A Canadian travel agent has drawn on her backpacking days to assemble a guide to sleeping in airports. Olivia Kelleher reports

Donna McSherry, a backpacker from Canada, had more enthusiasm than money when she headed abroad, for the first time, in 1994. One night, to save cash, she bedded down at a bus station in Belfast. It turned out to be such a pleasurable experience that on subsequent trips to Europe she stayed overnight at airports in Frankfurt, Geneva and Dublin.

McSherry, who is now 30 and a travel agent, is proud to be called cheap. In 1996 she set up the website Sleepinginairports.net, which receives more than 250 hits a day - a respectable number when your audience consists of backpackers - and boasts reviews of more than 2,000 airports from contributors in the US, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Each airport is given a skull or a smiley face - or both if it is rated grim but tolerable. The highest accolade goes to Changi in Singapore, the "reigning mother" of airports that overnighters must visit on their travels. McSherry says airport travellers have been known to weep with joy when they discover the range of amenities available in Changi Airport.

"It is comfortable, safe, quiet (so quiet in fact that students study there during exams) and there is even a karaoke bar. One other fun fact about this little piece of heaven are the signs all over the airport that read 'no pets, no skateboarding, no smoking and no studying'."

Changi also has a free swimming pool, its authorities have built a cinema and a prayer room, and seats in the lounge are equipped with alarm clocks for overnight sleepers.

The world's worst airport, according to contributors to the site, is in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. One reviewer saw six people die in a gun battle there; the anonymous poster said he would invest in a bulletproof jacket before camping overnight in the airport again. "What I couldn't handle was the shoot-out that happened in the terminal between the cops and a local gang, which resulted in three dead youths, one dead cop and two dead airport workers. After that I just got on the next flight out, no matter where it was going."

McSherry says all of India also deserves a mention, warning travellers who find themselves sleeping in one of its "fine" airports to ensure they have insect repellent, air-freshener and disinfectant on hand - or just go to the nearest bar and "drink the pain away".

McSherry has some general tips for self-confessed cheapskates who plan to sleep in airports. She says the golden rule is to act innocent - even if you sleep in airports regularly, do not behave like a professional. Give the impression that you really do not want to be there but have nowhere else to go. In officials' eyes "the airport is not a motel". Other tips are to hide behind plants, always be nice to security guards and look for prayer rooms, which are quiet and never crowded.

You should also pack an emergency airport survival kit, to include a cheap inflatable chair, eye covers, earplugs, bottled water, an alarm clock and personal stereo with large headphones to block out loud announcements.

Sleepinginairports.net has taken on a life of its own. McSherry says what she set up as a joke now gobbles up much of her spare time.

"I would tell people what I did during my travels in Europe in my 20s and they thought I was crazy. I never thought that people would actually visit the website. I started it and I have to keep it up. It's mine for the rest of my life."

Dublin Airport is ranked a respectable joint 42nd in Sleepingin airports.net's readers' survey of the world's "most pleasurable" airports, scoring six out of 10.

McSherry describes it as a "comfy little airport" with friendly staff. "The chairs in the arrivals lounge are comfortable to lie across and fall asleep - use a wool sweater that you brought as a pillow.

"The security is tight, so you always feel safe. The night guard is about 50 feet away from the lounge where backpackers and other cheapskates spend the night."

She also points out that "there is a TV that picks up the American station NBC. At one point, the guards or cleaning staff will turn off the TV when it looks like everybody is trying to sleep. The Burger King is open until midnight. And since you are in Ireland after all, there is a bar that is also open until midnight."

The drawbacks, she says, are that "there is a horrible recording that is played every five-10 minutes asking you not to smoke. I would think that when there are only six people in the entire airport, it is safe to turn that bloody recording off."

McSherry is now compiling the 2004 ratings. You can contribute by visiting www.sleepingin airports.net.