Then one should rather think about the stairs in the living room, because there should be the least noise coming from the front door ;)
I agree, the stairs there wouldn’t be suitable for me either. However, it wasn’t just about the “absolute” noise level (depending on the design of the doors upstairs and the construction itself, you can still achieve quite a bit on the upper floor). I was more referring to the abstract disturbance that an entry/exit area can have (door open, closed, oh, forgot something, open again, keys jingling, …); as I said, it depends on the daily routine.