World's worst airports to sleep in ... and the best
October 21, 2013 -- Updated 1751 GMT (0151 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Travel site polls more than 14,000 users on best and worst airports to sleep in
- Criteria include armrest-free seating -- essential for creating a "bed"
- "Customer service" -- aka pillow supply -- also important
- Worst airport a "horrible experience"
(CNN) -- You may think airports are primarily about one thing:
Shopping.
That's right. Not flying -- that's what you do after you've had your credit card stretched on gallon bottles of duty free eau de parfum and single malt.
But there's yet another activity -- or, rather, inactivity -- apparently important for rating airports: sleeping.
Started 16 years ago as a guide for budget travelers on where to snooze in airports worldwide, to save on accommodation during a long layover, Sleepinginairports.net claims now to have wider relevance.
"Airport sleeping is no longer just for the cheap young backpacker," the site says.
"Nowadays, early morning flights ... flight cancellations, snow storms and erupting volcanoes are just a few reasons why you'll see people of all ages and incomes stretched out on airport floors around the world."
Sweet dreams ... on armrest-free seats.
Airport sleeping essentials
Sleepinginairports asked 14,600 passengers to rate airports according to four sleep-related criteria -- "the four C's."
"Comfort" included armrest-free seating -- all the better for stretching out on -- and quiet zones.
"Convenience" encompassed 24-hour food and showers.
"Cleanliness" was more general, including clean bathrooms and food courts.
"Customer service" covered those unexpected extras that make you remember a place with affection, such as "airport workers who ... give us blankets and pillows when we're stranded."
So, how did the airports do? Try to stay awake now!
World's fifth best airport for sleeping -- Helsinki Vantaa
Some might say Helsinki itself is pretty soporific so this snooze-friendly airport should really knock you out.
"There are benches all over the place," writes one Sleepinginairports voter, the amusingly named Sleeping Around.
Never mind that that commendation sounds like something you might overhear at a tramps' conference, Vantaa has a book swap, airport tours and a Relaxation Zone with a whole smorgasbord of seating types to keep the restless, or rest-seeking, passenger satisfied.
"If you can't find a way to sleep in this airport, there might be something wrong with you," concludes SleepinginAirports.
Fourth best -- Hong Kong
"There are a few 'beds' made of four seats together (no armrests)," coos airport sleeper thisisme.
"Look for the lounge chairs hidden behind shrubbery," the site adds.
Schiphol ... has a forest area to curl up in.
Third best -- Amsterdam Schiphol
A new entry to the site's top five, Schiphol scores for its "comfortable couches," a museum and a forest-like area between Departures 3 and 4 complete with nature sounds.
Makes you sleepy just writing about it.
Second best -- Seoul Incheon
"We moved two seats next to each other and had enough sleeping room for three people," writes Phtraveler of Seoul Incheon, sounding again a little like a delegate at a bums' convention.
Travelers also loved the traditional dance performances, the site says -- although whether as a substitute for Valium is not recorded.
World's best airport for sleeping -- Singapore Changi
The dormouse's favorite, Singapore Changi, wins top spot for the 17th year in a row.
Could that be because Changi extends Singapore's no-nonsense approach to law and order -- including banning chewing gum and arresting spitters -- to relaxation?
"Silence is mandatory in the snooze lounge," says one SleepinginAirports survey respondent approvingly.
Changi's six rest zones, with special reclining deep seats, seem to be the icing on the dream cake here.
And if airports like Changhi sound so relaxing you might actually enjoy missing that connecting flight, other big plane garages make it clear, according to SleepinginAirports, that R & R are not complimentary services.
Paris Beauvais: looks dull but apparently sleep is hard won.
World's fifth worst airport for sleeping -- Paris Beauvais
"Fifteen of us airport sleepers were kicked out at 1 p.m. -- all hotels in the area were booked.
"I was in transit from Morocco, in T-shirt and sandals. It was 8 C outside, and I spent the night walking and jumping around to keep warm."
Fourth worst -- Islamabad
"Upright plastic lumbar-devastating 'chairs' add to your foul mood after negotiating the carnage to actually end up in the departure lounge," says Col. Stewart with impressive spleen.
Third worst -- Calcutta
"We slept sitting up. The lights remained on all night and we had to don our jackets (in India?) because of the AC."
You can almost see Mur the Explorer's drawn, sleep-deprived face as he writes that.
Second worst -- Bergamo
"There is [only] a small cafe open 24 hours ... The chapel is not 24 hours any more ... A group of drunk people hung around screaming and swearing," are some of bielvoda's desperate-sounding notes from a night's stay.
"Old issues" -- airport problems are apparently a snooze for Manila officials.
World's worst airport for sleeping -- Manila Ninoy Aquino
You're more likely to get some sleep at a jack-hammering competition than at this airport, according to SleepinginAirports voters.
"Everything seems to have been done to make the experience [of traveling through Ninoy Aquino] as horrible as possible," says wanderingcat123.
On the other hand, Hayden speaks highly of the third floor "Passenger Holding Area," with its own guard.
"We found some cardboard boxes at the 7-Eleven and made a nice bed," he (or she) writes.
The official response also ran against the grain of the survey.
"These are old issues," Manila airport Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post.
He accepted, that the airport, with a capacity of about 6.5 million passengers annually, was overstretched, handling almost 2 million passengers more than that.
Not a word about its snooze-worthiness, though.
CNN
