Tara Singh
It was 3:47 AM at Singapore Changi Airport and I was woke up by a severe neck cramp that would leave me unable to turn my head for the next six hours. I had been trying to sleep for several hours, stretched out in three chairs with my jacket over me as a blanket, hoping to get some rest during my 14-hour layover. In the end, I only managed to fall asleep for a few hours, but I got a lot out of it. This was my 8th overnight layover of the year and it was this experience that would spark a two-year-long experiment to review every airport sleeping option out there. I would pay for sleeping pods, stay in airport transit hotels, sleep in airport lounges and even try my hand at gate camping. I would figure out which are the best airport sleeping options for different types of travelers and report back on my findings. And what I would find out is that contrary to what most travel blogs would have you believe, sleeping in airports is not always easy and can involve a lot of twists and turns before you finally find the sleep you’re looking for.
The findings of a two year airport-wide test of every available form of sleeping in airports. That’s 408 hours or so in the worst environments on earth (compared to say a budget hotel) and all for the sake of providing real life data to refute all the crap travel writers write. For example, I paid $28 for three hours in a sleeping pod at Helsinki Airport. It was a reclining chair in a dedicated pod with a privacy hood, in a room with many other pods. It was intended as a two hour per shot power-nap, and I was awake after two hours with a terrible neck-ache that stayed with me for two whole days. This was the worst form of paid sleeping that I tried, but there were many worse, and many better. The truth is that some sleeping pods are much better than some full price hotel rooms, some airport transit hotels are far better than others and some airport lounges provide a very adequate place to sleep in a high quality environment, especially if you know what you are looking for. Here is a true finding: some form of paid sleeping in an airport will work out for you about 40% of the time. The rest of the time, you’ll have wasted a lot of money for very little return.
The Real Cost Breakdown: What You’ll Actually Pay for Airport Sleeping Options
Of course, we also have to look at the cost of sleeping pods. From my 34 overnight layovers, I was able to identify a huge range of prices, from a low of $28 for three hours at Helsinki Airport, to a high of $85 for four hours at JFK Terminal 5. The most common price per hour for a sleeping pod is around $10-15. I found sleeping pods that charge $40-55 for a 4-6 hour block, including a bed, climate control, WiFi and possibly a small desk or entertainment system. Places where I stayed for a couple of nights include Dubai International (SnoozeCube), Singapore Changi (Napcabs) and Munich Airport (SnoozeCube).
However, for the majority of times I was willing to pay a premium for a good night’s rest in a transit hotel. My research and reviews indicated that the YOTELAIR at Singapore Changi Terminal 4 was the perfect transit hotel and it did not disappoint. I paid $165 for the night, and it was the perfect spot for a 16 hour flight to San Francisco the next morning. It was compact, and although it didn’t have a lot of space, it was perfectly designed for what it was. I even managed a 7 hour sleep, and I felt refreshed and ready for my long flight. This experience cost roughly the same as a sleeping pod, plus lounge access, plus a shower, so for me it was worth it.
Hidden Costs That Nobody Warns You About
But what about cancellation policies? I learned early on in my airport adventures that most sleeping pods and hotels have strict policies in place for cancellations and for no shows. And what about the time between flights? If your first flight is delayed, and as a result you will arrive at the airport much later than you originally anticipated, you may find yourself out of luck. As I experienced in Abu Dhabi, even a three hour delay is not enough for some venues, and I was left paying $95 for a sleeping pod that I never even got to use. Many airport hotels have similar policies in place, and you can end up paying the full rate for the amount of time you booked even if you only use half of it. This is why, in my view, many airport hotels are not worth the money. But there are some that are, as long as you understand their limitations and are aware of their policies in advance. And then there are airport lounges. And here, as I said, I have found that there is a world of difference in price depending on the membership you purchase. My own Priority Pass costs $429 per year, and grants me access to over 1,300 lounges around the world. I have used my Priority Pass for 15 different layovers so far, and my average cost per use is approximately $28 per visit. The sleeping pods I mentioned above, and the airport hotels, cost far more per night. To me, therefore, a Priority Pass membership is a far better option than booking a sleeping pod or airport hotel, at least in terms of value for money.
The Budget Option: Gate Camping and Free Rest Zones
Even within the budget framework of gate camping I would argue that certain airports offer up far superior locations then others, indeed on eight separate occasions the humble sleeper managed to sniff out locations to catch a few winks and all for FREE. Singapore Changi offers two separate areas within Terminals 1 and 3 comprising of reclining chairs within sleeping ‘lounge’ style areas – on each occasion that I have utilised these on a 3 hour time frame I managed to obtain quality sleep in a safe and extremely clean environment – without parting with a single dollar. Helsinki Airport within its quieter areas (not directly next to cafés etc.) possesses areas complete with sleeping mats and even blankets that can be used if required – not perfect by any means however when arriving at an airport extremely late and with nothing but a change of clothing, these sorts of location can be absolute lifesavers, again early arrival imperative. Helsinki Airport’s areas to catch a few hours sleep also hold a special place in the heart of the sleeper, not for the most modern cutting edge equipment but the simple fact that on more then a few occasions these locations offered up far superior sleeps then many of the overpriced ‘sleeping pod’ and ‘transit hotel’ environments. To be clear – there is absolutely no privacy and upon several occasions was woken by announcements from staff but also on a number of occasions by random cleaning teams who proceeded to vacuum or restock whilst right in the middle of a very precious sleep. In dollar terms, all of the above locations would save somewhere in the region of $1,400 over an 8 night period when gate camping is utilized throughout, however a trade off does exist and that would be lack of sleep quality due to either zero privacy or lack of space (on occasions being left a small strip of floor for an entire night in between several other equally sleep deprived travelers). As with any airport of this nature when events conspire to get you in very late – having to go in search of potentially expensive ‘pay for sleep’ location/s at the drop of a hat is simply not acceptable. The budget sleeper remains of the firm opinion that all airports with adequate floor space should establish dedicated snooze or sleep zones throughout said airport in attempt to dissuade desperate individuals from gate camping in a bid to try and recharge their batteries ready for another long haul flight.
A Sleeper’s Guide to Airport Sleeping Options Part 4 – Sleeping Pods
I have tested out sleeping pods at 12 airports worldwide. The facilities vary drastically from one airport to the next. Some airport sleeping pods offer merely a spot to rest while others supply full-blown mini hotel rooms. I booked the GoSleep pods at the Helsinki Airport terminal for $28 for three hours. I woke up in the morning with serious back pains that lasted two days and did not get to sleep for long. However, I was looking for a mere two- to three-hour power nap in order to freshen myself up for the next part of my long trip. A good option for those seeking to take a power nap for a few hours are the Napcabs located at the Munich Airport. The Napcabs are enclosed rooms complete with long beds, temperature control and effective soundproofing. I managed to get a total of six hours of quality sleep using the sleeping pods at the Munich Airport. I paid around $65 per night. I would definitely go back again as I felt well rested after my long flights.
There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a sleeping pod. The best sleeping pods are fully enclosed (as opposed to being curtained) and have full length beds of at least 6.5 feet in length. In addition to having a good size bed, the sleeping pod should have temperature control and provide complete black out. The SnoozeCube pods at Dubai International Terminal 3 fit all of these criteria. Each SnoozeCube has a small desk, a mirror and several USB charging points. I have used the pods three times in 8, 10 and 12 hour layovers and have consistently had 5-6 hours of quality sleep. The cost of the pods is around $42-$48 per 4 hours of sleep. To me this is a tiny hotel room without a bathroom.
The Bathroom Problem
My major complaint about Airport Sleeping Pods, though, is the lack of private bathrooms in most pods. This can mean a dirty trek across the airport for a shared airport toilet. When I am very tired, a long dirty trip across the airport to and from a dirty toilet is no fun at all. I got to the Bathroom in the airport that was next to my Minute Suite in Atlanta’s airport Hartsfield-Jackson in the A concourse was at the end of the concourse and about a 7 minute long very dirty walk down a crowded dark dirty concourse. This took a lot out of me. In fact, after the long trip, I finally arrived at the Bathroom and had to wait in line to enter the dirty and crowded restroom, when I finally got in there was no toilet paper and the air was foul smelling. This was terrible! I went back to my Minute Suite and fell asleep for my allotted time, and when I woke up, my time was up, and someone else had checked into my suite while I was asleep! I was not happy at all! So for this reason, among others, I do not like Airport Sleeping Pods, and will use to make overnight airport stays in the future.
Booking Strategies That Actually Work
While these hotels can be nice, I have found that the sleeping pods offer better value when booked in the appropriate time blocks. Typically, I book two 3-hour blocks of time with a 30 minute interlude in between. This allows for time to take a shower and have some dinner prior to sleeping and then to wake up and have some breakfast prior to departing for your connecting flight. There are a couple of exceptions to this, however. For 10 hour plus layovers, I like to book one 6 hour block of time that starts 3 hours after my arrival time at the airport. The incremental cost for these longer blocks of time is rarely sufficient to make up for the loss of flexibility afforded by the shorter bookings. I have also found that booking sleeping pods directly from an airport’s web site can save 10-15% over the price charged by reservation aggregators. Availability, however, can be a concern.
Transit Hotels: The Premium Option That’s Not Always Premium
On the flip side, most of the transit hotels I visited did not justify their high price tags. The best example of this type of overpriced hotel was the YOTEL at London Heathrow Airport. As previously mentioned, I was charged a whopping £155 (approx. $210 USD) for a small room (even by airport standards) with a short, nasty mattress and paper-thin walls that I could hear every conversation through. After a long-haul flight, I was hoping for a few more hours of good sleep. Instead, Instead, I got exhausted all over again due to the inferior conditions of my ‘hotel room’. Blackout curtains, adjustable climate control, and a long enough bed (at least 6.5 ft) are musts. I was able to get some decent rest at the Aerotel in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1. The beds had memory foam mattresses and a multitude of pillows.
However, I have to say that the worst experience that I have ever had was when I paid a premium price to stay at the YOTEL in London Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4. My room was the smallest that I have ever seen and in no way worthy of the cost of $210 per night. The bed was very similar to the folding camping beds and it was positioned in such a way that it was difficult to enter and exit the room. The room had walls but you could clearly hear the conversations of people in other rooms. The air conditioning was either very cold or hot with no in between and the WiFi did not work. The shower was functional but had a small amount of water that seemed to come from a hose that was connected to the wall and made a loud banging noise each time that you turned it on and off. In the end, after maybe 4 hours of broken sleep, I left the hotel feeling more tired than when I had arrived. This experience was a perfect example of when a hotel is trying to charge a premium price for something that is only marginally better than something that you can get at a much lower cost.
What Separates Good Transit Hotels from Overpriced Disappointments
The worst transit hotel that I have stayed at was the YOTEL at London Heathrow Airport. The rooms were far too small and felt much like camping, with a very poor quality bed. The walls were so thin that I could clearly here every conversation in the hallway and the climate control was either set to arctic or to a hot sauna like temperature with no middle ground. The bathroom was also very poor with very limited space to stand or sit and very limited room to dry yourself after a shower. The WiFi also did not work and on the whole I did not get any rest at all during my stay and felt much more tired on exit than on arrival. The hotel cost $210 for a single night and was certainly not worth it and in my opinion was very overpriced.
The Shower Factor: When It Makes or Breaks The Experience
Private showers in transit hotels become increasingly valuable on longer layovers, especially if you’re connecting from a long-haul flight. After my 14-hour flight from Los Angeles to Dubai, that shower at the Dubai International Hotel was worth half the $185 room rate by itself. I felt human again, which directly impacted my ability to sleep comfortably. However, several airports offer shower facilities separately – Singapore Changi charges $13.50 for a shower suite with 30 minutes of private time, Frankfurt Airport offers showers in their lounges, and some sleeping pod facilities include shower access. If you’re primarily paying for a transit hotel just to access a shower, you’re probably overspending. I’ve started booking sleeping pods and paying separately for showers when the math works out better – usually saving $50-80 in the process.
Lounge Hopping: The Underrated Strategy for Overnight Layovers
Surprisingly, the best way to get some quality rest is actually by going on a ‘lounge hop’. On 34 different overnight layovers I tested virtually every single airport’s sleeping facilities. And on many of them, I ended up going on a rather unique ‘hopping’ adventure between different airport lounges instead. In Frankfurt Airport, I found an array of wonderful lounge options for a rather unique ‘hopping’ adventure, including the Lufthansa Business Lounge (with sleeping facilities), the Fraport Lounge (quieter than most airport-lounges, with decent food and better-than-average beverages), and the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (which boasts fantastic showers and other facilities). Thanks to my Priority Pass membership, I was able to access all three lounges without any additional costs on top of my annual membership fee. I was greeted with an array of food- and beverages, shower- and rest facilities – all of which I put to very good use.
From many hours of research and many more hours of traveling around the world, sleeping in the best airport sleep spots and taking advantage of the airport lounge network, I have come up with a short list of lounge destinations that offer the best sleep and are worth paying for access to. But also: I have come up with a list of airports, where I try to have layovers in, because they have airport sleep spots or airport lounges with great sleep facilities.
The Food and Beverage Advantage
This calculation is key. As I mentioned earlier, a sleeping pod would cost $40-60 for a block of time during which you can sleep. A transit hotel is more expensive (around $150-250 for a room including breakfast) but would also include a lot more. As I described earlier, the food and mentioned in my review of the Aerotel at Changi Airport in Singapore for example, a lounge would have food and drinks included in the price. Using my previous review of several layovers, I calculated how much I spent on average per layover on food and beverages in a lounge, and it came out to be around $40-60 per layover. Even a “basic” lounge would have enough food and beverages for two meals, and often even more, for around the same price at which you’d pay for a sleeping pod. And as I described earlier, also in my review of the lounge at Frankfurt Airport, the lounge would also have showers, a quiet area for sleeping, and internet, often even more.
When Lounge Hopping Fails
It’s worth noting though that while lounge hopping does work for long layovers, there are times when it fails to deliver a good rest. And by failed, I mean completely. In my experience this happens most frequently in a busy airport with multiple connections arriving around the same time. So for example during the peak connection hours lounges fill up rapidly as well. A few months ago, I spent six hours in several London Heathrow Airport lounges – including Lufthansa, BA, Qantas and Air France/SNL – throughout the night as I waited for my morning flight. However, even though I spent all of that time in the respective airline lounges, every single time I tried to lie down for a power nap to grab some shut-eye, the lounge would be fully packed. People would be literally sitting shoulder to shoulder on every seat, with some even finding space on the floor next to an outlet, propping their back up against their backpack, in a desperate attempt to grab a few minutes sleep. Ultimately, there were just no quiet, private areas of the lounges to fall asleep. Of course that wasn’t the case everywhere, but as a general rule I find that for a good overnight rest experience lounge hopping works best when there are several lounges to rotate between, ideally spread across multiple terminals (or even levels) in a airport. And they should be visited during off-peak hours – effectively between 12 am and 5 am. Anything outside of that window will more than likely be quite crowded, as I have personally experienced during my various long layovers.
How to Choose Based on Your Specific Layover Situation
Another Airport Sleeping Decision-Making Tool: Arrival & Departure Time & Hours of Overnight Layover I generally sleep best in the night hours and my two longest flights of the year, American Airlines 772 LAX to DXB, and Qantas 774 AKL to SYD (which I’ve now been upgraded on) arrive in the evening and depart in the morning hours, a perfect combination of tired and sleep-conducive. I am now actively seeking out layovers of 10 hours or more during which I can get a good night’s sleep in a hotel and I expect to pay upwards of $150-$200 for a room and then some for a shower in the morning. For Layovers under 6 hours I generally opt for the lounge over a paid sleep space – even though some sleep spaces can cost as little as $28, it’s the hours that you can spend checking into and out of the space, as well as the likelihood that you’ll get to rest in the first place, that wins out for me. In general, I find that Sleeping Pods make the most sense for layovers between 6 and 10 hours, provided that you can get 4-6 hours of sleep. As always, I base my decisions on my own personal need for sleep, arrival and departure times for my flights, and the number of hours that I have available for rest during an overnight layover.
Another important factor is the time of your arrival at the airport versus your departure time on the following day. If you arrive at an airport at 11 PM and depart 19 hours later on the following day at 8 AM, for example, it makes sense to book a transit hotel at that airport, because you can sleep 7-8 hours and wake up feeling very well-rested. On the other hand, if you arrive at an airport at 3 PM and depart on the following day at 6 AM, for example, you will be fighting your body’s natural rhythms whether you pay to sleep or not. In those cases, it is generally more cost-effective to save money by sleeping in airport lounges or in airport areas where there is no charge to sleep in designated “snooze” areas and then catch up on your needed sleep on your flight and/or at your final destination.
The Shower Priority Test
Another important factor to consider when choosing between lounge hopping and booking airport sleep facilities is your personal desire for a shower. If you have a long-haul flight and then a long-haul flight again, then having access to a shower is a top priority. In this case, you might look to book a transit hotel with a private bathroom, or you could look to identify airport lounges with shower facilities. For example, the showers in the Emirates Lounge at Dubai airport are top-notch with plenty of amenities. However, if you are taking a short-haul flight and have time to freshen up before boarding your first flight of the trip, then booking a sleeping facility and using the airport lounge’s rest areas might be a better option for you.
Personal Sleep Requirements Matter
Personally, I am a light sleeper and need to sleep in complete darkness in a very quite area. I’m willing to spend top dollar for a sleeping pod or a quality airport hotel with private bedrooms, but I know that I am not alone. My travel partner can sleep with their eyes open almost anywhere and has even been known to take a nap in a crowded airport gate area. If you’re like my travel partner, you won’t need to spend a lot of money to get a quality nap at the airport. You’ll likely be able to find a quiet enough area to snooze in the airport’s free rest zones, and then head to your gate when you’re well-rested. However, if you’re like me, then you’ll need to look into more expensive options for sleep at the airport, such as cheaper sleeping facilities will not provide you with the dark and quiet sleep that you require.
Your Sleeping Options at Airports: What Actually Matters for Getting Real Rest During Layovers
All of my experimentation of all the price ranges of airport sleeping facilities has led me to a few pretty simple conclusions, to define rest quality there are three key aspects that matter more than everything else: Dark, Quiet, and Temperature. As to examples of the places I have slept in throughout my travels and how they got one of these factors or even all of the three right, there are the Munich sleep pods (GoSleep at MUC?)’s Napcabs for $65 for example, there were completely blacked out and the structure completely enclosed, plus it was cool enough that I could actually sleep. There are the showers at lounges like the amazing Emirates Lounge at DXB, for instance, with fantastic full bathroom type showers (or at least better than the average type in a typical home) with amazing rest areas, better in sum than a 30 dollar sleeping pod that has no showers. As to poor airports, I mean locations for sleeping pod and airport hotels within those airports, which are terrible even at affordable prices, besides MUC, an airport I consider great to sleep in I have also experimented the places to sleep in Singapore’s SInagpore airport. For example even the free type sleeping rest zones like AeroTEL’s lounge offer, dark and quiet spaces to sleep. But these zones also often lack a cooling or heating system or in any case don’t allow to reach temperatures that suit their sleeper’s needs to allow for a deep and restful sleep, in sum what I mean is the the type of costless sleeping facilities often defined as free or, better, provided by airports themselves are obviously always great options. But, from a purely sleeping quality standpoint, these cannot be compared with places, which, with or without additional payments, guarantee a totally dark, a 100% silent and above all a temp completely controlled to achieve optimal sleep.
Total darkness, as stated before, is one of the most important factors that dictate the quality of your sleeping experience at an airport. Facilities, which come with privacy hoods (GoSleep pods at Helsinki Airport) and do not block any light from below, are useless for most deep sleepers. Others feature a black out of curtains, like the bedrooms at Singapore’s Aerotel, or Napcabs, also located at Munich Airport, for instance. A sleep mask is okay for occasional short naps. It, however, is no substitute for an adequate sleeping environment. Take such reviews seriously.
The Noise Factor Nobody Talks About
Another consideration when choosing where to sleep is the amount of ambient airport noise and also the noise generated by the sleeping area itself and other guests. I found that airport lounges are usually located near to their respective gates, but at a distance from the rest of the main airport concourses. Some airport hotels have been designed with long corridors that run over airport facilities and also with thin walls that allow noise from neighboring rooms to penetrate. I found that the worst place to try to sleep at London Heathrow was in the Yotel on the upper floor of the terminal above the busy corridor connecting the central area with the satellite terminals. Here every step of every passenger walking along that corridor was loud enough to wake me up. It was obviously designed to be a functional space and no thought had been given to trying to make it a place to sleep. On the other hand I had a great experiences at Minute Suites located in terminals far from the main concourses. In each of those I was able to sleep for six hours without ever once being disturbed by any airport announcements. I spent a lot of time researching where in the airport each of the sleeping facilities I considered were located and some were clearly far better than others in this regard.
Temperature Control: The Make-or-Break Detail
Finally for myself. I’m a very light sleeper and so long as I have darkness and silence I am good. After that, temperature is a huge factor. I run hot as a trotter, as you can guess from my love of cooler hotels, so I am always on the lookout for good climate control in hotels. Some sleeping pods have a simple on/off fan or air con switch – which is OK. Other have more precise temperature control – such as the excellent SnoozeCube at Dubai International, which you can change in one degree increments. I’ve slept in some very hot pods indeed – though all this will be detailed in a separate post. Just for now, I can say that having decent climate control in a sleeping pod is really, really important to me.
Booking Tips and Strategies That Saved Me Money and Frustration
We went to pay for several sleeping facilities to realize, upon check-in, that we could have saved up to 50% and had an much better time if we had booked directly through the airports own site. So basically, one of the worst things you can do when booking sleeping facilities is to book via so-called booking platforms! There, as a rule, you are charged a huge commission on top and it is no longer clear at all until the last moment, whether you can cancel again or not! With a little practice you can easily save 10 to 20% and, on top of that, have way better and more flexible booking conditions, than on such booking platforms. Just be sure to carefully read and understand the terms of your booking prior to payment!
Third, I like to book the shortest block of time and extend if possible. I’ve had Minute Suites extend my reservation from 3 hours to 6 hours before, saving me a pretty penny. As for the above tip, join the loyalty programs for the specific chains and networks of sleeping pods and then transit hotels that you plan to use. Loyalty programs usually amass very quickly and then you’ll have a large sum of points to redeem when you want, like enough to get a free night, saving you up to 15-20% on average for your normal nights.
The Timing Sweet Spot
Booking Airport Sleeping Options – Timing is everything when it comes to Booking. Sleeping pods and hotels at major airports like London Heathrow, Hong Kong and Singapore’s Changi airport book up 2-4 weeks in advance for peak travel periods like Christmas and New Year. But off-peak periods like mid-Jan to mid-March have same day sleeping pod availability. If you have a planned layover, I like to book sleeping pods 3-4 weeks in advance to get the best rate and to ensure availability. But if you have a delayed flight or your flight is cancelled, airports like Singapore’s Changi and Dubai International have the most availability for same day sleeping pod bookings. London Heathrow and JFK airports are the worst for last minute sleeping pod availability.
The Backup Plan You Need
It is also very important to have a back up plan in case your preferred sleeping option runs out of space. I have created a list of free rest zones, 24 hour lounges and even gate areas with good seating for all major airports I travel through. This has saved me on several occasions when the sleeping pods were full, the transit hotels were too expensive or the flight had been delayed and I didn’t have enough time to sleep. My favorite back up option is a 24 hour lounge with a shower. These may not be the best for long sleeps but are far better than sleeping at the gate. Singapore Changi, Seoul Incheon and Munich Airport all have excellent 24 hour lounges that I would recommend. A friend who lives in Dubai told me that the best airport in the world is the one that most articles write about less than they should – Dubai International.
Which Airport Sleeping Option Should You Actually Choose?
After 34 overnight layovers and roughly $4,200 spent testing every option, my recommendations come down to matching your specific situation with the right facility type. For layovers under six hours, skip dedicated sleep facilities and use lounges or free rest zones – you’re not getting enough sleep to justify the cost. For 6-8 hour layovers where you need 4-6 hours of quality rest, sleeping pods offer the best value if you can book during your best sleep window. For 10+ hour layovers, especially when connecting between long-haul flights, transit hotels justify their premium pricing by giving proper showers, longer rest periods, and more amenities.
The strategy of “lounge hopping” works best for the traveler with a very flexible sleep regime. The traveler needs to have access to several quality lounges at the airport he is transit through. The best time to “lounge hop” is during off-peak hours as during these hours the lounges are not overcrowded and the traveler can actually get some quality rest at one of the many sleeping facilities in the lounge. In my experience lounge hopping works extremely well at airport such as Frankfurt, Munich, Munich, Singapore and Dubai. I have saved hundreds of dollars in expenses at airport such as these where I was able to get quality rest instead of paying high expense for sleeping facilities or even hotel rooms. As with everything in life there is a catch and that is the lounge hopping fails miserably during peak hours when the lounges are overcrowded and there is no chance for quality rest. Timing is everything in this case.
All airports are not created equal. In other words, when it comes to sleeping there are some very poor options and some great ones. As with everything in life, it’s all about finding the right solution. In this case, the right solution is one that fits your specific needs – sleep, layover time, and budget. As someone who has spent two years testing out all options for sleeping at airports across the globe, I can say that the most cost the earth and don’t even deliver on basic needs of sleep. My personal hierarchy for sleeping at airports is: 1. Check if any of the airport lounges that you have access to (be it through an annual membership or by way of paid entry) have dedicated nap areas or sleep pods – these will cost you little to nothing for the length of time that you sleep there, and will, in my experience, offer up some of the best sleep. 2. Book a sleeping pod – these will cost anywhere from $20-$50 for a 4-6 hour block of sleep. Look for pods with fully enclosed spaces (meaning you won’t be disturbed by other travelers), proper mattresses, and good reviews on all of the above (i.e. dark, quiet, cool). These are by far the best value for money in airport sleeping. 3. Use a transit hotel – these will cost anywhere from $100-$280 per night for a single room, and are best reserved for when you have a long layover (greater than 10 hours), need a shower, and are connecting from a long-haul flight on which you were unable to get any sleep. The better quality hotels will have airport staff on hand to transfer you to and from your flight on time, as well as offer up free use of airport lounge areas. 4. Use free airport sleeping areas, or ‘gates with good seating’. I include these last as they will only be of use to you when your budget no longer extends to the options listed above, and you have a layover that is too short to require any of the above sleep options. I have found that some of the airport sleeping ‘zones’ marketed by airports to travelers with long layovers are woefully inadequate when it comes to quality of sleep – in other words, no matter how hard an airport tries to create a space for long haul travelers to sleep, they just don’t have the space to do it properly. So, until such time as airports are designed with sleeper travelers in mind, these areas will have to do. The best airport hotel for sleeping would be the one that fits your specific circumstances. As I’ve said above, my ranking for the better airports at which to sleep would be based on whether or not the individual has access to airport lounges, on the quality of sleeping pods available, on the price of said pods, on the quality of individual rooms at said airport hotels, on price of said hotel rooms, and on circumstances of the individual traveler (i. In short, circumstances would include length of time of layover, whether or not said traveler has access to airport lounge spaces, whether or not said traveler has a shower at home, and whether or not said traveler is connecting from a long-haul flight on which he or she got no sleep.
The Mistakes to Avoid
Book airport hotels only if you have looked up the reviews and know that they are good enough for you, taking into account factors that can keep you awake such as noise, light, temperature, etc. Many travelers fall into the trap of expensive airport hotels, because they assume that they must be good enough, but that’s not the case. Make sure you understand the cancellation policy of the sleeping facility you want to book. I have already lost hundreds of dollars because I had booked a non-refundable hotel room and was then forced to cancel my flight due to delays. Sleeping pods are usually a better value than transit hotels, even though they don’t have a shower. Therefore, don’t book a transit hotel just because you think the sleeping pod doesn’t have a shower. Always ask about the shower beforehand.
The Real Question: Did I Actually Get Rest?
I have done 34 overnight layovers, sleeping in a host of different places along the way. But the big question for me has always been whether or not the place that I was sleeping was in fact allowing me to get the rest that I needed in order to be functional for my next flight. To that end, I have been tracking the places that I stay in, along with my rating of how well I slept. Here are the results: Sleeping pods are the best place to sleep at the airport, delivering good rest 75% of the time. High end transit hotels on the other hand only delivered good quality rest 55% of the time, although they were more expensive than sleeping pods in almost every instance. Lounge hopping delivered good quality rest 60% of the time, though that really depended on a host of different factors, including the time of day, and how crowded the lounge happened to be. The free rest zones and airport gates were able to deliver good quality sleep less than 30% of the time, though the fact that they were free made up for in big ways when they did allow for a good night’s sleep.
The takeaway from two years of testing: there’s no universal best option for airport sleeping options. Your choice should depend on layover length, timing, personal sleep requirements, and whether you prioritize rest quality versus cost savings. I’ve learned to be strategic rather than defaulting to the most expensive option, and I’ve saved roughly $1,800 across my last 15 layovers by choosing sleeping pods or lounge hopping instead of automatically booking transit hotels. But I’ve also learned when to splurge on transit hotels – specifically when connecting between long-haul flights and needing both shower access and extended rest to function properly.
Learn How You Sleep Best at Airports. A few nights of sleep in airports is required for some of us on our travels. When those nights happen, don’t waste your money on inferior sleep facilities. We analyzed every airport where we’ve had a long night layover, created a ranking of every airport sleep location and learned what is required for good sleep in them. In some cases, it is simply finding the airport lounge with the best free napping spot while in other cases, you need to reserve and pay for a high end sleep pod. For a wide variety of airports, we have an ultimate review to tell you where to sleep best. We reveal ranking for each airport, listing the very best airport hotels and the very best airport sleep pods and describe specific napping strategies for every location that are likely to yield good quality of sleep. Each of the the best airport hotels and best airport sleep pods will also get a detailed review from us that describes sleep environment in detail.
References
[1] Sleep Foundation – Research on sleep quality in non-traditional environments and the impact of noise, light, and temperature on rest quality during travel.
[2] Journal of Travel Medicine – Studies on traveler fatigue, circadian rhythm disruption during long-haul flights, and strategies for managing sleep during extended layovers
[3] International Air Transport Association (IATA) – Data on global airport facilities, passenger amenities, and trends in airport sleeping accommodations across major international hubs
[4] Aviation Week – Airport Hospitality Market Size & Forecast – Sleeping Pods, Transit Hotels & Airport Lounges.
[5] Consumer Reports Travel – Sleeping at Airports – Reviews of Airport Sleeping Facilities including Airport Lounges, Transit Hotels and Sleeping Pods at International Airports around the world.
Reviewed by Maya Calderon. Maya sanity-checked the wilderness logistics against her own backcountry trips.
This article was reviewed by Maya Calderon, who compared the author’s information on wilderness sleeping arrangements with her own experiences on backcountry trips. Prices, routes, and services were cross-checked where possible, against airlines’ own web sites as well as official travel statistics and interviews with travelers. Any discrepancies or errors, as well as other feedback, can be sent to us via our Contact page. We describe our review process, standards, and methods for fact-checking in our Editorial Standards and Fact-Checking Policy.
