BEWARE OF SCREAMING TRAFFIC

I'm sure we've all been there. It's after dark, you have just reached your accommodation after a long and tiring road trip, and you just want to get between the sheets.

You check in, take the room keys and haul the rollaway luggage to the room. You barely unpack, just grab your toothbrush for a quick clean, then off to bed.

On this night you do not get a good night's sleep, thanks to something you failed to notice because of the late night arrival.

That is the proximity of your room to the local Interstate. The traffic screams past your room incessantly, until, laying there wide awake, you starting counting the gaps between the traffic passes in seconds.

In more and more town and city developments across the USA, building licenses for hotels built on cheap land right next to an Interstate highway are being granted - bringing in revenue for the local council, and profits for the hotel chain.

My advice? Check out your planned hotel on Google Maps before you book it.

Note the proximity of the hotel to the main roads.

Often it's not just the highway howl; check for major intersections on nearby city streets which carry a lot of local traffic, and are subject to frequent traffic light changes.

That usually means regular periods of high noise levels when cars accelerate away from the light.

On this latest trip, when dawn broke after a completely sleepless night, and I opened the curtains, the source of my sleepless night became apparently obvious.


From now on, when you check in, remember the phrase: "Can you give me a room away from the traffic."