LONDON'S CLAIM

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 115, 16 May 1936, Page 6

LONDON'S CLAIM

A NOISELESS HOTEL

: The claim is made for London that v now possesses the only hotel in Europe which is noise-proof arid airconditioned, says "The Times." During recent months all the bedrooms and sitting-rooms of the Berkeley Hotel have been modernised, and > a freedom from extraneous- • sounds achieved which seems almost magical. The hotel fronts on to Piccadilly where there ar.e several lines of traffic running late into the night. A steady rumble- of traffic, rising, at times into a crescendo which batters the senses persists with little interruption ■■ for many hours. No better place for experiments in inducing silence could be imagined. To close the windows of the hotel rooms overlooking Piccadilly or the less noisy Berkeley Street, is to induce an uncanny silence. Possibly only scientific measurement ■ could determine to what extent outside noise or vibration, manages 'to penetrate into the rooms; to the ear the sensation of relief is so profound that'-sound'seems to be completely exiled The equipment consists, of composite double windows—two sheets of glass 5-Biri thick, set in continuous heavy steel frames 3in apart—fitted to exclude all outer air, and consequently all noise, dirt, and fumes from motor traffic. There is a ventilating' system by means of which fresh air, cleaned and maintained .at an equable temperature, enters through concealed ducts, and is withdrawn through vents at floor level. An air-conditioning plant is on the roof of the building, and the air in every room is changed 15 times an hour.. The restaurant, grill room, and buttery are similarly equipped. Mr.. Reeves-Smith, of the Berkeley Hotel Company, Limited, referred to three modern developments in hotel life, the provision of bathrooms, the introduction of central .heating, and the introduction of silent and air-condition-ed rooms. He recalled the time when a first-class hotel in London had one bathroom to'a'floor—brie "Hotel he managed had five bathrooms for 500 guests —and when the .corridors were extremely : chilly in winter time and every visitor had to have a coal fire in' his bedroom. :. . L' Lord Horder, chairman of the AntiNoise League, said.that noise was going to "do us in", unless we did something about it. The human system was very resilient and could put up with a stupendous degree of noise. Modern life was full of stresses, and strains, and it. was essential to do everything possible to absorb unnecessary and provocative noise. The modern machine we had devised would overcome us'unless we controlled'it. " '