Time Travel Turtle

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How to stop the snoring abuse

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There’s no worse feeling in a hostel than the angry stares and frosty greetings I often get in the morning. I volunteer a friendly ‘good morning’ but all that is delivered in return are some grumpy mumblings. Through bleary eyes, the others in my dorm room seem to seethe with a passive hostility that’s struggling to break out from the cage created by our lack of familiarity.

You see, I’m a snorer.

Without ill intentions or deliberate malice, I manage to disturb the sleep of most people in a dorm room. I’m like a garbage truck collecting the trash, that unwanted alarm clock when you need more precious dozing, or the late night return of your drunken partner. In fact, if you combine all those things and then play them out constantly through the night, that’s me.

I hear (during my quieter conscious moments) people always complain about snorers. Sometimes friends in the same hostel but different rooms will moan over breakfast about the nocturnal trumpeting fanfares of another traveller while I just sit there and concentrate on my toast while my face turns the same colour as the strawberry jam. If the conversation topic comes up on the road, it’s normally accompanied by the stories of all in the vicinity who want to share tales of sleepless nights in the presence of what could have passed for a jumbo jet taking off.

Oh, it sounded like a bear was eating someone did it? How awful for you, I offer quietly.

Nobody ever feels sorry for the snorer, though. There never seems to be a thought spared for the poor fellow (and, let’s face it, it’s normally a fellow) who goes to sleep each night knowing that he will have created a horde of enemies by the time he awakens. Never have I met someone in my travels who has volunteered condolences to the man who knows he will arise from his slumber to a room so frosty there would be no need for air- conditioning.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is my manifesto and I think it’s time things changed.

I am tired of being the bad guy. (I’m also just generally tired, but that’s quite possibly caused by a sleeping disorder.)

You have no right to be angry if someone snores in your hostel dorm room. You have made a decision to stay in a communal space and you must wear the consequences like the strange smelly hippie in the lower left bunk wears the same thing every day.

You have the option of earplugs or music if things truly bother you that much. (Although, having heard what some travellers consider to be ‘music’ I don’t understand why they wouldn’t prefer the snoring.)

And ultimately there are some things in life you can’t control – taxes, death, your crush on the strange smelly hippie in the lower left bunk… and snoring. This is not a voluntary or a governable action. It’s important you always remember that.

Please, my pleas to you are to not be angry with the snorer in your dorm room, to feel a slight pity for them and to not hold it against them. To snore is human, to forgive divine.

Reader Interactions

    Comments

      • Reply

        Dude.. Having this problem right now. He’s shifting my bricks. His snores are like sonar rays, it’s vibrating everywhere. I’m fucking pissed enough with the smoking, and now the fucking snoring.

        I really don’t want to be the bad guy.

        Please God help me.

        Tried music, but the snore just gets louder and louder.

        • Thank you Adrian. The truth hurts, but if you don’t know it and no one will tell you truthfully that their snoring is waking you up night after night, weeks after weeks, and months and etc., which could turn into years and the kind of resentment which can seriously disturb the peace of any relationship and possibly worse given the kind of communication that refuses to admit to unpleasant realities ….

          Why oh why is the option of sleeping in another bed in another room such an extreme, anger-inducing resolution?

          I sincerely do not understand the resistance to this, in my opinion, most logical option. Is it denial on the one part and guilt on the other — the guilt derived from an overly dependent and deep-seated wish to not offend or upset the snoring partner and the denial of the snoring partner just plain narcissism?

          If that is the case, then my only response may sound harsh, but for heaven’s sake they both need to grow up and accept the medically proven fact that ALL people need — yes, need — a good night’s sleep.

  2. Reply

    I forgive you, mostly because I like your style. However. I still think snorer-friendly dorms would be a nice way to solve the problem on both ends. As a super light sleeper, I can only turn to hostels in a pinch because I absolutely won’t get any sleep – even with earplugs or headphones. If there were snore dorms for heavy sleepers & known snorers, I think we’d all get along in the common area much better =)

      • Reply

        There is something deeply *evil* about snoring. It creates a rift between those who must suffer the loss of precious sleep because of it, and it harms the peace of mind of those whose sleep cannot pass without the occurrence of it, usually marking the depth of their rest. Such an irony that it simultaneously marks the deprivation of the rest of others, to say nothing of the depth of rest they might have gotten.

        It is foul thing, snoring, worse because the snorer is not an infrequent entity, and so it is like a pervasive society within society, unshakable in its membership, notorious among the rest of mankind, yet distributed throughout its ranks, sometimes among those who are loved by those who are not included within its ill-starred fold.

        It is a hideous thing, snoring. It robs people of one of life’s absolute necessities but under the twisted guise of being “a fact of life”. It is not something that is controllable by the snorer, save that he or she is awakened and loses their sleep, and the result of this is only as temporary as it was when first they went to sleep, coming back when once they are back into deep rest. The snorer may be completely unaware that they snore, as well.

        But that is simply not an excuse to demand that others put up with it. What an arrogant and wretched attitude of indifference to what others suffer as a result of your “peculiarity”. It being an unconsciously performed act is no more of an excuse to do nothing about it and to take no responsibility than being unaware of the fact that you have sleepwalked right up to someone else while they are sleeping is something others would feel inclined to “just put up with”, especially if they awoke finding you standing there over them.

        Some people have a problem of talking or having moving fits in their sleep, but at least these aren’t a rhythmic force of horrid noise which saws and gnaws, for hours at a time directly into the sanity of others.

        Frankly, it is another sign of just how pathetic and unseemly is the “God” which made men, and how unworthy of praise. Doubly so, in that some of his lesser specimens have a decidedly special tendency to demand accommodation for their deficiency, a tendency they inherited from their maker’s own arrogance and blindness.

        And fortunately NO, unlike one trollish MONSTER of a snore-beast’s lie about me, I do not *also snore*. But that is just another example of how a double standard is raised high above the heads of the cretinous army of defective beings, who know very well what a shame it is to have such gross imperfections such as would directly gouge and grate into others’ existences, as they demand acceptance for the same, yet realize that it is an implicit stab at another’s sanity to claim they too are one of the damned.

  3. Reply

    Michael,

    We forgive you but we’ve also never slept with you. (That prob doesn’t sound right.) At least you’re a great guy during the day. Imagine being an asshole that snored?

    Good luck with this.

    Cheers,

    Larissa and Michael

    • Reply

      True! To be fair, some people I’ve become friends with in hostels don’t get angry but they still point out they had a bad night’s sleep. That always makes me feel worse!

  4. Reply

    Though not a snorer myself, or at least I haven’t heard any complains so far (maybe people were nice to me?) But I do forgive you, having seen how a snorer was treated once in a hostel room.

    The guy in the bed beside him threw a soap bar at the snorer to wake him up. When the snorer asked whats wrong, the bar thrower just gave him the finger. I personally knew the snorer and having him say the story with almost tears in his eyes made me feel really bad for him!
    The snorer spend the rest of the trip resorting to the comforts of single rooms (it was on the Camino de Santiago, and there, staying in those albergues with over 50 beds in one room is just a part of the experience…)

    PS It is not usually a dude that is making the noise. I have seen (or heard) some dudettes who were worse than most snorer guys I know!

  6. Reply

    I’ve been told by my other half (and also a highly agitated Canadian who not only shouted at me for snoring throughout the night but also called me a fat b*itch…but that’s another story….) that I snore but it tends to only happen when I’m really really tired and therefore in a kind of semi-coma type of sleep.

    I do think “snorer-only” dorm rooms would be a fantastic idea if I knew I was going to have one of my snoring episodes!

  7. Reply

    I read your article about how you feel being the person that snores, and we hear these complaints from so many people worldwide. Our company has been manufacturing and selling the SnoreMeds mouth guard for the last 7 years and it has a 85% success rate with tongue based snorers.
    If you would like to reduce your snoring and improve your health, can we recommend that you try our product. Visit http://www.snoremeds.com.au

    • Reply

      Good question! Thankfully I’m a heavy sleeper and it doesn’t bother me at all. I actually quite like it when there’s another snorer because I hope it’ll take the pressure off me 🙂

  10. Reply

    Hmmm, I’m not sure Michael. I kind of think I do have a right. How is it fair that you sleep, but the other people don’t? It is a tough problem, but I guess I have to agree with the comments above that there should be a separate soundproof dorm for snorers.

    • Reply

      Thanks Michael for your empathy for those of us who don’t snore. I love that kind of honesty!

      Yet as Vicky and others have said, it’s a problem and the accommodation industry needs to address it. It isn’t fair that the snorer or the snoree should have to pay for another room.

      My husband and I have been sleeping in separate rooms for years now. No lack of love and intimacy and affection.

  11. Reply

    Think you’ve tapped a rich seam here, turtle!

    I know exactly what you’re talking about (I have to buy a new tent for my son this summer because he refuses to sleep in mine).

    My (ex) wife made me pay for some expensive minor surgery in Harley Street to fix my snoring, which it did…. for a couple of years.

    … but, from my perspective, I’m innocent.

    I know nothing of this cruel sleep-stealing monster that others tell me about, so I just feel bemused – innocent *and* guilty.

    • Reply

      Innocent AND guilty – that’s exactly how we all feel. I’m sick of it! If expensive surgery can’t even stop it then what else can we do? Except get a second tent, of course.

  12. Reply

    Hey Michael, great post! I don’t snore, but my sister does. Man, does she ever! She’s the Queen of snoring; she’d make you humble! I dearly love her, nevertheless, and slept with wax ear plugs when we were back-packing in Oz, and I didn’t mind, because, yeah: I too feel that if you are sharing a room with, say, 5 random strangers, you can’t always be lucky and get it your way. But it makes you thankful to the travel gods each freaking time when you do:) By the way: after our first night in Sydney, we stood outside of our hostel, and that nice guy from our room came over and chatted to us, when all of the sudden he turned towards my sister and said: “You know, I really wanted to kill you last night. I had a pillow in my hands and stood beside your bed and was about to choke you. I really was.”, and we were like: “Oh.”. I think he just had to get it off his chest. I’m still friends with him on Facebook:).

    • Reply

      I’m terrified to think about the murder plots that people have concocted while trying to sleep in a dorm room with me. The pillow thing sounds a bit scary! nice that you still stayed friends, though. Hopefully more people will be able to forgive.

  13. Reply

    This is a fun post and it’s interesting to hear the other side. But I disagree with the argument. If you’re a heavy snorer, don’t stay in hostels. It’s flat-out inconsiderate to know you’re going to keep people awake and go ahead and do it anyway. Book a private room if you must. I’m a mild snorer and I shy away from hostels whenever possible for that reason. If money is a major consideration, couchsurf instead!

    • Reply

      I’ve got to respect your view, Scott, but it’s a tricky situation. Not everyone who snores is able to afford a private room every night. Should they be penalised for a medical condition? I think there’s got to be a level of acceptance that not everything is going to be quiet and perfect in a dorm room. This morning people woke me up when they were leaving and packing at 6am. Should they have got a private room instead?

      • Reply

        You tell ’em Turtle. Making us pay more because the snore! These people should buy some bleedin’ earplugs, which, correct me if i’m wrong, are generally less expensive than the cost of a single room.

        If anything, THEY’RE the inconsiderate ones.

        Huray for the common snorer.

        • Wow. Reading these comments, it sounds like you snorers are making excuses to make yourselves feel less guilty. I am currently, at this very moment, sleeping underneath a man snoring his brains out. It’s past midnight, this is a scuba resort, and I can’t sleep.

          Some commenters have suggested trying earplugs or headphones. I have both on. I have earplugs in and over ear Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones over them, with my music turned all the way up.

          How is this fair?! I’m about ready to go sleep outside!

    • Reply

      Absolutely, Scott.

      People accept this all too often, or make excuses for it, when it is screamingly obviously that a single room is the answer. That way nobody has to feel awful next day.

  14. Reply

    Oh, how I love this post! Given the nickname “Chainsaw” in college, I’m horribly embarrassed about my snoring. Occasionally, my girlfriends and I have sleepovers (we’re in our 30’s) and I bring earplugs for everyone and segregate myself to the furthermost corner of the room. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone!

  15. Reply

    Oh man I feel for you! I, for one, have always felt bad for snorers but in my case it’s at campgrounds. I seem to always manage a site right next to one. On my most recent trip I had the added bonus of experiencing a 3 am disgruntled discussion as a teenage daughter kicked her dad out of the tent to sleep in the car because of his snoring.

    But your other commenter has a point. Who’s responsibility is it to acquiesce on their accommodations…the snorer or the snoree? Unlike the noisy early risers or the stinky hippie, it isn’t simply a matter of changing behavior. Yet the argument can be made for both party’s budget considerations.

    No answers on this one. Maybe the snorer could hand out earplugs to his/her fellow travelers within earshot? 😉

  17. Reply

    Hey,

    Firstly I wanted to just thank you for posting this article!

    I am in exactly the same boat as you! Second month in to traveling Europe (where you at now!?) and can only afford hostel dorm accommodation..

    I am filled with constant feelings of guilt, shame and embarrassment and every night I struggle to try to get to sleep as my mind is constantly racing either telling myself to sleep on my side or trying some new anti-snore spray I found in the last city I visited. In fact, I found this website from googling ‘Hostel Dorms How can I stop snoring’ haha..

    I completely understand how other travelers feel, I’ve been kept up by drunken late night arrivals, 4am showers and bad snorers too! But I hate the awkwardness and the way people hate you the next day.

    Cheers for this Michael, I guess until these separate dorms are created I will resort to the earplug offering option.

    J.

  18. Reply

    I’m writing this post at 4am from a hostel toilet. Ive never had any problems up until now with snorers in hostels, but this one guy in my room, Jesus fuck I have never in my entire life experienced something so bad. I had earplugs fully in, with canned headphones on top, music too loud to sleep, and I could STILL hear him. It’s easy for you to say “just forgive the snorer” when it’s you that gets a full night sleep, while everyone else gets kept awake. Is it really fair for 1 snorer to keep 5 other people awake for an entire night? Packing at 6am is different, you at least get to sleep most of the night, deal with a bit of noise, then go back to sleep. To miss out on an entire night of sleep, it’s pretty terrible. Why don’t you try it? Get yourself really tired, ready for a good nights sleep. Then download a soundtrack of a snorer, play it really loud, and keep yourself awake ALL night. Imagine that was a person who was in your dorm, who was well aware of what they were doing. Put yourself in our shoes and see what it’s like. Snoring may be involuntary, but sleeping in a hostel when you know your snoring is bad enough to keep people awake? That’s you making the decision to prevent 5 people from getting a good nights sleep because you don’t want to deal with the fact you have a snoring problem.

    • Reply

      Good points! I do think it’s important to think about it from other people’s perspectives. It sure sounds like you had a pretty hellish night. Something for me to think about… thanks.

  19. Reply

    Hello,

    I too am having this problem and would like to ask you a question. If the snorer is not aware that their snoring is horrendously loud how do you approach them about coming to a possible resolution (and I have traveled – there are different degrees of loudness)? For example they are a girl and “would not believe that they (a girl) would snore at all” – let alone two of them in the same room going at it.

    Really I am absolutely throwing everything I have at this issue in terms of empathy, tact and ‘conflict resolution’ but to no avail. I just want to know what would you find least offensive in terms of a direct “is there something we can do about this” approach.

    It would not be such a problem only I am sharing with them long term and am not sure there is a viable solution in the works. Given that I am not going to get hostile or expect them to magically stop snoring.

    Thanks,

    Donna

    • Reply

      Hi Donna,
      A very good question! It definitely sounds like something you need to address if you’re going to be spending a lot of time with them. But there’s an issue about whether by telling someone, you actually make the situation any better.
      I have had people I’m sharing with tell me that I snore. But it doesn’t mean I can stop it. It just means that I feel bad and guilty for any potential disturbance I’m causing. But, at the same time, it does let me try different things to make it better and sometimes they work.
      If I could offer any advice, it would be to bring it up in a way that helps them understand how difficult it makes it for you to sleep and how nice they would be if they tried some methods to alleviate the snoring.
      Hope that helps!

  21. Reply

    If all those who snore please come with me this lovely cage, we will feed you and make you work hard, all day. Then we will kill you all my little snoring friends. Goodnight.

  22. Reply

    haha good one actually, to be honest I have never put myself in the shoes of a loud snorer, but it never really did bother me too. like you say if I chose to stay in a dorm, I would certainly put on my trusty ear plugs and retreat into my own world. if there is a dorm for snorers it would make everyone happy don’t you think, snorer or light sleepers! if we use an earplugs, maybe you can try using some things to help alleviate your snoring? just a thought. in life and travels, we are all learning tolerance and compaasion 😉

  23. Reply

    I’m writing this from a hostel in Buenos Aires at five in the morning having been woken up by two snorers in my eight person dorm room. I do feel slight sympathy for the snorer, however I find it an inherantly selfish act to chose to sleep in a dorm room with the knowledge that your snoring is capable of disturbing sometimes up to five other people’s sleep. It is difficult given that staying in private accommodation would be significantly more expensive for the one snorer but I think said snorer has to accept that it’s not fair to potentially ruin a peron’s travelling or holidaying experience. For example I am here in Buenos Aires for only four nights as it is an expensive place to stay. So, it is upsetting to have to waste some of my precious time in this lovely city having to sleep in the middle of the day, or failing that not being able to go out at night because of fatigue.

    • Reply

      Yeah, I hear you, James. This is the great dilemma of the snoring situation. It’s nobody’s ‘fault’ as such, in that the snorer can’t control it. But somebody has to make a sacrifice – either the snorer paying more for a private room or the other people wearing earplugs or feeling tired. Unfortunately there is no easy solution. I suppose all I wanted to do with this piece was raise the point that the snorer suffers too – they know what they are doing to the other people…
      I hope your stay in BA got better.

  24. Reply

    I’m currently in a room with a snorer and i feel its their duty to accept that they have a problem and make accomadations where they don’t ruin 5-8 other peoples nights to save a buck or two.

  25. Reply

    I think the comparison to someone leaving early is unfair. They’ll probably disturb you for 30 min tops. Same thing with a drunk person or someone having sex. Snorers have the power to rob a room of an entire night’s sleep.

    I would suggest that a more accurate comparison would be to someone who requires loud music to be played from speakers in order to sleep. While I would sympathize with them, I would tell them that a dorm room is not the place for them.

    At the very least, please warn the others BEFORE you go to bed so I can acquire some earplugs (even better, bring some extras with you for those without). If you don’t warn me and I lose an entire night’s sleep to you, don’t be surprised if I’m frosty in the morning.

  26. Reply

    I am currently in a 8bed dorm and cannot sleep due to the fact of a snorer, is it rude for me to want to wake them up and ask them to do something about it?

  27. Reply

    It’s hilarious how many people are commenting whilst being kept awake in hostels! I am in Prague and have three snorers surrounding me as we speak. It’s 5am and I haven’t slept yet.

    Of course snorers can’t help the fact that they make noise at night. However, you can hardly be surprised at the frosty reception. I’ll probably have to spend my day napping whilst the hostel sound system checks out Prague Castle. Still think it’s worse for the snorer?

    • Reply

      Everyone has different needs, different routines, and different sleeping patterns in hostels. That’s why there can be so many different issues. I think the key here is to minimise disturbances as much as possible but accept that some things are unavoidable. In your situation, listening to the radio with headphones would work, wouldn’t it?

  30. Reply

    I feel for you, man. I was traveling in Southeast Asia, and I also experienced the rudeness of my roommates in a couple of hostels where I stayed in. I snore, too, and I have to agree with you that everyone staying in a hostel should expect snorers. They can’t choose the people that they share the room with. Just the same, they can’t tell a crippled person to stay away from using the sidewalk because they’re slowing people down. It’s not like we choose to snore. Nobody wants to bother anybody. And to that woman in Kuala Lumpur who told me to stay in a hotel instead, don’t tell me what to do. I prefer staying at a hostel because it’s cheaper, and that is my choice as I travel alone. But you’re traveling in a group, so that means it should be more affordable for you to share a fancy room. Expect the unexpected when sharing a common area.

    • Reply

      Thanks, mate. It’s nice to have some support on this. A lot of people seem to think that us snorers should be pariahs when it comes to accommodation. I guess it’s hard to know what it’s like on the other hand. I have definitely slept in rooms where people snore a lot worse than me and I just put up with it. But I am quite a heavy sleeper…

  31. Reply

    Your problem makes people cry. In my opinion, it is quite selfish. In the political views, people lives well without problems. Snoring makes others terrible situations, it is a problem. But you said it is nature! And everybody must be sacrifce and understand. Is that not too much?

    If you love to share spaces, there are suggestions for sharing hearts. Some snorers give earplugs to mates first, never ask people to buy themselves. It is similar to a responsiblity to public, like keep a road clean after walking the dog, right?

    Ps, I am trying to be patient with snoring mate down to me.

  32. Reply

    I know you cant help it but you know what could help…. Tell the people you snore so they can go buy earplugs or whatever instead of waking up in the night…. Just because you warned them they’ll br friendlier. Unlike the guy i’m lying in the room with right now….!!!

  33. Reply

    NO…screw the apology. Snoring is your problem. Probably because you are FAT/obese or something else wrong with you. If you are a fatty. Freaking stop eating so much. With chicks its mostly cause of all the fat. Guys its about 60/40 fat skinny. Earplugs dont help. Music? Drown out snoring with more loud noise? Yeah no. How bout you try every thing YOU can possibly try or do to stop. When i hear snoring i hope the person stops breathing and dies. Especially if they have sleep apnea and stop breathing then start snore gasping for air. When they stop breathing i cross my fingers and pray they dont start breathing again so i can get some sleep. And to teeth grinders here’s a big soap bar to the face and middle finger. Get a mouth guard you pos.

  34. Reply

    No sympathy for the snorer. Dont stay in hostels if you snore. Its likely that you are a fat ass like this chick in my room. No headphones don’t work! You want quiet when you sleep. Otherwise you’d sleep thru snoring. Earplugs? Ha! No. They don’t work. Snoring is disgusting. The sounds. Yuck. If someone has apnea and stops breathing. I cross my fingers and pray they don’t start breathing again so i can sleep. There are products to make you stop or you can drop that extra 40kilos thats making you so fat you snore. Fat fatty mcfatterson fat. And to the teeth grinders. Get a mouth guard for god sake. And quit all the quim crying about frosty air in the morning you louse of the lunar.

  35. Reply

    Just a thought mate but what if YOU deal with your fucking issues rather than burdening several others every night of travel? There are many, many ways to treat your issue. And if you are too obnoxious (I have a hunch you might be) maybe YOU should consider alternative sleeping arrangements. Not the other 10 people in your room. Not even a good attempt at justifying your weaknesses. Sick of people making their problems other peoples problems also. – from a sleepless traveller of 3 nights. This holiday is suddenly dreadful. Cheers, dick head and those like you.

    • Reply

      Wouldn’t you rather pay an extra $10 a night for a private room and avoid the constant embarrassment of being a snorer?
      If you can’t afford it then ask every poor soul in your dorm room to donate $1 towards it.
      You suck.

  36. Reply

    you are a loser guy, you feel guilty? maybe do some thing about it, then. would enjoy the chance to hurt you. assholes

  37. Reply

    This is kinda of a cocky post on your part man.

    I’ve been travelling for a long time and I use hostels a lot. The fact that you post about the fact no one every things about the snorer is very cocky indeed and that people chose to be in community environment (the hostel) so deal with the snorer, oh that’s so cocky.

    You have the ability not to piss people off. There are so many things that people who snore can do to fix the issue.

    I have no sympathy for snores. A few times I’ve slapped a pillow hard in their face until I figured out how to stop hearing it with special headphones that make me hear my breathing and nothing else.

    You do deserve the evil stares in the morning if you snore as you made the choice to go in the dorm knowing you piss people off not having done anything about your condition that can get fixed. If it’s a little surgery that’s needed or maybe you are fat and nee to loose weight as thats a big factor or if you get one of those little things you put on your nose.

    Sorry man no sympathy. If you’re not cocky and arrogant you will allow this reply to stay on your blog and then go and figure out how to fix your problem 😉

  38. Reply

    You have a choice. Get it sorted and stop making the rest of your fellow travellers miserable. Pointless self indulgent post.

  39. Reply

    I agree with other posters. It is YOU that is being selfish, inconsiderate and rude. If I NEED to get up to go to the toilet during the night do I just stumble around and make noise because it’s just something that ‘I do’? Of course not. And id expect to be judged and ridiculed for that. If you take no steps to prevent it, then you sir, are the inconsiderate dick head.

  40. Reply

    Currently in Phnom Penh in a six bed hostel with my girlfriend. There are two snorers who seem to be on some sort of f**ked up snoring shift pattern. One of them starts when the other one stops. Tomorrow we have a bus to Vietnam which we know is going to be uncomfortable and will not be able to catch up on any sleep due to said snorers. The other girl in my room has been sobbing for about an hour now because this is her second night with these guys without any sleep at all.
    Snoring truly robs people of their basic needs as a human being, earplugs or no earplugs. It also robs people of their next day’s enjoyment.
    I think the fact you feel guilt the next day is important, because you know its not nice for others who are for the most part, too polite to wake you up and will suffer in silence while you get your sleep.

    • Reply

      Thanks for the comment. I know this is a big issue for many people. It’s interesting how many messages I get from people who are ‘currently in bed in a hostel room with snorers’. Honestly, I hope you manage to get some sleep soon.

  41. Reply

    Honestly, I find your point of view insulting, people DO have the right to be angry about snorers, if I blast a movie on my laptop using the speakers and I don’t let you sleep I am the bad guy, or if another guy is walking around all night, then he is the bad guy. The point is it disturbs the sleep of other people, personally I will always complain to the guy snoring, as often as it is necessary. If he won’t let me sleep, well, I won’t let him sleep either

    • Reply

      I guess the difference is that the person blasting a movie has a choice about whether to do that or not. He is making a conscious decision to disturb others. Snorers don’t have that ability to just turn it off. But I see your point.

      • Reply

        But if you know you’re a snorer and you choose to stay in a dorm, you’re making a conscious decision to disturb others. FYI earplugs don’t work. Cut your trip down by a day or two and get your own room. Even in a case where a snorer has done ‘all’ that they can to stop their snoring (which you haven’t – those mouth guards have been around for ages) they should get their own rooms. A snorer above said she was on her second month of travelling and that she was keeping everyone in her room awake every night but she couldn’t afford a single room – I’ll repeat, second month of travelling..

  43. Reply

    I came here because i googled snoring in dorm. It was 9pm, I was in a 6 beds dorm and was outside the room when one of the ppl inside screamed “nobody in room snore except her!” I was so embarrassed and ran away. I went to find a private room nearby. I took up courahe to go back to the room to collect my stuffs and luckily no one is in the room. Today is a sad day for me =(

  45. Reply

    You’re a cunt. Please dont try and make yourself feel better by venting your opinion. If you snore rent a single room. Or neck yourself you piece of rat turd. I dont pity you. I eish people like you were destroyed.

  46. Reply

    Yes we conciously chose to sleep in a communal space but so does the snorer. The snorer choses to sleep in a communal space in which he knows he’ll disturb others. I’m currently wearing earplugs and they do nothing for my neighbourings grating. No forgiveness.

  47. Reply

    What I usually do is just pound on their bed twice with my hands. Not to get them fully awake, but to just stop their snoring and change their sleeping pattern. Sometimes it doesn’t work but it often does. At least it gives me enough time to fall asleep with silence. My ears are too small for earplugs. Tried them in airplanes and yeah they don’t work. And won’t fall asleep with music (my phone has a low-battery life, anyway, it’s a simple phone). I have to agree with you about the 6 am analogy. It’s people’s decision to start packing at 6 am rather than the night before. It’s what I try to do, to be respectful, but it also causes me less stress about getting to my next destination on time. I also hate when people start talking to others in the dorm in the morning when others are asleep (i mean before check-out time like 9 or 10, but not 11). They can always go to the commons area to talk. And those who turn on the light full-blast at night when others are sleeping. or in the morning despite enough natural sunlight in the room. So it’s definitely others who disturb as well. I use to have a habit of being on my laptop at night and typing when others are sleeping but I don’t do that anymore. Or have the laptop light blaring in someone’s eyes. And about music to try and help sleep…that’s ok with headphones but keep the music down if you know others can hear it.

    • Reply

      I agree – there are some people who have no respect at all for others and turn on the lights in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Or talk really loudly when others are asleep. I guess it takes a bit of tolerance to cope with these dorm rooms! 🙂

  49. Reply

    3:50 am, just moved to the dorm kitchen with my pillow and hoping to fall asleep on an uncomfortable chair and a table. This is because there was a dude snoring in my 6 bed dorm room. NOBODY was sleeping because of him. Somebody was on their phone, somebody was sitting on the bed, others kept yawing. Before leaving the room I gave him a pat on his arm, just to see if I could make him stop snoring without waking him up. He woke up, went to the toilet, came back and started snoring again. Yesterday I had a full day at college and today I will have again classes all day, which is going to be great with basically no sleep. No need to say I was wearing headphones on a loud volume. There is something about snoring that make it worse than any other noise.
    I’m sorry of what you have to go through, I know the snorer doesn’t do it on purpose, but jesus if you are going to keep 5+ people awake how can you say they should just deal with it?

  50. Reply

    I think some people don’t know if they snore or not or they might snore sometimes, but not others, so don’t think they’ll be snoring in the dorm. If you live alone, how do you know? At least that’s my experience in the mission center where I live. (Granted, we’re really religious girls who don’t spend the night with our boyfriends, etc.)

  51. Reply

    I think the cause of most of the hostility is that people can do crazy things when they’ve had no sleep. I just got off a 12 hour flight with no sleep (snorer almost the whole flight) arrived at the hostel and had to wait 8 hours to check in (very early arrival…) finally got into the room at about 4pm fell asleep at maybe 6pm and guess what; got woken up at 8 by a really really loud snorer how has proceeded to snore the entire night. It is now 3:30 and I have had about 2 hours sleep in 48 hours. I am ready to kill someone (preferably her) but I know this is not how I usually think, but sleep is so important for descision making and logical thought. I would be surprised if someone hadn’t actually killed their roommate for snoring before.
    Is it ok to request another dorm room from the front desk? I am seriously considering upgrading my room right now even though I really can’t afford it. (Like I said, descision making impaired)

  52. Reply

    I’ve just been on the opposite side … In a 12-person dorm room in Tasmania and I’ve been woken up multiple times throughout the night because I was snoring and now I can’t go back to sleep.

    I agree with the poster’s argument – when in a hostel you are saving $$$ in exchange for whatever discomfort might come with sharing a *public* room. I think the best analogy was that no one has the right to get angry at a cripple moving slowly on the sidewalk and slowing everyone else down – public places are for everyone, snorers included.

    Why should snorer’s have to pay a premium for a private room rather than light sleepers? People can expect others to be considerate – but within the bounds of that which they can control. Snorers that have already tried to solve the problem (using the myriad products on offer) to no avail shouldn’t have to suffer indignation any more than cripples shouldn’t be asked to not use the sidewalks because everyone else is affected.

    Bottom line, hostels are essentially public places where people pay for a public place to sleep. Expectation of quietness is not guaranteed.

    • Reply

      Thanks for the comment. I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t get a good night’s sleep because of a snorer. I do have sympathy, honestly. But it’s also reassuring to hear that you can see my side of the argument. I hope you have a great trip in Tassie!

  53. Reply

    Im like a little pissed of at the moment. I snore and i knew about it. But only wheni am sleeping on my back. So tonight i was sleeping on my back. At 2am i some drunk girls where talking loud about 1 hour in the dorm. At 3.30 am some Dutch Guys where totally drunk in the room laughing about 1 1/2 hours and at 6 am some girls turn the lights on to pack the backpacks. But i’m ok with it. I choose to sleep in a dorm with 13 other people so yeah, it was my choice. But what was the forst thing that i hear today? “You shithead were snoring all the night”. I was really ofended :/ I think that if you sleep in a dorm than you must accept every kind of human in it. Even people that snores. So i think that yeah, if you not like snorers, drunk people or whatever kind of people, than you are the person that needs a private and not me. I try to sleep on my stomage, i tell people that they can wake me uo and tell me to change my position. But even if some guys are not stopping snoring, for me its ok. Its a Dorm. 52% of Mans snores. So i have to accept it or if not then i must search for a private. So my dear snorers, dont feel bad about it. Tell the people that you snore so they went not surprise about it and then ignore the people. 52% of the man are like you 🙂

  54. Reply

    I’m in a situation where I’m bunked up with a few other people. One dude snores so loud that I only get about 2 or 3 hours of sleep every night. I definitely don’t blame him, and he’s a really great guy, but when you have full day’s work and only so many hours of sleep every single night, it drives you insane. So far I’ve tolerated it and just stayed awake, but when I think about how I’m stuck in this place for a long, long time to come, it drives me mad. When you’re really tired and you know you can’t escape this for another year the thoughts you can have in the moment will shock you. I don’t believe in shaming or some of the other crazy things people have done, but I am this close to just losing my mind. And the dude’s so nice too, so I can’t even blame him. I should just give up sleeping.

    • Reply

      A whole year ahead of you?! Yeah, that’s a very different situation, isn’t it? Although I wonder whether you’ll find it easier and just get used to it as background noise.
      I’ll be curious to know whether you find a solution.

  55. Reply

    I’m travelling to Asia solo in a few months and I am incredibly anxious and have been stressing over the fact how bad my snoring is. I actually googled ‘snoring in hostels’ and that’s how I found this article. I’ve had friends record me and it’s honestly something else. I don’t think people fully do understand the guilt and anxiety a snorer carries. I have a friend who is also a bad snorer and he sometimes turns down social invites (like camping) because he is so worried about how he is affecting others sleep. Some people seem to be under the impression we just do it and don’t even care nor have tried to fix it. I will be trying my best to stay in single rooms during my trip but sometimes it’s just not possible so I do hope I don’t have any too bad experiences and people can be a little forgiving (I’ll be carrying lots of ear plugs to hand out!)

  56. Reply

    Oh and just to add- there were some pretty hurtful comments left on this post! I wish people would think twice and how their words can affect others.
    I am so conscious of my snoring when I have been sharing rooms with others I try my best to stay awake until everyone has fallen asleep (I’ve never stayed in a hostel yet so I don’t think this technique will work there) and I’ve always told people to wake me up if I’m snoring so I can stay awake again until they can get to sleep. So yes, I might keep you awake with my snoring that is completely out of my control but you bet I’m doing everything I can in a situation to ensure you get just as good sleep if not a better one.
    Thanks for writing this article, it’s fantastic.

  57. Reply

    There is a little different between one snorer paying extra for a hotel room or ten people loose their night sleep and the worth of money their

  58. Reply

    best blog post i’ve read so far, and this is my situation right now! I feel guilty and self conscious about my snoring, im trying throat sprays, nasal sprays, staying awake as long as i can until everyone else has gone to sleep. I’m considering getting either a chin strap (not a great look, looks like head gear for rugby players!) and the mouthguard just so I can alleviate the decibel levels abit! I’ve even woken up on two occasions to everyone else in the dorm talking and laughing with each other about my snoring and how annoying it was! if they did do dorm rooms for heavy snorers, that would be a dream, because then there would be no more guilt and we could all get a great sleep. making friends is definitely a part of travelling and its not nice getting dirty looks in the morning by everyone as if you snore on purpose! I do wish there was more understanding for the snorer. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has this concern, this has made me feel so much better 🙂

  59. Reply

    Man, the lack of compassion and empathy in here is amazing. You’re in a hostel room with 8 people and you’re upset because one person snores? Got get a freaking private room if you’re so sensitive to sleep.

    Otherwise, put on your earplugs.

  61. Reply

    Another one here awake at 5am because of a snorer.. I am no light sleeper and this woke me up. I have headphones in with my music almost at top volume but can still hear the snores over the top.
    On my way back from the toilet I tried to gently wake the snorer to ask him to roll onto his side to quieten the snores but no response. I actually rocked him quite vogourusly after that (to the giggles of a girl awake on her phone) – still no response. This same guy and his friends also came back at 3am from a night out and made quite a lot of noise then too.
    I barely slept last night because of it so we’re on night number two. Not looking forward to tomorrow night (praying they check out but I am not hopeful!)
    I understand snoring is not done with intent or malice but it is robbing multiple people of a whole night of sleep potentially for consecutive nights.
    If the snorer cannot afford a private room and has not tried / is not helped by a snoring mouthpiece, could you guys consider moving to a different room or hostel every night? That way at least the sleep deprivation only lasts for one night at a time (unless you are unlucky and have multiple snorers)
    Just a thought.

  62. Reply

    NICE BLOG…Many people are facing this issue, but for that proper treatment is very necessary. Snoring is seen more of a bedtime annoyance for people sleeping together, it is a sign of an underlying health issue called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). It is one of the most under diagnosed sleep disorders and is more like a silent epidemic. Very few know about the condition and fewer seek treatment….Thank you for sharing…

  63. Reply

    Weeeeeell, don’t get me wrong I understand the dilemma and I’m not completely unsympathetic towards you but there is a huge difference between being woken up at 6 am for ten minutes to maybe half an hour because someone is moving out or getting up to being awoken EVERY HOUR. Sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique over the decades for a reason.
    You snore and keep me awake for more than an hour? I for sure will wake you up. I’ll not be cold or snarky or unkind but if I get no sleep you won’t get none.
    All the excuses are bullshit for one simple reason: you know you snore? Go to the doctor, get checked and do something about it. It’s also not healthy for you.

  64. Reply

    Hahaha I love it, while reading this post & comments the guy finally stopped snorring. So funny people reading this while a snorrer is keeping them awake. Last time I share a room though!!!!!

  65. Reply

    But you’re wrong. The first rule of staying in a backpackers is not to disturbed others. If I do something every night that go on for hours at on end I would be expected to change my behavior. I can put up with the rustling and people making noise as they move around as this normally only go on for a few minutes. Snoring can and does go on for hours. If you know you snore you should be the one to take responsibility for it. Just like other people have to take responsibility for their actions.

  66. Reply

    Snorers are a total no go for hostels! Point and case! Heavy snorers know about their special behavior and the effect on others, and still impose their shit on others! This is totally unacceptable, as is sneezing on somebody, or eating like a pig, or speaking loud that 5 rooms can hear it, or leaving the trash on the meal table, or shitting on the floor, etc. The best candidates sleep fat on their backs where almost everybody will snore after 15 mins of sleep or so.
    Justification: if somebody in full knowledge of causing negative effects on others just continues to do so then this is an offencive act and shall be treated with no mercy! Obviously you know very well that you steal a full rooms sleep while you yourself have a good rest, this is totally unacceptable! I have not the slightest understanding for your bla bla, get a cure to get rid of the snoring, or get a single room where you are not torturing others in full knowledge!
    The smelly hippy – at least I NEVER had anybody smelling so bad that this cost me a nights sleep, but countless empathy less weirdos as you are!

  68. Reply

    So you know full well that you snore loudly and disturb the sleep of others, yet you still choose to sleep in a dorm room. You are a fuckwit, be considerate to others.

  69. Reply

    What a load of BS. If you think it’s ok to ruin everyone’s sleep because you want a cheap room, that’s just plain selfish. And then calling the other people inconsiderate… What’s wrong with you?

  71. Reply

    Hmm. Perhaps hostels should offer a special booking option for ‘snorers’. They have all female dorms, so how about an all snorers dorm. LoL. If I was “that guy” though,I’d try to book a private more often than not.

  72. Reply

    Sorry dude but I don’t sympathise. You’re the one that should get a private room. You SHOULD feel guilty that you slept at the expense of everyone else in that room.

    Stop with the earplugs excuse. They don’t do shit when you’re only feet away.

    You have to pay extra for a private room. If it bothers you that much financially, see a doctor and get it sorted. It’s not everyone else’s problem.

    Also – this post has a misleading title. There are no solutions here. Just “put up with it, we can’t help it”. Not helpful.