Hearing-friendly restaurants: why the hospitality industry is now focusing on acoustics
Lekker.nl put ten restaurants in the spotlight this week that pay extra attention to acoustics. These restaurants ensure that guests can understand one another easily, even during a busy evening. A positive sign: the hospitality industry is discovering that sound is just as important as taste. In short: an ear-friendly restaurant is a space where guests can understand one another without difficulty, because hard surfaces create less reverberation. The fact that this is now receiving media attention shows that speech intelligibility is increasingly regarded as a mark of quality.
Birgit Brinks
25 September 2026
What does “ear-friendly” actually mean?
A restaurant often sounds noisy because of hard materials such as glass, concrete, wood and tiles. Sound waves bounce off these surfaces, creating reverberation. Reverberation blends voices, cutlery and music into one continuous wall of sound. As a result, guests speak more loudly, which raises the noise level even further. “Hearing-friendly” describes the opposite: a space where guests speak to one another at a normal volume and can understand each other without difficulty. This is not a coincidence, but the result of deliberate choices in materials and layout.
Why this topic is now coming up in the hospitality industry
Research by the RIVM shows that prolonged exposure to high noise levels causes stress and fatigue. This applies not only in offices or healthcare settings, but also in the hospitality industry, for guests as well as staff who work for hours in the same noisy environment.
Understandability also directly affects the guest experience. A guest who cannot hear their conversation partner experiences the evening less positively. This strikes at the heart of hospitality: people come to a restaurant to enjoy themselves, not to battle against the noise. It is therefore not surprising that media outlets such as Lekker.nl are now picking up on this topic.
What causes noise nuisance in restaurants?
Three factors usually play a role:
- Hard materials: open-plan kitchens, high ceilings and large windows look modern, but reflect sound waves strongly.
- Full occupancy: more guests means more voices and therefore more sound competing for space.
- Little absorption: without textiles, panels or other soft materials, sound has nothing to be absorbed into.
Do you recognise the signs?
These signals usually indicate reverberation:
- Guests speak increasingly loudly as the evening progresses.
- Staff have to repeat orders.
- A full venue feels chaotic, even without any incidents.
- Guests ask for a quieter table.
Curious to know which restaurants already score highly for ease of hearing? View the overview on Lekker.nl featuring ten restaurants that stand out positively.
Why Many Restaurants Choose a Spray Ceiling
When renovating, restaurants often opt for a sprayed acoustic ceiling. The reason is understandable: it looks sleek, covers the entire ceiling in one go and suits a modern appearance. For many owners, this feels like the logical step when noise nuisance becomes an issue.
However, a sprayed ceiling comes with more drawbacks than may be apparent at first glance. Applying it requires a genuine renovation: the premises have to close temporarily, and the spraying process creates dust and a strong smell that lingers for days. You are also stuck with the result once it has been applied. If you move to another location or renovate the premises again, the sprayed ceiling remains behind. The material adheres directly to the ceiling and cannot be removed without causing damage.
In addition, the absorption value of sprayed ceilings is lower than that of targeted acoustic solutions, especially in rooms with many hard surfaces such as open-plan kitchens, large windows or tiled areas. A sprayed ceiling dampens sound from above, but sound rebounding horizontally between walls remains largely unaffected. The result: the room looks finished, but guests still experience reverberation.
Want to know more about the solutions?
Do you recognise these signs in your own business? On our advice page on acoustics in the hospitality industry, you can read which measures are suitable for restaurants, hotels and cafés, from wall panels to ceiling solutions. Our acoustic consultants will also be happy to think along with you, free of charge, about your specific space.
Conclusion
An acoustically friendly restaurant does not come about by chance. It is the result of deliberate choices in materials and layout. The fact that the hospitality industry is now embracing this issue is good news for guests and for the sector as a whole.
FAQ
Is sound insulation the same as acoustic improvement in a restaurant?
No, these are two different matters. Sound insulation blocks sound between spaces, for example between the restaurant and the neighbours or the kitchen. Acoustic improvement tackles reverberation within the space itself, so guests can hear each other better at the table. A restaurant with many complaints about noise nuisance from outside therefore needs different measures from a restaurant with reverberation problems during dinner.
Does a restaurant’s acoustics also affect how guests experience the food?
Research by flavour professor Charles Spence (University of Oxford) shows that background noise influences the perception of taste: high noise levels particularly suppress the perception of sweetness and saltiness, while umami appears to be less susceptible to this effect. This research focused mainly on environments such as aircraft cabins, but the underlying mechanisms apply more broadly to noisy dining environments, including restaurants. A quieter space may therefore contribute not only to more pleasant conversation, but also to how guests experience the dish itself.
Are there statutory noise limits for restaurants in the Netherlands?
For exposure to noise in the workplace, the Dutch Working Conditions Act sets limit values to protect staff from hearing damage. There is no national standard for the noise levels experienced by guests; this is the responsibility of the business owner. Noise affecting the surrounding area, for example from a terrace or sound system, is assessed by the local council under the Environmental Management Activities Decree. As councils have discretion in this area, it is advisable to check the local regulations.
