Is it safe to run U.S. fan on UK power supply?

I've got a problem -- I simply cannot sleep without a fan running! The sound of it blocks out any other little noises in the night (I'm a light sleeper), and nothing else seems to work. (I've got one of those nature-sounds radios, but it doesn't do the trick -- so I'm not seeking suggestions on what to use instead of a fan).

I need to bring a small fan with me in my suitcase to use from that first night in the hotel after we arrive in England until our stuff arrives with the movers, when I'll use a larger U.S. fan. My husband has ordered voltage transformers of that can handle various loads, and we'll take a couple of small ones with us in the luggage.
 
Is it safe to run a U.S. fan on a transformer? It's got a motor, and it will run for at least 8 hours at a time. I'm afraid it will cause a fire in the night hooked into the UK electricity!

My other option is to order a UK fan online and have it mailed to a friend in the UK, who can give it to us when we arrive. The fan will cost nearly $40 in U.S. dollars for the same thing that is $10 here! But I'll do that if it's necessary. Howvever, my husband thinks it's not necessary, that we can just use the transformer. What should I do?

I'm pretty sure the answer is NO.  The reason I say this is because my girls can't sleep without a fan either....so we brought our box fan and hooked it up with the converters and it spun about twice and then died.  Could have been though we didn't have the right apparatus at that point...it was our first night in the UK afterall.

In the mean time...what about white noise?  We bought a white noise album off i-tunes, burned it to a disk and then play it at night on repeat.  Works great.  However, I understand the need to for the fan...the noise, the circulation...we got addicted too but had to quit cold turkey. 

Nope.  But you could buy a white noise machine that works in the UK & US...I have one that work bought and it came with a plug adaptor for the US & UK...just a thought.

Thanks guys. I've tried white noise machines, and I also checked out the white noise album on iTunes. It doesn't really work the same as a fan for some reason. I think I'll just order one from Barmey.co.uk and have it waiting there for us when we arrive. Last time I went on a trip without a fan, I had several nights with no sleep and the other nights no more than 4 hours. It was horrible, I thought I was going to wander into the street I was so out of it. Of course there were several people staying in that house and it was noisy, which made things worse without a fan. I wish they would make a white noise machine that sounds exactly like a fan.

Actually, the motors used in many small desk fans should be able to run via a transformer without any trouble.  Small fans can use what's known as a shaded-pole motor, and these small motors will generally be fine, although they'll run slower due to the difference in supply frequency here (50Hz vs. 60Hz with speed proportionally lower).

Even the slightly larger types of induction motors used on some desk fans will generally run O.K., although a little less efficiently.  Be aware though that they will most likely not work on the cheap types of voltage converter which are anything but a simple transformer.  If you've "blown up" a fan or converter that way, then that may well have been the problem. 

That aside however, portable desk fans can be bought pretty cheaply here, for example:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Ventilation_Index/Cooling_Fans/index.html