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Location is oftentimes a catch-22 for hoteliers. While guests want to stay in premier destinations close to all of the attractions, they also covet peace and quiet inside of their hotel rooms.
For some hotels, the inability to quell outside noise can result in crippling negative reviews.
But building thicker walls and installing dual-pane windows aren't quite enough to make a difference, so some hotels have turned to a proven, economoical and realistic solution.
Residence Inn Sandesta at Grand Boulevard
Located along a busy street in Miramar, Florida, the Residence Inn Sandesta at Grand Boulevard was plagued by road noise that accounted for roughly three-quarters of its negative reviews on TripAdvisor.
Following an extensive search for potential remedies, Howard Hospitality, which manages the three-star Marriott property, found a solution in an inner soundproofing window from Soundproof Windows, Inc.
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The company had 176 of the special panels - which help control temperature in addition to cutting down noise without requiring the hotel's windows to be replaced - installed on the front side of the building and the results signaled a drastic improvement.
A test window installed in a two-bedroom suite at the hotel dropped noise levels by a whopping 95 percent.
"It was pretty amazing," said Howard Hospitality's director of hotel operations Tania Koehler. "The change was night and day."
After the installation last year the hotel climbed from 74th to 14th in the rankings of the 687 Residence Inn properties nationwide.
Waterfront Hotel
Similar to the Residence Inn Sandesta at Grand Boulevard, Oakland, California's Waterfront Hotel at Jack London Square was beset by noise from a nearby railroad, with online reviews and internal guest satisfaction surveys turning up negative evaluations as a result.
READ MORE: Is This The World's Quietest Hotel Room?
However installation of a 5/8-inch glass inner window was able to cut noise by 75 percent. The three-star hotel has since had the special panels installed in 75 windows.
"Our online scores and ranking have gone up," said Commune Hotels and Resorts area managing director Mark Everton. "In our internal survey, before the change, noise was our number one complaint. Now it has receded to an occasional mention."
Once ranked ninth, the Waterfront Hotel has jumped all the way up to No. 2 on TripAdvisor's rankings of the top 47 hotels in Oakland.
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