windows filter out only slightly more noise than single pane. The air space for double pane windows does little to reduce sound vibrations, and noise often enters through aging window seals.
“With double pane windows, the two pieces of glass within the frame vibrate like the two tines of a tuning fork which actually creates more noise,” explains Randy Brown, President of Soundproof Windows, a national manufacturer of window and patio door soundproofing products. “Also, the air space, for both double and triple pane windows, does very little to retard the sound vibrations.” In contrast, Soundproof Windows has created a “second window” that can be installed easily in front of the existing window. The product is designed to match and function like the original window, no matter its design or whether it opens and closes.
The inner window reduces noise through a combination of laminated glass, added air space, and improved seals. “The first noise barrier is laminated glass, which dampens sound vibration much like a finger on a wine glass stops it from ringing when struck,” explains Brown. “An inner PVB layer of plastic further dampens sound vibrations.” Air space of 2-4 inches between the existing window and the Soundproof Window also improves noise reduction because it isolates the window frame from external sound vibrations.
Finally, the company places spring-loaded seals in the second window frame. “This puts a constant squeeze on the glass panels, which prevents sound leaks and helps to stop noise from vibrating through the glass,” explains Brown .Since external noise can also enter sliding glass doors, similar soundproofing strategies can be applied to hotel rooms with patios, balconies, or pool-facing doors. Like the soundproof windows, a second sliding glass door can be added, mounted either inside or outside an existing sliding glass door. This can eliminate up to 95% of external noise entering through the patio door.
Because the existing window does not have to be removed or replaced, installation can take as little as one hour per window, minimizing hotel disruption. The original exterior appearance is also maintained, which can be important for hotels with design, brand, or historic-property considerations.
