A traveller has asked Reddit why hostels don’t have a snorer segregation policy, saying dorm accommodation providers should have dorms for snorers (at no extra cost) “and if you don’t admit you’re a snorer and book a non-snorer dorm, you should be fined.”
A sleep-deprived traveller has hit the Internet up with a bold suggestion – segregate snorers from the rest of the (hostel) population. The traveller, whose Reddit username is u/Thailandteach, posted the suggestion to Reddit’s r/travel community some six days ago.
They wrote: “Unpopular opinion: hostels should have dorms for snorers (at no extra cost) and if you don’t admit you’re a snorer and book a non-snorer dorm, you should be fined.” This was followed up with: “You can probably tell I’ve forgotten to pack my ear plugs!”
Popular responses to the idea included suggesting aggrieved non-snorers re-consider what hostel life is all about (“if you’re a light sleeper and can’t be bothered with airplugs, hostels might not be for you”) and personal stories (“I once stayed in a 30 person dorm in Barcelona. There was one guy snoring very faintly, hardly noticeable, but everytime he started, some asshole loudly yelled for him to stop. The asshole yelling was far more disruptive than the snorer”).
Another Reddit user (apparently a snorer themselves, clearly angered by the idea) wrote: “If you don’t have earplugs, don’t make it everyone else’s problem. Snoring is a very common sleep noise. Lots of people don’t even know they do it.”
“If you’re single and don’t regularly share a room with any of your friends, why would you know?”
They added: “It would also be an additional cost to the hostel to add them, and that cost might get added onto you, the consumer. And idk, maybe this is a bit elitist and non-understanding if me, but as someone who has a big family and who also has trouble falling asleep sometimes – if you’re so pampered that the regular sounds of other people sleeping are too much for you, don’t stay in a hostel.”
“Snoring dorms might seem a good idea in principle, but if you don’t know you snore and go into the ‘regular’ dorm, why should you be fined for something you weren’t aware you did?”
They continued: “Like I know that’s a bit of a bitchy thing to say and some people just have trouble sleeping and it sucks, but that’s not other people’s fault or responsibility. I have sympathy for people with insomnia, but I don’t have sympathy for those who blame their difficulty sleeping on other people just existing in the world when they’ve chosen to put themselves in a communal dorm situation.”
“Snorer dorms sound nice in principle, but in practice they’re not practical. Hopefully this experience has taught OP to always have backup earplugs and/or some melatonin to aid their sleeping.”
As someone who hates snorers (and worries if I wear ear plugs I’ll miss my own alarm, and then my flight) I have sympathy with the idea, even if it’s unpractical. That said, the notion brought up time and time again in the comments (“has it occurred to you that snorers may not know they snore?”) rings pretty true too.
Ah, the joys of hostel life.
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