Giving up convenient location for quietness

There are quiet accommodations that are conveniently located in the middle of everything and noisy ones in inconvenient far out locations. There are many variables at play, like foot or vehicle traffic in the specific street you are. Or even if your window is facing the street or the courtyard inside. As a general rule I prefer to be in the middle of where I want to be.

What Roberto said.

A couple of years back when in Rome I found a fabulous little hotel in the center of everything (right in front of the Largo Argentino and therefore, a couple of minutes from the Pantheon). The hotel, like many inside the center of town, was located in a mixed-use building, occupying two floors of the building. The building itself was tucked deep into an inner courtyard of more buildings, so you would imagine that it would be really quiet and secluded. BUT (and this is a huge BUT), our specific room, was on the side of the building facing an alleyway where at night people liked to linger and chat and even with those double-pane windows that "seal shut" like many European buildings, we could still hear the chatting late into the night.

So the key is not even so much where, geographically, the hotel is located, but many other factors, like how the building is situated, where your specific room will be facing, where the windows are, is there a street with heavy traffic outside your specific window, etc.

It would be advisable to let the hotelier know of your concerns well in advance and make sure that they can put you in a room that meets those requirements.

Some hotels in busy areas mention soundproof windows and they really work. I also look for air conditioning because the constant noise and cool temp makes it easier to sleep. The real killer is jet lag and coming from California it always gets me going both ways. I always take some Ambien with me and take it the first few nights before I go to bed. Don't wait till two in the morning when you can't sleep.
Another good strategy is to start your trip in Amsterdam and visit a coffee shop before you go to bed..

In cities like Budapest, ideal for you might be a first floor (U.S. 2nd floor) courtyard facing apartment in the 6th District. Still close to why you have come, but away from the night clubs and bars and focused on a quiet inner courtyard.

I am a little claustrophobic and I have to heat and see people in order to be comfortable so I stay in ground level street facing accomodations. Each to their own.

I do happen to own an old cold war underground fall out shelter in Budapest. You are welcome to it for quiet isolation.

One thing I've learned is that if you stay in small hotels and B&Bs and request a room on a low floor (because there's often no elevator), you may well end up just a few feet from the reception desk/lobby. In that spot you are almost assured of hearing conversations late at night or early in the morning, if not both. My solution is earplugs, which work very well for me.

In hotels, I'm more concerned about from inside the building. I've staying in places smack dab in the heart of a town and heard no outside noises but woken by a flushed toilet in the middle of the night or "happy" guests returning late at night and slamming doors or having conversations in the hallway . . . Once I was in a hotel in Rome, quiet residential street, everything was fine, but the elevator went out and my room was next to the stairwell. . . . woken by early risers tramping down the stairs.

when visiting the major European cities you do often have this dilemma of quiet over convenience but as others have said there are often quiet places to stay,best advice is to ask on the various destination forums for info on place you visit.
Also many people from the USA are not used to using public transport whereas we that live in Europe are very used to it and use it all the time,I visit Prague several times a year and never stay anywhere near the centre as the public transport is so efficient quick and cheap that I get much better bang for my buck staying away for the main city and enjoy the pubs and restaurants of the less touristy places.
All major cities in Europe have similar good public transport systems, my own home city of Edinburgh has a superb bus service and a reasonable though limited Tram line. staying a 15-20 minute bus/tram ride away from the centre can save you big money and give you a much quieter experience, you just have to balance up cost v convenience v travelling time.

One thing TripAdvisor reviews are very useful for is alerting people to exterior noise or poor internal soundproofing. If a look through reviews reveals multiple complaints of noise I take it as a warning.

More generally there are some cautions when you are booking somewhere away from a city centre.

Check on an online map to see exactly where your sleeping location is in comparison to the nearest railway station or bus stop. Look at the road layout rather than just distance as sometimes suburban areas have winding roads with poor connectivity.

Check the precise frequency of the service you might want to use. Look specifically at late evenings, Saturdays and Sundays as all of these may have no or limited service even if weekday peaktimes are frequent. It's very annoying to intend to eat out in city centre restaurants in the evenings and then discover that there are no buses home after 8pm.

Check what the fare is likely to be. The information may only be available on websites in the local language, as English-language transport company sites are often only based on explaining city centre travel to tourists and business travellers. In particular detailed zone maps are rarely available in English. In some cities (eg Paris and Vienna) weekly travel passes are only available for calendar weeks, not for any consecutive seven-day period. Also some cities may have such small centres that if you stayed in the centre you'd barely have to use public transport at all.

I use earplugs.

Given how well connected even residential areas in Europe are to transit (whether subway, tram, or bus), I can't imagine that you'd be sacrificing a lot of inconvenience (after all people who live there need an easy way to get around even more than you do). I try to pick out of the way locations for the same reason - but it is hard to predict what happens even in residential areas (the garbage truck may show up early or there may be construction right around the corner, etc.). But there is a difference in close in residential neighborhoods and suburbs - although the latter are still often tied in via public transit, the schedules may not be as frequent off hours.

Staying close to attractions has many advantages. While in Rome we stayed close the to Pantheon and it was easy to go see it first thing in the morning when it is practically empty. We then went back to our hotel for breakfast and to get ready for the day.

I'm a bit surprised that so few posters have mentiioned what Philip said; namely, to check reviews. Look on Tripadvisor and booking sites, like booking.com. If noise is an issue, it's pretty certain that it will come up on reviews. As some have noted, some rooms in a hotel may have more noise problems than others. If there are a large number of reviews, you probably will find some that note it. Personally, I avoid any accommodation where noisiness comes up as a complaint. You have no guarantee that a request for a quiet room, or an upper floor, or aroom facing away from a street will be honored.

I've been in Europe almost 4 weeks and have stayed everywhere from city locations, to small villages, to out in the middle of the countryside. I have had noise in many of them. Unfortunately, most of the noise is from within. In old building even the opening of doors can be loud. Or people talking in the next room or outside your window. I don't see any way to avoid noise entirely, and I prefer to not waste time getting to the sites I want to see. Earplugs have saved the day (or night) more than once.

If I go to sleep with the windows open, I shut them when I get up for my 3 o'clock pee. Then I can sleep through the early morning trash pick up and buses.

In my experience, Americans are the most inconsiderate guests making noise in the hallways of hotels. We've avoided lots of street noise by requesting "back rooms" or "quiet" (in whatever the local language is) rooms. We find earplugs uncomfortable, and it's one reason we haven't taken a Rick Steves tour.

No one has mentioned air conditioning (or lack) or screens (or lack) and summer travel. We once had a very conveniently located Berlin room (in Mitte) that turned out to be on a streetcar curve, so the wheels screeched on every trip. We gave up our deposit and went to another hotel.

As for AirBnB, I won't use it because transients are so disruptive to the permanent residents of the building. I've lived in a lot of urban apartments over my lifetime. There is no inherent right to "share" a multiple-dwelling.

Noise from inside hotels has been a bigger issue for us than outside. Depending on the courtesy of other guests, quality of plumbing and overhead floors, location of room (near elevators, maid closets) etc. there's no guarantee that one further away from center will be quieter. I personally wouldn't trade the convenience of being near the things we want to see for (hoped for) quiet.

I think you have more control in hotels with 24/7 desk services than in apartments: they can be called if there's a real problem with noisy neighbors. You are on your own in rentals.

Tim, I'll have to respectfully disagree with Americans being the most inconsiderate guests. That hasn't been our experience (so far) in Europe.

I use a white noise sleep app for my tablet and smart phone. Works well for me.

I always ask for a quiet room when making my reservations. However, the hotel's idea of quiet and mine are two different things.

I hated earplugs until I found Comets. They are very comfortable and after a few nights of practice at home, was able to wear them all night without a problem.

Comets

I have a few set with me when I travel in case I lose one. They are reusable and can last a very long time. Search the net to find places that sell them by the pair.

I also take eyeshades because not all hotels have good blackout curtains.

Karen, was that you being so inconsiderate at 3am?

Seriously, I am in a business where I get reports on who the most inconsiderate tourists are and it isn't the Americans.

I'm very sensitive to noise when I travel and always read Tripadvisor hotel reviews to see if hotels have courtyard rooms. In Amsterdam I stayed in a room on the canal side 4 stories up, but the street noise carried all the way up. The windows were old and not insulated so that was probably part of the problem. And I had neighbors who left in the evening and came back drunk at 3:00am every night.

I worry about noise inside the hotel too and always bring earplugs. If the noise is bad, it's always worth complaining. A few years ago my cousin and I stayed at a hotel in Toronto. The first night we were there, starting between 11pm and midnight, a group of drunk people went in and out of their rooms on our floor, yelling and slamming doors. I called the front desk 3 times to complain. Twice the night manager missed the drunk people when he went down the hallway (they went back in their rooms) but the third time he caught them. The next morning the front desk staff told us that the hotel made the drunk people check out that day because several people complained.

Using GoogleMaps to check out your hotel is an excellent idea. I would recommend staying in a hotel that is located one or two blocks from Metro and/or Bus stations - you'll hear more than you thought possible.
After you use the "Street View" function to take a walk around your block, it's a good idea to use the "Earth View" followed by "Tilt / 3-D" options This will allow you to see if your hotel shares a wall with a parking lot, school recreation area or anything else that might be noisy. I'd also look for a hotel with no restaurants, cafes or other "nuisances" in close proximity.

I'd never book a hotel room if the windows were not double-glazed and if there was no air-conditioning. Both will be mentioned in the "amenities", and both will block out most of the noise. Asking to be placed in a room away from the elevators and stairs will help considerably. There's nothing you can do about noisy deliveries or trash trucks, though - they occur on every street.

In large cities, major train stations and the areas surrounding them are often very lively, well into the wee hours. I wouldn't choose to stay in a hotel near them if you want to avoid noise issues.

I usually ask for a quiet room. Most small hotels in Europe have rooms that front on the street and other rooms that front on an alley or courtyard. If you ask, they normally can put you in a quiet room. Especially since many tourists prefer a view and the view comes with street sounds.

I read reviews--many, many, reviews--before selecting a hotel. I have fine-tuned this skill so well that I have yet to encounter a room that is too noisy. I like being near activities, restaurants and transportation, so have decided that those things take precedence over excessive quiet. I used to request "quiet room near back of hotel", but that can get you a dreary view, and sometimes none at all. I bring earplugs, just in case.

I just returned yesterday from a week in Paris and a week in Budapest--report to come later--and my hotels were both wonderful. In Paris I decided the 6th arr. would suit me best--and it did--and chose a hotel on Rue de Rennes, 2 blocks from 2 metro stations, upscale shops and restaurants, nice vibe. I had a room on the 5th floor facing the street, with a balcony, and I do believe the windows were sound-proofed as I never heard anything once I was ready for bed, nor could I hear other guests.

In Budapest for the second time I again chose to stay a bit removed from the main area, down near Fovam ter, off Vaci utca (a pedestrianized street)--again, 2 metro stations within a 5 minute walk, shops and restaurants, street facing room on 4th floor (I could see Szabadsag hid & the Danube!) but once I shut the windows it was totally quiet. In the early evening I enjoyed music drifting up from the ter, but that stopped by 8.

So, I don't think you need to sacrifice convenience for a good night's sleep--just read what people are saying about a hotel and interpret accordingly.

We find earplugs uncomfortable, and it's one reason we haven't taken a Rick Steves tour.

They require you to wear earplugs in Rick Steve's tours? :-)