Tricky holiday noise situation

[Baileysinmyshoe]

Currently staying in a s/c apartment abroad. Mostly holiday rentals in the building, some longer term residents. We've been here six days so far, booked for 14.

The sound insulation isn't great here, and you can hear some neighbour noise as expected, nothing awful. On Thursday, new people moved in upstairs. We noticed a sharp rise in noise compared to the people who were there before. The people above sound like they're moving furniture day and night. It's the dragging of heavy chairs across the tiled floor combined with poorly insulated low ceilings which means it sounds like a loud clap of thunder every time and makes us jump out of our skin.

We're out a lot but whenever we're back in the apartment, it's pretty much constant dragging of furniture.

After being woken up at 5.30 with what sounded like chairs being dragged across their bedroom floor again, and after I'd gone to a shop to buy foamy sticky pads you stick on chair legs to stop the noise, DP went upstairs and knocked on their door with the foamy pads - at the more civilised time of 10am, but after we'd been subjected to over 5 hours of this noise.

He came back down first time round to say he'd used Google translate to try to explain and ask them nicely if they could stick the foamy pads on their chair legs. They didn't seem to understand. He came back down to get a chair to take back upstairs to use as a demonstration.

Now he's back a second time and has said it seems as if it's the sound of a wheel chair that we can hear, or the furniture being moved is to make room for a wheel chair moving in the apartment. As I now know, it makes the sound more bearable for me. I'm not now picturing people randomly moving stuff around to annoy us. DP on the other hand thinks it makes no difference. That they should be more aware of the noise they're creating and wants to speak to the person at reception to complain about our lack of sleep.

AINBU in saying let's just leave it and live with it? Nothing can be done anyway.

Or AIBU and this could ruin the rest of our holiday. Maybe we could switch apartments.

You bought sticky pads to put on chair legs? Did you ask permission of the apartment owner first? And why did he get one of your chairs to demonstrate?
Surely they are not moving stuff around all night?

Who have you rented from? I would contact them and ask them to deal with it

Just ask to switch apartments

It certainly sounds like furniture is being moved around all day and night.
I mentioned that some apartments were owner occupied so we thought we could explain better with the foamy pads and DP decided to use one of our chairs to demonstrate. Obvious this plan didn't work out.

Honestly as someone who lived full time in an apartment I would be very pissed off if you had knocked on my door and tried to make me use pads. Especially when the reason is due to a wheelchair user. Noise is a downside in apartment ms unfortunately. Think u need to move apartments

Off topic, but kudos for managing to source sticky pads for chair legs whilst on holiday in a foreign country! I’d have enough trouble with that here!

At least it's not sex noises!

We didn't know what was the likely cause of the noise until now. I feel awful, DP is just tired and annoyed. It is extremely loud and pretty much every few minutes across the entire apartment.

Luckily, there's a shop that resembles a pound shop next to the supermarket and they had a sheet of sticky furniture pads.

I think we'll need to try and change apartments otherwise we'll fall out.

purchasing ear plugs might have been more appropriate.

We have bought ear plugs. They don't do anything. The noise goes right through you. Also tried my noise cancelling headphones and again, when the noise is loud, it's very very loud.

It ought to be possible for them to arrange the furniture so that there is a clear route for the wheelchair user to use during normal nighttime hours.

Being a wheelchair user isn’t a carte Blanche to cause inconvenient others if it can be avoided. Now they know, they could surely mitigate the noise.

(I speak as someone with a wheelchair user in the family)

I would speak to reception and explain that you understand their issue but are asking if they can have help to make the furniture suitable for their needs to move around the apartment.

It's a 50/50 split on the voting on here, representative of mine and DP's opinions. We have asked to be moved as the noise still continues and will continue as they're staying two weeks, we'll be gone by then. There's only one apartment available and that'll be ready on Tuesday. It's first floor with a Juliet balcony, cheaper online than the one we currently have which has a sea view and a lovely big proper balcony. DP is happy with this. I am not. I could stay put. But I guess we'll be on the beach most of the time or out in the evening and we just need to make the most of it. Annoyed theres no partial refund as well.

You expect a partial refund due to noise? Of the people above were playing loud music or something then maybe you would have grounds to complain but they can’t be moving heavy furniture around all through the night! When do they sleep?

Well they don't seem to sleep as the noise continues throughout the night. I do feel for them all, it mustn't be much of a holiday as they're always inside the apartment or on the balcony and never go out. We're moving out of here and into another apartment tomorrow. No balcony. It's the only one free. DP was told this apartment was offered to the people above but they declined, opting to stay where they are. We were woken up at 4 this morning. When we left at 11, the noise was still happening. Popped back just now and the noise is still going on.

I do think we should get a bit of money back as we're losing out on a balcony. Someone at reception came to hear the noise yesterday and immediately said it was a good enough reason to move us, but as there is only one room available, we have no choice but to accept it. I just don't care any more. I want a good nights sleep. Not really a beach person so don't tend to catch up on sleep on the beach and I'm just tired now.

So we packed up all our things at check out time today and waited to be moved to a quieter apartment. Nobody showed up. We called the number and got no answer so we've had to go back to our original apartment.

Somehow the people above knew that we'd asked to move we think and knocked on our door shouting at us in Spanish. Wish we recorded it and used Google to translate but didn't have time.

We are now being subjected to repeated sliding of heavy furniture above our heads. Back and forth. It's horrendous so we're leaving. I'm so unhappy and can't wait to leave this horrible place. Worst holiday.

Next time stay in a proper hotel and you won’t have this issue - if nothing else, there would be a proper management. Staying in a residential apartment that’s been turned over to holiday lets means no proper management and no comeback when things go wrong. If you go to a hotel there’s a much clearer path to sorting things out, if they need sorting.

That is rubbish for you. I live in Portugal and because the apartments are generally poorly built (well the older ones are) and the floors have no carpets, even someone moving a dining chair to sit will echo to the downstairs apartment. It is nothing like living in the UK in an apartment with people above you, I can promise you that 100%. Cleaners marching around wearing flip flops can be clearly heard at 6am when they are doing changeovers. It is utterly miserable and I completely sympathise with the problem. There are some excellent ear plugs that can help - I have used these in the past when it all got too much for me! Oh - even the downstairs apartment noise can echo upstairs - we had two small kids running downstairs day in and day out, and the noise from this was also incredible. It took me several days to work out which apartment it was, as I was convinced it was coming from above us! I live in a villa now - no neighbour noise - bliss :)