You'd rather be stretched out in an airport hotel or napping in the quiet comfort of a business-class lounge. But if worse comes to worst, and you have to catch some zeds in the public space of the airport itself, it's good to know if your airport is snooze-friendly.
The aptly-named SleepingInAirports website has combed through a staffering 6,200 reviews to rate the best – and worst – airports for grabbing some shut-eye when the red-eye runs late.
Singapore's Changi Airport tops the list. "Even if you have the cash to spring on a hotel room in Singapore, I would recommend a night in the airport!" suggests SIA contributor 'Josh', while 'Bram' notes that "there are two rest areas with comfortable couches and even with an alarm clock to wake you up in time for your flight."
That said, you may receive a more abrupt wake-up call, courtesy of the roving airport police. "Got nudged with the tip of a machine gun in mid sleep and had to show my passport" reports one contributor.
"The roving police are scary, they don't let you sleep in peace. They keep on waking me up and asking me for my passport and boarding pass despite the fact that they recognize me (asked me four times in total, same people every time)" recalls 'toyotaboy95'.
Seoul Incheon comes second. "Lots of space to sleep but everyone seems to know about it ... these people came prepared with blankets and pillows" reports 'CL', while 'cj' volunteered "I'll be taking the family to stay at there airport for our next holidays."
Hong Kong, Amsterdam Schipol and Munich round out the five best airports for sleepers on standby.
And the airports you should avoid?
Paris Charles de Gaulle, by a long shot. Here's a sampling of reasons why:
"All the terminals were full of homeless people who smelled bad, touched themselves in inappropriate places." - briggew
"Plenty of REALLY strange people asking for cigarettes and money all night long." - Gulce
"I was propositioned not once but twice by the same man asking me for casual sex, which was understandably a little frightening for a lone 20 year old woman wandering the airport at night."
"I found a policeman and told him the situation of the guy harassing us; he really didn't care, my French is fluent but he said that the homeless had more right to be in the terminal than we did." - Kira
"The guy on the electric floor swiper drove at us several times and drove over the front of the bench where our feet were about 10 or 12 times in the space of 10 mins." - cdgcov_lad
"The SAS-people at CDG told us 'You are lucky, you can leave. We have to work here every day.'" - Megaplayer
SleepingInAirports also suggests that you give the widest possible berth to Paris Beauvais, Moscow Sheremetyevo, LAX and Manila.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 177
Those comments about CDG are absolutely HILARIOUS! Glad I didn't encounter any of that when I was there. I must say I did find it to be an UTTERLY confusing airport, though, with its bizarre system of criss-crossing tunnels through the central atrium, and outlying boarding areas rather than specific gate numbers. I'm sure it won some sort of architectural prize, but as a functional airport, it sucked.
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