Sleep Quality Reviews: The Best Places To Stay In The UK, US, and Europe

Struggle to get to sleep when you stay somewhere new? You’re not alone. For many travellers, the “first-night effect” can leave people tossing and turning at night, and groggy the next day, with their minds unable to switch off due to the new surroundings.This is one reason accommodation providers spend so much time investing in quality bedding, creating comfortable and relaxing environments for their guests. But while some leave guests feeling refreshed, others do not.To understand more about the sleep quality enjoyed by travellers, we’ve analysed over 2.5 million popular online review platforms reviews for the ratings guests have given their accommodation across hotels in the US, UK and Europe.

The cities offering the best night’s sleep to visitors

Analysing the data from the 50 popular tourist cities across the US, UK, and Europe, our study found that, on average, Rome offers visitors the best night’s sleep. 

The average ‘top 100’ accommodation in Rome is rated 4.50 out of five stars for ‘Sleep Quality’ by guests visiting the Italian Captial, with two thirds (66.3%) of ‘Sleep Quality’ reviews in Rome giving five stars.

Lisbon and Prague were found to have the second-highest average sleep quality in their ‘top 100’ accommodation providers. 

On average, the hotels, hostels and other accommodation types in Lisbon and Prague were given 4.47 out of five for ‘sleep quality’ by reviewers on popular online review platforms, with 64.9% of ‘Sleep Quality’ reviews in both Prague and Lisbon five stars. When you arrive at Hlvani Station, knowing Prague’s nightlife, you would not expect to find it high on this list.
However, Prague does have a slightly higher percentage of one-star reviews – Prague 1.9% compared to Lisbon 1.8%.

Rounding off the top three, Paris was found to be the third-best city for ‘sleep quality’ reviews, out of those analysed.
Whether you are near the station, in the most popular neighborhoods for tourists, such as Montparnasse, Louvre, Saint-Germain, or under the iconic Eiffel Tower, you can sleep peacefully.
Accommodation in Paris was given an average rating of 4.44 out of five by visitors, with 61.5% of ‘Sleep Quality’ reviews giving Parisian accommodation options five stars.

Top 10 Cities for Sleep Quality Reviews

Rank	City	Country	Average Sleep Quality Rating	Percentage of Reviews Given 5*
1	Rome	Italy	4.50	66.3%
2=	Lisbon	Portugal	4.47	64.9%
	Prague	Czech Republic	4.47	64.9%
3	Paris	France	4.44	61.5%
4	Budapest	Hungary	4.43	62.0%
5=	Florence	Italy	4.41	61.8%
	Vienna	Austria	4.41	60.5%
6=	Washington D.C.	United States	4.40	74.4%
	Venice	Italy	4.40	61.7%
7=	Amsterdam	Netherlands	4.38	62.1%
	Istanbul	Turkey	4.38	61.0%
8	Krakow	Poland	4.37	57.1%
9=	Chicago	United States	4.35	73.4%
	London	United Kingdom	4.35	61.6%
10	Boston	United States	4.34	72.3%

The cities offering the worst night’s sleep to visitors

At the other end of the scale, our study found that accommodation in Copenhagen offers the lowest average sleep quality to visitors. Reviewers on popular online review platform giving accommodation choices in the Danish Capital an average sleep quality rating of 4.02 out of five stars, with nearly one in 20 (4.7%) of ‘Sleep Quality’ reviews giving one-star.

Las Vegas fairs slightly more favourably, in second bottom position of the 50 cities analysed, accommodation in ‘Vegas’ averages4.03 out of five stars according to former guests to the city, with one in 50 (2%) of Vegas’ reviews being one star.

While those visiting Birmingham (UK) rated the ‘top 100’ accommodation options the third-worst, with review scores for the quality of sleep guests got when staying in  Birmingham (UK) averaging just 4.04 stars out of five, with almost one in 12 (7.5%) ‘Sleep Quality’ reviews giving the UK’s second city one star.
Many U.S. cities, perhaps partly because of too many Hollywood movie lights, even Los Angeles finds itself in this unfortunate ranking.

Bottom 10 Cities for Sleep Quality Reviews

Rank	City	Country	Average Sleep Quality Rating	Percentage of Reviews Given 1*
1	Copenhagen	Denmark	4.02	4.7%
2	Las Vegas	United States	4.03	2.0%
3	Birmingham	United Kingdom	4.04	7.5%
4	San Diego	United States	4.05	1.8%
5	Oxford	United Kingdom	4.06	6.1%
6	Bristol	United Kingdom	4.07	5.9%
7=	Philadelphia	United States	4.09	1.7%
	Antalya	Turkey	4.09	5.3%
8	Atlanta	United States	4.11	1.7%
9=	Los Angeles	United States	4.12	1.5%
	Miami	United States	4.12	1.7%
10=	Honolulu	United States	4.13	1.3%
	Brussels	Belgium	4.13	4.0%

City Sleep Quality Scores in The U.S.

Our research found that Washington DC is the best city for ‘Sleep Quality’ scores, with accommodation in the US capital rated an average of 4.4 out of five stars.

Las Vegas meanwhile was found to have the lowest average ‘Sleep Quality’ scores, with visitors to Vegas giving the accommodation options in Vegas an average ‘Sleep Quality’ rating of just 4.03 out of five stars.

City Sleep Quality Scores in Europe

Rome was found to have the best average ‘Sleep Quality’ scores on popular online review platforms in the popular European cities we analysed. Visitors to the Italian capital rated the accommodation options an average of 4.5 out of five stars for sleep quality.

Copenhagen on the other hand was found to be the lowest-rated city, of those analysed, with visitors scoring the accommodation options in the city just 4.02 out of five.

City ‘Sleep Quality Scores’ in The UK

Accommodation options in London were found to offer the best ‘Sleep Quality’ according to reviewers on popular online review platforms. Visitors to the UK capital scored London’s accommodation an average of 4.35 out of five for the quality of sleep they had when staying in the city.

The UK’s second city, Birmingham, was found to be the lowest-rated by visitors when it came to sleep quality. Reviews of accommodation in Birmingham averaged just 4.04 out of five.

The best places to stay for a quality night’s sleep, overall

Our analysis revealed that the AJWA Sultanahmet (Istanbul) and the Manayunk Chambers Guest House (Philadelphia) were the highest-rated places to stay among those in our analysis, scoring an average ‘Sleep Quality’ score of five stars out of five.

The second best places to stay based on ‘Sleep Quality’ review scores are The Publishing House Bed and Breakfast (Chicago), and the Fairmont Grand Del Mar (San Diego). The Publishing House Bed and Breakfast scoring slightly higher when it came to the percentage of reviews giving the BnB five stars (98.39%).

Rounding off the top three places to stay for the best night’s sleep when travelling are Le Bristol Paris (Paris) and the Ben Cruachan Guest House (Edinburgh), both scoring an average rating of 4.97 in guest ‘Sleep Quality’ reviews. 

However, the Ben Cruachan Guest House does score slightly higher when it comes to the percentage of reviews that are five stars – 97.22% compared to 97.12%.

Top 10 places for sleep quality, according to popular online review platform reviews

Rank	Area	City	Hotel Name	Sleep Rating	% of 5* Reviews
1=	EU	Istanbul	AJWA Sultanahmet	5.00	100.00%
	US	Philadelphia	Manayunk Chambers Guest House	5.00	100.00%
2=	US	Chicago	The Publishing House Bed and Breakfast	4.98	98.39%
	US	San Diego	Fairmont Grand Del Mar	4.98	98.21%
3=	EU	Paris	Le Bristol Paris	4.97	97.12%
	UK	Edinburgh	Ben Cruachan Guest House	4.97	97.22%
4=	EU	Stockholm	Ett Hem	4.96	95.56%
	EU	Athens	AD Athens Luxury Rooms and Suites	4.96	96.15%
5=	EU	Lisbon	Corpo Santo Lisbon Historical Hotel	4.95	95.00%
	EU	Lisbon	Hotel Britania Art Deco a Lisbon Heritage Collection	4.95	95.16%
	EU	Istanbul	Raffles Istanbul	4.95	95.45%
	UK	London	Royal Lancaster London	4.95	94.83%
	US	Washington DC	Lyle Washington DC	4.95	94.55%
	US	Washington DC	Trump International Hotel Washington D.C.	4.95	96.30%
6=	EU	Venice	Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace	4.94	94.12%
	EU	Rome	Hotel Artemide	4.94	95.77%
	EU	Prague	BoHo Prague Hotel	4.94	93.85%
	EU	Istanbul	Sheraton Istanbul City Center	4.94	94.12%
	EU	Budapest	Prestige Hotel Budapest	4.94	93.83%
	EU	Amsterdam	Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam	4.94	95.38%
	UK	London	Canopy By Hilton London City	4.94	94.44%
	UK	Oxford	Whispering Cottages Bed and Breakfast	4.94	94.12%
	US	Orlando	Wyndham Garden Orlando Universal I Drive	4.94	93.75%
7=	EU	Istanbul	Shangri La Bosphorus Istanbul	4.93	95.35%
	EU	Barcelona	Serras Barcelona	4.93	93.61%
	UK	Brighton	The Twenty One	4.93	93.81%
	UK	Glasgow	15Glasgow	4.93	94.22%
8=	EU	Rome	Singer Palace Hotel	4.92	93.44%
	EU	Prague	Four Seasons Hotel Prague	4.92	93.25%
	EU	Prague	Hotel Residence Agnes	4.92	92.59%
	EU	Paris	Hotel Signature St Germain des Pres	4.92	91.96%
	EU	Florence	Hotel David	4.92	93.14%
	UK	Brighton	27 Brighton Guesthouse	4.92	91.67%
	UK	London	Pan Pacific London	4.92	92.31%
	UK	London	Shangri La The Shard London	4.92	91.67%
	UK	London	The Gate	4.92	91.67%
	UK	London	The Montcalm London Marble Arch	4.92	92.16%
	US	Chicago	The Peninsula Chicago	4.92	93.67%
9=	EU	Venice	Venice Times Hotel	4.91	90.91%
	EU	Prague	Alcron Hotel Prague	4.91	90.91%
	EU	Prague	Aria Hotel Prague	4.91	92.98%
	EU	Prague	Mosaic House Design Hotel	4.91	91.43%
	EU	Paris	Hotel Grand Powers	4.91	92.45%
	EU	Madrid	CoolRooms Palacio de Atocha	4.91	90.63%
	EU	Barcelona	H10 Casa Mimosa	4.91	92.31%
	EU	Amsterdam	Luxury Suites Amsterdam	4.91	93.33%
10=	EU	Vienna	Palais Hansen Kempinski	4.90	91.30%
	EU	Paris	Hotel de Crillon A Rosewood Hotel	4.90	91.94%
	EU	Paris	Hotel la Nouvelle Republique SPA	4.90	89.66%
	EU	Milan	Room Mate Giulia	4.90	90.11%
	EU	Barcelona	H10 Madison	4.90	91.18%
	EU	Barcelona	Seventy Barcelona	4.90	93.10%
	EU	Barcelona	The Corner Hotel	4.90	89.60%
	UK	Edinburgh	Six Brunton Place Guest House	4.90	90.81%
	UK	Birmingham	Elmdon Lodge	4.90	91.41%
	UK	Birmingham	The High Field Town House	4.90	92.50%
	UK	Glasgow	Alamo Guest House	4.90	90.65%
	UK	Glasgow	Cathedral House	4.90	90.00%
	US	Houston	The Lancaster	4.90	92.31%
	US	Washington DC	Hotel Madera	4.90	90.00%

The best places to stay for a quality night’s sleep, in each city

According to the results of our analysis of popular online review platform reviews, these are the best places to stay for a quality night’s sleep when visiting the 50 cities analysed. 

From boutique BnBs to international chains, the results show the best places for visitors to stay to avoid (or at least lessen) the “first-night effect”.

Top places to stay in each city

Area	City	Best Hotel	Sleep Rating	% of 5* Reviews
US	Atlanta	The Candler Hotel Atlanta Curio Collection by Hilton	4.81	85.83%
US	Boston	The Whitney Hotel Boston	4.88	91.67%
US	Chicago	The Publishing House Bed and Breakfast	4.98	98.39%
US	Honolulu	Prince Waikiki	4.84	87.91%
US	Houston	The Lancaster	4.90	92.31%
US	Los Angeles	Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills	4.80	87.92%
US	Miami	Four Seasons Hotel Miami	4.81	87.22%
US	New York	Arlo Midtown	4.88	88.46%
US	Orlando	Wyndham Garden Orlando Universal I Drive	4.94	93.75%
US	Philadelphia	Manayunk Chambers Guest House	5.00	100.00%
US	San Diego	Fairmont Grand Del Mar	4.98	98.21%
US	San Francisco	Grand Hyatt at SFO	4.86	90.50%
US	Seattle	The State Hotel	4.85	85.00%
US	Vegas	Residence Inn Las Vegas Airport	4.84	83.67%
US	Washington DC	Lyle Washington DC	4.95	94.55%
US		Trump International Hotel Washington D C	4.95	96.30%
UK	Birmingham	Elmdon Lodge	4.90	91.41%
UK	Birmingham	The High Field Town House	4.90	92.50%
UK	Brighton	The Twenty One	4.93	93.81%
UK	Bristol	Southville Guest House	4.87	86.96%
UK	Cambridge	Worth House	4.84	86.96%
UK	Edinburgh	Ben Cruachan Guest House	4.97	97.22%
UK	Glasgow	15Glasgow	4.93	94.22%
UK	Liverpool	Orrell Park Hotel	4.84	87.50%
UK	London	Royal Lancaster London	4.95	94.83%
UK	Manchester	Hyatt House Manchester Aparthotel	4.88	87.69%
UK	Oxford	Whispering Cottages Bed and Breakfast	4.94	94.12%
EU	Amsterdamn	Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam	4.94	95.38%
EU	Anatyla	Akra	4.70	81.61%
EU	Athens	AD Athens Luxury Rooms and Suites	4.96	96.15%
EU	Barcelona	Serras Barcelona	4.93	93.61%
EU	Berlin	Hotel am Steinplatz Autograph Collection	4.86	88.89%
EU	Brussels	Hotel Amigo	4.76	83.72%
EU	Budapest	Prestige Hotel Budapest	4.94	93.83%
EU	Copenhagen	Hotel d Angleterre	4.87	88.98%
EU	Dublin	Hard Rock Hotel Dublin	4.87	86.67%
EU	Florence	Hotel David	4.92	93.14%
EU	Frankfurt	Premier Inn Frankfurt Messe hotel	4.80	85.71%
EU	Heraklion	Olive Green Hotel	4.86	88.31%
EU	Istanbul	AJWA Sultanahmet	5.00	100.00%
EU	Krakow	Holiday Inn Krakow City Centre an IHG hotel	4.86	87.29%
EU	Krakow	Hotel Indigo Krakow Old Town an IHG hotel	4.86	87.50%
EU	Lisbon	Corpo Santo Lisbon Historical Hotel	4.95	95.00%
EU		Hotel Britania Art Deco a Lisbon Heritage Collection	4.95	95.16%
EU	Madrid	CoolRooms Palacio de Atocha	4.91	90.63%
EU	Milan	Room Mate Giulia	4.90	90.11%
EU	Munich	The Charles Hotel	4.80	85.32%
EU	Paris	Le Bristol Paris	4.97	97.12%
EU	Prague	BoHo Prague Hotel	4.94	93.85%
EU	Rome	Hotel Artemide	4.94	95.77%
EU	Stockholm	Ett Hem	4.96	95.56%
EU	Venice	Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace	4.94	94.12%
EU	Vienna	Palais Hansen Kempinski	4.90	91.30%
EU	Warsaw	Hotel Bristol a Luxury Collection Hotel Warsaw	4.85	89.22%

Ways you can improve the quality of your sleep when staying away from home

To help city travellers get a good night’s rest, Carl Walsh, sleep expert and owner of BedGuru, shared with us some advice on how travellers can improve their sleep when travelling, helping them to feel refreshed and ready to explore the next day.

1. Make sure your hotel room is at an optimal temperature; too cold and you’ll be shivering all night, and too hot and you’ll be sweating, tossing, and turning! Cooler is often better to encourage sleep, so I’d recommend setting your room between 15.5°C and 20°C.”
   
2. Pack your own pillowcase for familiarity. The smell of your own home is comforting and the feeling of familiarity helps you to drift off easier
   
3. Don’t be shy to ask for a new room! Many of us tend to shy away from saying when something isn’t quite right, and instead, we’ll put up with the pain. But when it’s impacting your sleep, that’s not ok. Hotel staff are used to this so don’t be afraid to say something if something isn’t quite right.
   
4. White noise or classical music can be soothing and help you get to sleep. If your partner snores, or you’re a light sleeper, white noise can drown out any surroundings sounds and help you drift off to sleep. They’re also great to help reduce anxiety as your focus is on the soothing sound instead of any lingering thoughts.
   
5. Wait approximately 2-3 hours between eating and going to bed. Give leave several hours between your evening meal and going to sleep to allow your body enough time to digest your food.
   
6. Bring other small items from your home to the hotel room. Similar to taking your own pillows, taking your own blanket, favourite socks, or even diffuser etc. can help to create comforting familiarity when staying somewhere new.
   
7. Hang the “do not disturb” sign on your doorknob!
   

Enjoying popular local cuisines is often part and parcel of travelling to new destinations and cities. However, there are some foods you should maybe avoid if you’re worried about getting a good night’s sleep.

• Hard cheeses, as these contain high levels of amino acid tyramine which promotes alertness in our brains.
  
• Spicy foods can cause you to have digestion issues. As well as indigestion, foods that contain capsaicin can make it harder for your body to regulate its temperature, in turn, making it more difficult to get the sleep you need.
  
• Fatty foods like burgers, fried foods, and baked goods are hard for your stomach to digest and can cause heartburn which gets in the way of sleep.
  
• Dark chocolate has a similar effect to caffeinated drinks, with a standard chocolate bar containing around the same amount of caffeine as three cups of decaffeinated coffee. Chocolate is also filled with theobromine, another stimulant that can increase your heart rate and result in sleepless nights.

Methodology

To reveal the sleep quality of places to stay in popular tourist cities, we analysed the 500 latest popular online review platform reviews of the top 100 accommodation options in 50 cities, across the US, UK, and Europe.

Overall, 2.5 million reviews were analysed in the study, with the analysis omitting those with fewer than 100 total reviews. Those with greater than 100 total reviews were then analysed for their “Sleep Quality” ratings given by reviewers, with reviews for each hotel averages and counted from 1 to 5 to give us each accommodation’s average rating and spread of ratings.

Data was collated between 28/02/2022 and 11/03/2022.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License