The hotel with a room kept for silence
Forestis stands on a clearing chosen in 1912 for its air, its light and its water. In the spa there is one room reserved for silence alone.
Forestis sits at 1,800 metres above Brixen, in South Tyrol, on a clearing where a sanatorium was begun in 1912. Doctors picked the spot for three things: the air, the light and the water. The war stopped the building. The reasoning outlived it, and the hotel that eventually grew on those foundations kept it.
The spring comes down from the Plose so clean that nothing is done to it. It reaches the taps and the pools exactly as the mountain sends it, and in years of looking at water I have almost never seen that. The rooms are larch and glass, kept plain and turned toward the Odle peaks, so the mountains do the furnishing. And in the spa there is a room kept for silence alone. No music, no treatment, nothing to do there.
The machines you stopped hearing
I read about that room and then stood in my own bedroom to listen. It was not quiet at all.
Most rooms hum. A fridge in the next room, a router, a charger, a fan, something glowing on standby. After a few days the ear files it as normal and stops reporting it, which is why a quiet hotel room can feel almost strange. None of it costs money to put right.
- Stand in the room at night and switch things off one at a time. Wait a few seconds after each. When a hum goes, you will hear the room drop.
- Add soft things. Wool, linen, a heavy curtain, a shelf of books. Glass and tile send sound back at you, cloth takes it in.
- Charge the phone in another room. A bedroom sleeps better with nothing powered running in it overnight, and it stays cooler too.
- Close the gap under the door. Sound comes through gaps far more than through walls. A draught excluder and a lined curtain cost little and work.
You do not need a spare room. A chair by a window will do.
Keep the same spot for it, so the quiet is there waiting when you want it. Ten minutes in that chair will do more for you than an hour of trying to relax in a busy room. The rest of the house can carry on as it is, and there is plenty to do in it.
| Start here | Find what is running. Switch off one thing at a time at night and listen after each. The hum you notice stopping is the one you have been living with. |
|---|---|
| The usual sources | Fridge, router, charger, fan, extractor, anything on standby, and the little transformers in plugs. |
| Soft beats hard | Wool, cotton, linen, books, a heavy curtain, an upholstered chair. Glass, tile and bare plaster reflect sound back into the room. |
| The bedroom | Nothing powered running overnight. Charge phones and laptops elsewhere. If you want a machine such as an air purifier, run it in another room. |
| Noise from outside | Work on the gaps, not the walls. A draught excluder under the door, a lined curtain, a window that closes properly. |
| White noise | Try it last. It is one more sound source and it needs power. Take away the hums first. |
| The small version | A corner will do. One chair, one window, nothing plugged in near it, kept for the purpose. |
| What you get | Deeper sleep, and somewhere to go in the day that asks nothing of you. |
The short answers
The same thing again, in the order people ask it.
How do you make a room quiet?
Find what is running first. Most rooms have a steady hum from a fridge, a router, a charger or a standby light, and the ear stops reporting it after a few days. Switch things off one at a time and listen after each. Then add soft surfaces, because bare walls and floors send sound back into the room.
How do you find the noise you have stopped hearing?
Stand in the middle of the room at night and switch off one thing at a time, waiting a few seconds between. The moment a hum stops, the room drops and you hear it. What you notice going off is what you have been listening to all day.
Does a quiet room help you sleep?
Yes. Noise can shorten your sleep without ever waking you, so a room with less running in it gives you more sleep for the same hours in bed. Darkness and a cool room do the same job, and both are in the case for true darkness.
What makes a room sound soft?
Anything that absorbs rather than reflects. Wool, cotton, linen, books, a heavy curtain, an upholstered chair. Glass, tile and plaster bounce sound back and make the same room feel busier than it is.
Should there be devices in the bedroom?
A bedroom rests better with nothing powered running in it overnight. Charge phones and laptops in another room and keep this one for sleep. If you want a machine such as an air purifier, run it elsewhere in the house.
Is a white noise machine a good idea?
Try it last rather than first. It is one more sound source and it needs power. Take away the hums you can take away, soften the room, and see what is left.
What if the noise comes from outside?
Work on the gaps, not the walls. Sound comes through air, so a draught excluder under the door, a heavy lined curtain and a window that closes properly do most of the work for very little money.
Do you need a whole room for silence?
A corner is enough. A chair by a window with nothing plugged in near it gives you the same thing in a flat. Keep the same spot for it, so the quiet is there waiting when you want it.
The property. Forestis, on the Palmschoss clearing above Brixen, South Tyrol. The 1912 sanatorium, the site chosen for air, light and water, and the war that stopped the building are on forestis.it/en/hideaway/history. The purity of the Plose spring and the larch and glass architecture are reported by Lampoon Magazine, and the room kept for silence by Small Luxury Hotels and goop.
Reuse. Quote any part of this page with a link back to it. Educational purposes only, and not a substitute for medical advice.