Hotel Soundproofing for New Construction: La Quinta Inn Orlando, FL

• Project: Hotel Soundproofing for a Four-Story New-Construction Signature Hotel
• Location: 5825 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819
• Facility Type: 101-Room La Quinta Inn — Wyndham’s First Prototype of Its Kind in Florida
• Owner / Developer: Riviera Point Development Group
• Architect: L2 Studios
• General Contractor: Winter Park Construction (WPC)
• Objective: STC 55+ Demising Walls; STC 50+ Corridor Walls and Floor/Ceiling Assemblies
• Scope: Acoustic Consulting, Material Substitution Engineering, 60,000+ SF Membrane Installation

Winter Park Construction brought Commercial Acoustics onto its new four-story La Quinta build in Orlando to solve a problem that quietly trips up most select-service hotel projects in the Southeast: brand-mandated STC targets on a wood-frame structure. With over 60,000 square feet of demising walls, corridors, and floor assemblies in scope, the spec needed to clear STC 55+ between guestrooms without slowing the framing crew or blowing up the material budget.

The 101-room hotel was designed by L2 Studios for owner Riviera Point Development Group as Wyndham’s first prototype of its kind in Florida. Roughly 55,000 square feet of guestrooms, meeting space, a great room, fitness room, breakfast area, and outdoor pool sit on a four-story wood-stud structure with open-web truss floors. To hit hospitality-grade isolation on a value-engineered budget, our team replaced the originally specified Soundbreak gypsum board with Wall Blokker PRO mass loaded vinyl, raising tested STC while cutting installed cost.

• Wood-Frame STC Penalty: Stick assemblies typically run 6–10 STC points behind comparable metal-stud walls
• Brand Acoustic Standards: STC 55+ guestroom demising walls; STC 50+ corridors and floor/ceiling assemblies
• Schedule & Cost Pressure: Originally specified Soundbreak Board carried higher material cost and a slower installation sequence

Wood framing is one of the harder substrates to soundproof in hospitality. Studs flex more than steel, and open-web floor trusses leave cavities that broadcast footfall and HVAC noise between guestrooms. Going to 2×6 framing helps thermal performance, but the soundproofing gain is small. Staggered studs and 24″ OC framing move the needle further, and they were already in the spec on this project. Even so, hitting La Quinta’s STC 55+ target on a single-stud wood wall almost always demands a dedicated isolation layer. Our deeper write-up on how to increase the STC of single-stud walls walks through the core reasons.

The original assembly called for Soundbreak Board, a viscoelastically damped gypsum panel. We swapped it for Wall Blokker PRO, a mass loaded vinyl (MLV) membrane that adds isolating mass to the cavity at a lower installed cost. The cost delta is meaningful at hotel scale, and the STC numbers on wood-stud assemblies came back stronger. The full numbers are in our cost analysis comparing Wall Blokker against Soundbreak and QuietRock.

• Material: Wall Blokker PRO, a 1 lb/sf MLV Membrane in 48″ Wide Rolls
• Performance: STC 55+ on Single-Stud Wood-Frame Demising Walls, Single-Side Application
• Installation Area: 60,000+ Square Feet Across Four Floors
• Crew Productivity: Two-Man Teams Completed Each Guestroom in Under 30 Minutes

Commercial Acoustics coordinated directly with the framing and drywall subcontractors to keep Wall Blokker PRO on the critical path. Rolls were pre-cut to floor-to-deck heights at the manufacturing plant and staged by floor on delivery, which eliminated field cuts and waste at the trailer.

The 48″-wide membrane was hung on one side of the wall only, fastened to wood studs with pneumatic staple guns. Seams were planned to land on framing, and butt joints at the stud need no overlap and no seam tape, which removed an entire labor step from the original assembly. Single-side application also kept the opposite face open for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in. The 48″ roll width matches both 16″ and 24″ OC stud spacing without scrap, so material yield stays high across changing wall layouts.

• STC Compliance: Guestroom Demising Walls Achieved STC 55+; Corridors and Floor/Ceilings Cleared STC 50+
• Cost Savings: Net Reduction vs. Originally Specified Soundbreak Board
• Crew Speed: Two-Man Teams, Under 30 Minutes per Guestroom
• Coverage: 60,000+ SF Across Four Floors

Hung on one side of the wood-stud demising assembly, Wall Blokker PRO cleared STC 55+ and met La Quinta’s signature-brand acoustic standard on a framing system that usually falls short of it. Corridor walls and floor/ceiling assemblies came in above STC 50+, and the substitution from Soundbreak to Wall Blokker PRO returned material and labor savings to the project budget without giving up tested performance.

The lesson for developers and GCs working on wood-frame select-service brands: the easiest STC win on these projects often is not adding more drywall, it is changing the layer that does the isolating. Substituting Wall Blokker PRO for Soundbreak Board on the La Quinta Orlando carried a 4-story stick-frame hotel above its brand-mandated STC 55+ target while removing a labor step and trimming material spend. That outcome scales: any hospitality project with wood studs, open-web floor trusses, and a brand acoustic standard above STC 50 is a candidate for the same swap.

Commercial Acoustics provides STC modeling, brand-standard review, material supply, and turnkey installation for new-construction hotels nationwide. Engagements typically start with a brief plan-and-target review through our acoustic consultant for hotels page.

For a deeper look at materials and assembly options for select-service and full-service hospitality projects, see our overview of hotel soundproofing solutions.