![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1236-100x100.png\")
Most US hotel room have coffee pots instead of hot water pots and I can't think of anything more disgusting than pasta that tastes like stale coffee.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-270824-100x100.png\")
@missdona: How about pasta that tastes like piss? You never know what the previous occupant did to it.
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This seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through just to be able to cook in my hotel room. Generally if I can afford the room, I can afford some decent food. Room service isn't the only option.
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@I_have_something_to_say: The food is on the expense report and I generally don't have time to do anything but sleep in a motel room on a business trip.
@I_have_something_to_say: The only time I've ever stayed in a hotel where room service was the only option was in small towns when I arrived in the middle of the night and nothing else was open.
At that point I'm so tired that the last thing I want to do is prepare a meal. A package of crackers from the vending machine's enough to stave off most of the hunger until I can get breakfast.
@I_have_something_to_say: I agree also. Probably the only reason why this video was made was so someone can look 'cool' and 'resourceful' online.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-34627-100x100.png\")
I've had to stay in hotel rooms for weeks, sometimes months, on end due to work. When you're in the same area for a couple months you'll do some strange things to eat something other than restaurant food.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-566832-100x100.png\")
@Sudonum: I've been in an extended stay 2500 miles from home since February. (not counting a couple of trips home to visit.)
I swing heavily back and forth - eating nothing but sandwiches and microwave lasagna for a week or two and then nothing but restaurant for the next two weeks or so...
I'm sick of all of it - the only reprieve is when I get invited to someone's house for dinner.
@I_have_something_to_say: Exactly. And if you can't afford to eat out for some reason (traveling isn't always done for pleasure), you can buy sandwich fixins and the like. I see a bagged salad up there--get a cooler and that would work fine, too.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-17616-100x100.png\")
I wonder how much sperm gets in your food if you do that.
I missed the part where he was jerking off but now I'm going to go watch the entire video.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-426546-100x100.png\")
@Smashville: OH MY GOD, you just had to go ahead and say what we were all thinking, didn't you, hunh?!?
Strangely enough, it is probably more sanitarly than most places people eat at.
Parmesan: $5
Bulb of garlic: $1
Butter: $4
Creme Fraiche: $3
Eggs: $2
Tortellini: $4
Bag of Spinach: $3
Broccoli: $2
Cleaning multiple surfaces and small appliances, setting up a comically dangerous hot plate and spending $24 on a bowl of pasta you had to make yourself in a hotel room tea kettle: Priceless.
Just buy a load of bread and some cold cuts. Or go down the street for a slice, sandwich, kebab, burrito, etc.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-257467-100x100.png\")
@semanticantics: He said he got most of the stuff for a couple pounds, so call it about 4-5 bucks. I imagine that factors the portions he's used of the items - he can probably get 3 or so meals out of that stuff easy.
@semanticantics: Again it's not so much being economical, but mostly the fact that this guy probably wanted to appear 'cool' and 'resourceful' posting his own video version of DIY online.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-926607-100x100.png\")
I might be a bit lazy to do some of this, but in general this is super-duper. Always nice to have some alternatives to room service, takeout or expensive grocery delis.
As far as the \"ewww, unclean! unclean!\".. He makes sure to clean up before going to work, and there are probably a whole host of nasties on our home countertops and whatnot.. not to mention whatever might be in a restaurant. Humans are resilient and cooking is fun, so huzzah, say I.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1004377-100x100.png\")
@veg-o-matic: That pre-packaged tortellini he used: creme fraiche, hard parmesan, etc. are all fairly pricey ingredients. I suspect he could have picked up some Chicken Rustica, Mediterranean pasta, 7-grain roll, and a slice of New York cheesecake from a Grocery deli for the same amount or less as what he paid for his ingredients, and had a tastier meal with much less hassle.
Better yet, visit a local bistro down the street and still done about the same or better pricewise and also have the meal cooked and served, and dishes cleaned up for you afterward.
I'm all in favor of preparing meals in your hotel room if the company isn't picking up the tab.. but a hot plate and a small saucepan, and a few basic utensils packed in your suitcase seems much more practical than cheese graters, biscuit cutters, and other oddball items and yet still copping out and requesting utensils (and bonus bowl) from the hotel. (Better add in a gratuity to the cost of his ingredients)
@mianne: Right, the ingredients are above and beyond what one would have to use, but to me, the cost of his ingredients is irrelevant. The specific dish he made doesn't actually matter, either. I think of the video as a little more abstract than literal.
The point is, you could still do it: Scale it down, or scale it up and buy large sizes if you can take leftovers home with you. This is especially true if you didn't want something full of fru-fru ingredients (dairy and meats are expensive and unnecessary).
Plus, if you're stuck in a boring town in a boring hotel, maybe you want a little something to do.
I'm kind of surprised that most people here just want to poop all over the idea.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-469751-100x100.png\")
Really. There's usually a Waffle House or a Denny's or something, even a McDonald's, across the street from any hotel worth staying in.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-53958-100x100.png\")
@HurtsSoGood: Or take a walk around the neighborhood - might be a little italian place nearby or an indian place with curry to die for.
Just cuz you're staying at a hotel doesn't mean you have to eat there too.
Yes, only the finest hotels have a Waffle House or Denny's next door.
@semanticantics: Actually, any fine hotel worth its salt will have plenty of retail options near by.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-483565-100x100.png\")
@pattiesmart: Unfortunately, conference venues can be an exception to that (depending on how we're defining \"worth its salt\")--it's not at all uncommon to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere in an \"attractive setting.\" I don't know how you'd get the makings in such a case, though.
@floraposte: Which is precisely why I pick and choose which conferences I attend - life it too short to be stuck a $40 cab ride from somewhere decent with 500 other business analysts. (Hey, I like my job - most days - but even on a conference I need my space, man.)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-172611-100x100.png\")
@floraposte: I always check at the front desk to find out who delivers. At worst, I at least can choose between Chinese or pizza.
@floraposte: That's true! But most stand-alone hotels have tons of retail options near them, or should.
@pattiesmart: And even motels tend to be near a gas station that doubles as a Subway/convenience store. In general, I think any time you're in a place where you could get ahold of ingredients, you could get ahold of cooked food.
I have a friend who travels with her kettle for tea, and I know she's made hard-boiled eggs in it, but I think that was just to see if she could.
@floraposte: Exactly. I do know for some people who are diabetic or maybe vegan or otherwise have special diets (allergic to wheat/gluten, maybe?) probably have to deal with cooking in the hotel more often, but it just seems like a pain in the ass to me. If I need food in my hotel room, I'll just make a sandwich.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-98237-100x100.png\")
@pattiesmart: Cooking shouldn't be necessary. It's fun to think about how to do it under adverse circumstances, but the most heating I ever did in my room was to boil a mug of water for tea, using an immersion heater. I've traveled as both a vegan and an Atkins-dieting diabetic, and made out fine both times.
@speedwell, avatar of snark: \"as both a vegan and an Atkins-dieting diabetic.\"
Hopefully never at the same time??
Seriously, what do you eat then? Air and water?
@Daveinva: LOL. Let me repeat that, in English this time. I travel a lot for business. I was a vegan for six years. Then I had my blood sugar tested (it's always been a little out of whack) and found that the \"creeping sugaritis\" had crossed the line into a diagnosis of diabetes. My doctor was also a diabetic, and she had good results maintaining a decent blood sugar with low-carb eating, so she recommended the same to me, and it works. In other words, I have traveled both as a vegan and as a low-carber. And yes, in case you wanted to know, rice and beans and noodles and fruits, my staples in the \"old\" life, are desperately missed.
Wouldn't it just be easier to get a cooler, some sandwich fixins, and maybe some bagged salad, fruit, and veggies? I've done this before.
MAYBE if you were stuck in a hotel for some sort of unplanned event for a week, I could see going through all this trouble, but most people only spend a night to a couple nights in a hotel.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-488475-100x100.png\")
@pattiesmart: Yes, it is easier. I did that when I was stuck in hotels for the duration of the ice storm cleanup in 2007. Most places have a list of restaurants in the room that deliver to the hotel/motel.
One nicer place that I stayed in for a couple of days had a microwave in the lobby near the elevators that you could heat up something in and take it up to your room. That rocked, because I could go to the grocery store down the street and get a frozen thing. Much cheaper than eating out.
I don't mind cold soup or canned food, so I could just open up a can and eat. Or cereal or instant oatmeal. Can taste better than a lot of places by hotels and likely more healthy.
@frank64: You could easily get a small, cheap bottle of vinegar from the CVS across the street (or whatever store), rinse the coffee with vinegar a few times, then you can boil water for tea, or oatmeal.
And just invest in a small, cheap cooler for sandwich fixins and other camping-like food that doesn't require cooking.
@pattiesmart: \"rinse the coffee maker\" I mean. When I need to clean my coffee maker, I run it through with vinegar once or twice, then run it with just water once or twice to rinse it. Perfect-o.
@pattiesmart: Actually, if I drive I bring a small one cup Black and Decker Coffee Maker(One of the only ones that get to a good hot temp) and a hand coffee burr grinder so that I can make the perfect brew with fresh beans. I have used it for instant oatmeal.
@frank64:
Good for the office or traveling. This makes better coffee than 99% of home machines or coffee shops. And will make almost scalding hot water for tea or your spinach.
A hand coffee grinder. You could go cheaper with a blade grinder and it would be fine!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-389492-100x100.png\")
@frank64: i've heard decent things about this one [hand coffee grinder] and had planned to buy one for camping trips: [www.rei.com]
@catastrophegirl: Oh! I want that! I have one of those little tin coffeepots with the basket that you can put over the fire. The grinder would go so good with it!!
I used the heck out of the coffeepot during the ice storm, over my little Sterno stove. :)
@catastrophegirl: Oh, so want that hand grinder. I'm the only non-coffee-drinker I know who owns an espresso machine (it's for dinner parties, folks). If I was to keep ground coffee around, it would go off, but the whole bean keeps much better. Thanks for the link
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-630279-100x100.png\")
i'm glad i work for a hotel company and get 50% off food and beverage. not bad on top of the free rooms.
I'm a diabetic and I control my blood sugar through a low-carb diet. I always insist on the use of the in-room refrigerator (even if I have to call the front desk to take away all the mega-overpriced crap they stuff it with).
When I was in Germany, I went to the local equivalent of the dollar store (euro store, for reals) and bought a small knife, cutting board, melamine plate, ceramic souvenir mug, and immersion heater. I borrowed a set of flatware from the restaurant (with the headwaiter's permission, and I gave it back). I always bring dish liquid to wash out my lingerie, so I had it on hand to wash up with. After that it was a trip to the grocery store, and a massive in-depth exploration of fifty kinds of sausage, cheese, fish, and the incomparable local fall apples. Hooray :D
@speedwell, avatar of snark: oh yeah, the grocery stores in belgium were my idea of heaven for cheese varieties! and i had no idea there were so many kinds of grapes - they sold wine grapes for eating and they were sooooooo good.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-316976-100x100.png\")
@catastrophegirl: I too have fond memories of grocery shopping in Belgium on my vacation last year. The deli meats and cheeses were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They had a great selection of yogurts, too, which were great for carrying in the car for snack time.
@razremytuxbuddy: ah, i had no vehicle there and was purchasing items to put in my backpack and take on picnics. and that would keep well in the hotel room without refrigeration.
One warning: If you go down the road of bringing stove burners, etc with you, you are definitely violating fire codes (Unless your room is a kitchenette, in which case... why?)
I know this because the student housing that I managed to avoid living in was a converted hotel. The students were allowed a bar fridge and a microwave, nothing more.
I used to cook meals under my hood when I worked at a gas station. Especially in the summer, I could have a grilled cheese scanwich ready in about 30 minutes within 2 hours of getting to work. It was also good for reheating chinese food.
@GitEmSteveDave_MakesUJump!Jump!: I hear tell you can make grilled cheese with an iron. All you need is an iron, the bread, butter and cheese and some foil. Mmm. I'm going to try it sometime just for the hell of it.
@Hoss: We had flashlights, but they weren't powerful enough to melt cheese. Besides, we were a pump only Amaco station.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-425904-100x100.png\")
I once used a hotel iron to heat up some leftover paella from a restaurant. It was in one of those aluminum take-away containers. It took a good 10 minutes to achieve warm-enough-to-eatness. Aluminum is a pretty crappy heat conductor, though.
Thermal conductivity of common materials
Aluminum is actually a great conductor of heat, not as good as copper but better than steel or stainless steel. Few materials conduct heat as well !
My old boss wrote a book called \"The Coffee Pot Cookbook\" or something like that back in the 90s. He even did a cooking segment on Rosie O'Donnell's talk show. He traveled a lot with his family, and I think he just enjoyed the challenge.
So, I lived in a small studio cottage for a year without a kitchen, and I tried some of the recipes. It worked pretty well! Don't know if I would do them in a hotel room, however.
I agree with so much of the above.
1. A hotel room is not sanitary enough for food prep.
2. It would have been much faster to simply walk to a nearby restaurant, even a fast food place.
3. He spent ALOT of money on this hotel room cooked meal. Could have eaten much better around the corner.
Has to be a joke. Nothing he did saved time or money. If anything he risked food poisoning.
@RandomHookup: Hotel rooms are cleaned every day? Where did you get that idea?
Most hotels freshen the rooms everyday, and many have cut that back to once every other day or every third day, and with maids pressed for time, all freshening does is replace the linens (maybe), towels, wipe off the counter with the same rag they use to wipe off the toilet, and dump the trash. Rinse any used glasses and make them look clean and the maid moves on.
Never, ever, ever in a million years use a hotel room coffee maker for anything, not even coffee. Meth heads use them to cook dope, people with full bladders use them for something other than coffee, and the things are never cleaned.
Never, ever, ever walk barefoot on hotel carpets. Nobody cleans them, ever. Never sit on the bedcover or quilt. That never gets cleaned. Never sleep on the floor or chairs.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-38607-100x100.png\")
This guy isn't a cook -- he's a British comic
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-472416-100x100.png\")
I haven't seen a hotel without a microwave and mini-fridge in a LONG time... and I usually stay in the cheapest hotel possible. We always take a cooler full of sub sandwiches, drinks, fruit, and a few microwave dinners.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1504-100x100.png\")
@JamieSueAustin: I don't ever remember having a microwave in my room, except maybe for a Residence Inn or some other extended stay motel.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-307161-100x100.png\")
@JamieSueAustin: I've found it's the mid-range faux-expensive hotels that shaft you on the microwave and mini-fridge. Atlanta Hilton was the biggest rip-off ever.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-25322-100x100.png\")
@JamieSueAustin: Surprisingly enough, the rooms in at least one Courtyard Marriott in Toronto (and possibly more) lack both microwave and mini-fridges. In fact, I don't think I've ever been in a room with a microwave, and I've been in places both lower-end (La Quinta) and higher- (Hotel InterContinental). You must just be lucky. I'd hate to pack a bunch of frozen stuff only to find I have nowhere to cook them.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1184475-100x100.png\")
@Hirayuki:
Maybe it's a Canada vs U.S. hotel industry thingy?
I've been to different hotels in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and none of them had microwaves, I think 1 had a mini fridge, but on the most part the hotels expect you to call for room service.
I've learnt to bring my own survival rations with me lol.
i have a lot of limitations on what i can eat so i have to travel with most of my food wherever i go. to that end i found that an electric kettle is terribly useful and take mine with me
along with a small metal bowl that fits on top [but allows steam to escape to avoid pressure buildup and nasty accidents]
i can heat water in the kettle for soups and the bowl on top gets hot enough to melt butter and reheat most things. if you pour boiling water over the pasta, then put the bowl of pasta on top of the kettle and bring it back to a boil, it cooks just fine, if a little slowly.
i don't think i'd try to make bread in a hotel room though. but that's mostly because i'm terribly messy and every time i make bread i end up getting little bits of dough stuck to everything
I am surprised that no one has even thought to mention the dangers of eating a raw egg as he clearly does in this video.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-218835-100x100.png\")
A word about coooking in a hotel room
I've cooked a 6 course meal in a hotel room that served about 45+ people and let me tell you that was an interesting experience
2 Electric Grills
1 Rice Cooker
3 Electric Burners
1 Crock Pot
1 Mini Fridge
1 Microwave Oven
It was fairly easy to cook in the room, because we cleared out the \"computer Desk\" and plugged in our surge protectors.
Also we cleared out the suite area, rearranging the room to turn it into a faux kitchen area.
The problem came when we were in the suite, and shorted out the circuit in the room to the point nothing was turning on.
We made sure everything was completely sanitized. And the meals turned out really damned tastey.
Just some advice, the hotel rooms can only provide soo much power so the electricity
is divided up if you plug in multiple devices, meaning it'll take longer for things to heat up.
Don't overload the circuit, or you'll blow out the circuit to the room, and then
if you were in my situation freak out because you were trying to cook a full blown
feast in a hotel suite.
Bring ice coolers and dry ice to keep meats cold, and make sure you clean up your cutting
area after each time you do food.
@RanChan03: true, the hotel i used to work at hosted a lot of teachers' conventions and they would often bring a microwave along because the rooms didn't have them... and then discovered that the rooms didn't have them because the circuits couldn't support it.
every time someone plugged in and turned on a microwave, a block of three rooms would have a blackout.
fortunately maintenance pretty much expected it and just stationed an extra person to run and flip the breakers during peak times that the sessions were out.
also, it's bad to try to plug two hair dryers into most hotel room bathroom circuits at the same time.
@catastrophegirl: I freaked the hell out when it happened, i had to hide EVERYTHING in the room because i didn't want to get kicked out. All the meats went into bags, and the gridles went into drawers.
If you know what you are doing, then the video above is a great help, especially at conventions. Anime conventions especially
@RanChan03: um yeah, i used to work at the hotel that hosted animazement for many years.
seriously, we didn't care what people did or cooked in their rooms during those as long as they followed the rules in the their own handbook: [i am not kidding about these and if you are familiar with anime conventions you have probably seen similar]
1. bathe. the hotel provides soap and shampoo for a reason, you can always ask for more soap and shampoo and fresh towels!
2. no unsheathed weapons inside the building at any time, not even in your own room
3. no nailing or taping things to the walls. please tape any signs to the DOORS of the rooms.
4. no dying your hair in the hotel rooms
5. do not move the plants or furniture in the common areas
@catastrophegirl: that's awsome :)
I've been going to cons for about 10 years now and started cooking at cons for about a year and a half, don't know the policy about cooking the rooms, but it was the first time i blew out the whole suite in a hotel room.
It was an interesting experience. but all in all fun. I like the video he posted
@RanChan03: try to rotate your use of outlets... don't have someone using the bathroom outlets at the same time as you have cooking things plugged in.
also - if you do this a lot, look into thermal cookers. they run about $100-$180 apiece but it can sure take the pressure off. you bring the inner pot to boiling temperature for ten minutes. then you take it off the heat, put it in the inner thermal liner and .... walk away and enjoy the con for a few hours. nothing's plugged in, nothing's a fire risk. with one hot plate and a few of those you could prep all the food in the morning, go have fun and then come back to a hot meal later
@catastrophegirl: yea i want a thermal cooker
All i have is what is listed above.
I am still learning the layout for the hotel room circuitry i know how many needs to be plugged in before a short.
Tho this thermal cooker is very interesting and i will take a look into it, i know i am going to be slightly making food at oni con, and possibly ikki con, and will be making other stuff for afest this year.
:) thanks for the advice, i will add it to my notes
@RanChan03: also, for a convention if it's just food in general you are looking for and not themed meals, we [the hotel front desk] always used to just have the papa john's down the street bring a truckload [as many as they could stack on a bellman's cart] of cheese and pepperoni pizzas to the lobby and sell them for $5. if it's a guaranteed sale of a couple of dozen pizzas, the papa john's manager on duty was ALWAYS willing to make a deal.
@catastrophegirl: nah, we try to avoid buying food at cons, and just have everything pre cut, pre marinated, and just throw into a pot.
trying to avoid the usual diet of fast food, ramen and sodas XD
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-505944-100x100.png\")
I just whip out the phone book and hunt down the nearest grocery store that offers bulk prepared foods (co-ops are great sources for quick & tasty), but I'm simple like that.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-188062-100x100.png\")
Last Thanksgiving we decided we wanted to get away from it all for a day or two and just have a quiet little Thanksgiving dinner for our family of four. So, we went to the store, bought sized-down portions of all the usual suspects (turkey roast, stuffing mix, potatoes, etc) and headed up to the Navigator Inn in Everett, WA, just north of where we live. We chose the Navigator because they had a range top and sink in addition to the standard fridge and microwave. They had pans, serving utensils, the whole nine yards. All we had to bring was a tablecloth, a couple of candles, and a willingness to spend some time alone together.
I wouldn't recommend this for a dinner where your in-laws and your sister and her husband and five kids are coming in to town, though.
@OmirTheStoryteller: That is a fracking AWESOME idea. Way to escape the holiday Martha Stewart-esque pressures!
absoulty worhtless
just go to the supermarket. Do you really need to cook pasta in your room? Not only that, but is the amount of money you save (1.99 for pasta, no sauce, vs 6.00 for pasta at restaruant) really worth all the hassle and grossness of cooking in a hotel room? methinks not.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-550329-100x100.png\")
Making grilled cheese with an iron was one of the best speech topics I sat through during college.
What about hotels that don't allow any food to be brought in, while researching anime conventions I ran into this. They expect you to purchase all your food at the venue or at the hotel. I don't like to eat out and I travel with a cooler all the time for day trips and such so I can't imagine having to go somewhere to eat for every meal, not to mention it would get very expensive. I can't exactly eat fast food either because it makes me sick. I could easily shove 3 meals into a cooler albeit it would be sandwiches but if the hotel doesn't allow food to be brought in I am pretty sure they wouldn't let you carry in a huge cooler. So yeah, doesn't look like I will be going to any conventions in my lifetime if these policies continue.
There is something to being able to throw a snack together when your flight arrives so late you have no other options. Apparently, airline pilots are DIYers. [www.salon.com]
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-53212-100x100.png\")
I've been to two different hotel (not motel or inns) in which the iron smelled of urine.
Yes. People pee in the iron's water reservoir.
Enjoy your pee-top heated meal. O_o
I understand the purpose of this video is to provide insight on saving some cash (or pounds) while at a hotel. But honestly what is $30 spent on hotel room service when this man obviously spent the same amount on a plethora of ingredients he will have no other use for? If he is cooking in a strange British coffee pot, he obviously doesn't have a full size fridge in there. And I find it hard to believe he has packed these things up and brought them back home on his plane. I remember fancy vacations as a kid, and in order to afford staying at places a little nicer than Motel 6 we often sacrificed eating out for most of the trip. I was more than happy enjoying a Lunchable in exchange for a view of the ocean, even at the age of six.
@mcnerd85:
I think most people (least those my age), at 6 were happy to enjoy a PBJ & ecto-cooler lunch box (letalone a fancy-shmancy lunchable :-p) from the rear-facing seat in the back of a station wagon.
@2 replies by: Well, I guess I never grew up. I can still enjoy a lunchable while watching the sun rise over the gulf of mexico.
Considering that the guy in the video is a comic AND he's staying in London, he did well for himself by cooking. Comic's don't make much and buying ingredients that can make several meals is a good idea especially considering how expensive it is to eat an equivalent meal in a decent restaurant in London, especially when the average meal costs around 100 Quid. He only spend 15 Quid for that meal he just prepared.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-525207-100x100.png\")
@UGAdawg:
The average meal costs around 100 quid? Wait... what?
WHERE does it cost that?
Trust me, I'm a Londoner, and familiar with all sorts of London meals, average, below-average, above-average, and utterly bloody spectacular. And I like to spend more than necessary on eating out. But while London is expensive, there is no way a meal for one is going to cost anyone £100 (or anything close to it) unless they go out of their way to find the most expensive place in the postal district, and then proceed to order a three course meal with two bottles of wine for their own personal consumption.
There's no need at all to spend that much on a meal for two, even, unless you're going for something really special and pushing the boat out when it comes to booze.
@UGAdawg: London's pricey, but it's not that pricey. You can get a decent Pret-a-Manger or takeaway for less than he paid, and even the Tesco's have nice sandwiches for cheap.
@LindsayC: doctoral hilarity ensues:
I miss Pret, badly. Even though it's not exactly cheap, you could come out of there with soup, sandwich, something to drink and some kind of dessert (mmmmm, Pret chocolate pots spring to mind here) for less than that guy paid to do his in-room cooking.
What he's doing here proves that, yep, you can cook yourself a meal in a hotel room, if you really want to go to all that effort. But I can't imagine many situations where that would seem like the best or most desirable choice. If he can go to a supermarket to spend all that money on ingredients, he can go somewhere and spend a lot less to have someone actually cook him dinner.
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Seems like a lot of extra work when you can just get a suite and have access to all the kitchen implements needed for simple meals. This is what I usually do on vacations anymore because it's A) cheaper than eating out 3 meals a day and B) it's fun to get into a different kitchen setup and find out what you can do within the limitations of what's available.
or for $20 you can buy a hot plate at walmart and a frying pan and spatchula for an additional $10.
I'm w/ everyone on the cleanliness issues....ugh. If you only knew what bodily fluids people, kids, pranksters leave behind you wouldn't be so free in your hotel room.
Besides all that...what do you do w/ all the leftover unused ingredients? Throw them away? Store them and eat the same thing over and over during your stay? Seems like a big waste of money and time.
Just crazy if you ask me...go out get a burger or something!
@MyDarlin: You do what sane people do who are being frugal and careful, and plan your meals out, and buy according to your plans. Before you prepare your food, you wash the counters, just like you would do at home. At least I hope you would. Now, was that so hard? Man can't live on burgers alone, darlin.
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I got married back in the stone ages of 1976, and we took a month long trip across the US for our honeymoon. I had visions of saving lots of money cooking in the room. We even had one of those little hamburger grills to use. So, first night out, we stop at the grocery, get buns, condiments, hamburger, etc. and back to the room we go. Fire it up, and the burger cooks, and then there's all this grease to deal with. Oh, right, of course, lots of grease! Now, at home I could put it in the grease pot, or the garbage, but here I don't have a good place to dump it. I think we wound up sending it down the john, but even then it made a mess. The whole thing was a debacle, and we didn't try it ever again.
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Or.. you could bring your own hot plate and a pan if cooking in your hotel room is that important to you. Using a random hotel coffee pot/iron to COOK in/on is quite disgusting and puts you at risk of property damage fees form the hotel if they find out and/or you mess up.
@elysse: Hooray for the hot pot. The one I own is similar to this: [www.amazon.com] and you can not only use it as an electric kettle for boiling water (it has an option to shut off automatically when the water boils) but you can also use it to cook in. The whole original post could have been avoided completely with this plus a small electric skillet.
I've tended to bring food and storage/prep tools to hotels for years. While I would eat out now and then on trips, I often ate in my room.
I have a thermo-electric cooler that makes an effective mini-fridge. It runs on 12-volt car current, and I have an adapter for 120-volt use. I can put sandwich components in it and sodas/water. I recently used it on a trip that I had saved up for before the economy went down, (Anticipation in Montreal) and I needed to save money where I could. I grabbed lunchmeats and bread from a store kitty-corner to the hotel and ate sandwiches for a week. Bring some paper napkins or plates, or in a pinch, pull tissues out of the box that is always there, and you have a clean surface to make sandwiches on. I underestimated the amount of free food available at the convention, so I had left-overs.
I also have two hot-water pots. One is actually used to heat water for tea, cocoa, pot noodles and such, the other is used to cook soups, canned pastas and such. I use two because my method of cooking the canned stuff while traveling is to remove the label and cook it in the can. I just put in the can, fill the remaining space nearly full with water, and boil. As the glue boils off the can and sticks to the sides of the pot, this saves me the aggravation of having to clean the pot every time I just want to boil water. I just wait until I get home to clean the glue out of the cooking pot. (You want to do this before the next trip, if you forget, the gunk level starts to get bad.) Crude, but effective. Also, a small water pot tuned to middling-hot is unlikely to pop the breakers in the room.
Now if I get a room with a fridge and microwave, I use them. In typical style, I notice that the cheaper hotels are the ones offering such handy amenities. The events that I go to, however, tend toward the more expensive hotels. Hmph.
No wonder I have such problems with hotel irons - idiots like the one in the video are trying to BAKE with them!
So where do I send the dry-cleaning bill for the greasy stain your biscuit dough left on the iron, and ended up on my $220 custom tailored shirts?
Grrrrr.
Well, where to begin with the problems with this alternative to in-room dining?
As others have pointed out, I would hate to trust the cleanliness of the coffee pot, iron, and counter top, among other items. Although the next hotel I stay in, I am definiteily going to try to celan the iron surface first before using it (in case someone else tried to be an in-room chef).
Second, there seems to be a lot of leftovers that may require refrigeration. Some rooms have mini-fridges and mini-bars, but not all. Seems that after you buy the ingredients and toss the unused portions, it becomes less of a financial alternative.
And have you ever tried to find a supermarket within walking distance of your urban hotel? Might as well buy pre-prepared meal items instead.
Since the appliances he is using are not designed for these functions, they may easily overload and fail or worse, cause a fire.
This is an amusing but not realistic altrenative to room service or restaurant dining.
You could also use Sterno, and whatever was left over could be filtered and served as a beverage.
I always take a crock pot and fixins for Chili, or brunswick stew.
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If you are seen bringing ingredients and/or cookware into a hotel room then you can probably expect the police will soon be kicking in your door on suspicion that you're cooking meth.
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I take into question the cleanliness of these areas that are clearly not meant for food preparation. I don't use hotel coffee pots because I have no idea how well they were washed, or whether they were washed at all (or just rinsed). And people put all sorts of nasty things on counter tops, and staff wipe the counters down with all sorts of chemicals.
@pecan 3.14159265: speaking as a former housekeeper at a motel we were inspected daily to the cleanliness of the room and were tested every 3 months by Best Western corporate for sanitizing standards. So we were working our arses off haha. Normally you get half an hour to 45 minutes to clean a room (extra 15 if it has two beds). Now if you're a guest staying for more than 2 nights unless you specifically asked for it your sheets were only changed every other day. If not then the in between days the bed would be checked for cleanliness and remade. But that might have just been our branch. I would hope they were all held to that standard. It would irk me in the winter though since I worked in a place that a foot to two feet of snow was normal a day and so the side-walks would be salted for safety and then people would complain that their entrance was salty. Sorry we don't follow you around and wipe your feet for you.
@pecan 3.14159265:
um. then what prevents you from bringing along a small bottle of dishwash liquid?
@pecan 3.14159265: @semanticantics: Or Hell, go to Olive Garden and pay $13 for the same.
@pecan 3.14159265: Its called lysol wipes - or even baby wipes. Easy. Then just make sure you bring along some dishwashing liquid and *GASP* WASH THE DISHES.
If you're worried about the coffee pot, run it empty a few times with vinegar mixed in. Poof. Clean.
@pecan 3.14159265: Here's a link to one of those undercover videos that @TheObserver mentioned. I haven't used a hotel glass or coffee maker since seeing it.
@pecan 3.14159265: I agree. I remember one of those 'undercover' videos and it was nasty, they rinsed the cups in the tub/sink without sanitizing them, and other than changing the sheets didn't really do a good job of sanitizing the room/bathrooms. You have to remember there's a lot of rooms to clean with a small staff so if they can cut corners they will. Cooking in the hotel room probably only makes it dirtier for the next guest as again the rooms don't get as disinfected as we like.
@pecan 3.14159265:
I once made in-room coffee, poured it into the cup, and only then realized that a previous guest had *hilariously* poured creamer into the mugs.