A travel expert has revealed a simple trick to ensure a good night’s sleep in a hotel.
Alexandra Dubakova, a seasoned traveller with FreeTour who has explored over 30 countries, is constantly on the go.
While globetrotting may seem glamorous, anyone who has been dispatched to a remote town in a small central European country will attest that it comes with its own set of challenges. One such challenge, especially for those accustomed to their home comforts, is getting a good night’s sleep in a hotel.
Unfamiliar bedding, the odd hum of an elevator, and a room that’s either too hot or too cold can all disrupt a sensitive sleeper’s rest. Fortunately, Alexandra has a handy tip to help you sleep soundly through the night.
“Changing time zones, dealing with jet lag and the annoying strip of light between hotel curtains is a nightmare. I always grab the hangers from the hotel room wardrobe and use them to pinch the curtains shut. It creates a blackout room and I get proper rest irrespective of the time zone,” she shared with the Mirror.
Sherry Martin Peters, a veteran flight attendant, offered similar advice. She told the Mirror: “Some flight attendants travel with rolls of black electrical tape, not to fix anything, but to smother light sources that feel microscopic until you’re sleep-deprived.
“The green dot of a TV on standby. The piercing blue glow of a USB charger. One by one, the light sources disappear until the room looks lifeless. Towels get stuffed under the crack of the door to block out hallway light, because even a sliver of brightness can convince a jet-lagged brain it’s still daytime somewhere, which it usually is.”
The blight of a poor night’s rest is something that countless hotel visitors endure.
In a 2020 study published in Tourism and Hospitality Research, researchers discovered that merely one in three travellers reported feeling content with their slumber whilst away from home.
Dr Rebecca Robbins, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate scientist at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has been enlisted by Hilton as a sleep specialist.
Recently, she revealed her advice for securing a decent night’s kip to National Geographic.
Dr Robbins maintains that “finding the familiar in the unfamiliar” is essential.
“The truth is that when we are in an unfamiliar environment, we fundamentally have a harder time unwinding,” she said. When we’re at home, our bodies can relax more easily.
However, when staying somewhere unfamiliar, our brains are put on high alert due to different sounds, smells and other sensory factors. One method to trick your brain into calming down is to spray familiar scents with positive or homely associations.
This technique has been proven effective. In 2024, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center published a study showing that familiar scents helped break negative thought cycles and combat depression.
Another factor contributing to poor sleep is an overactive mind. While this issue can occur anywhere, the stresses of travel mean you’re more likely to have things on your mind when away.
Dr. Robbins recommends writing all these worries down on a piece of paper as a way to relieve your mind of too many thoughts.
Mimicking your routine at home is another top tip for drifting off to sleep. “Being religious about these things is actually really important because your brain starts to understand that what comes next is sleep,” the sleep doctor stated.