In-room Appliances

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Mini

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It would be ideal to have fridges, microwaves, coffee makers, kettles, etc. right in the guest rooms?
Do any of you have these in your rooms or do you have a common area for guests to use these kinds of things?
For those of you who do have in-room applicances, do you find they are worth having?
 
My cottage has a small fridge, micro and coffee maker (toaster under the sink)
My common area upstairs has a small fridge and a coffee maker and my dining area has a small fridge. This all works well for me, my long stay guests have use of my kitchen but keep their food in own fridge and they barely use my kitchen, prepare a salad or sandwich, no major cooking
I think it depends on your type of Inn, I think if I was a longer stay at an inn (5+ days) a fridge and coffee maker would be nice, and for people traveling with kids, for those that allow them - a micro. Also if your rooms were not in a main house but separated (cottages, cabanas) the extras would be nice but otherwise I don't think they are "necessary".
I removed the upstairs micro due to reheating (easy prep meal) odors, popcorn etc and it has never been missed.
 
We have a mini-fridge and coffee makers in the room. We nixed micro waves because we really didn't want guests cooking in the rooms. Cleanup is bad enough with the coffeemaker. I'm constantly cleaning up coffee spills on the carpet. We didn't want the added joy of cleaning the microwave.
We have a fire pit that guests are free to use, so most of the cooking, if any, goes on there. Most just go and eat at the local vineyard.
If you simply must have all these appliances in the rooms make sure your electrical service can handle it. If you're not sure, consult an electrician.
If you have a microwave sitting on top of a mini-fridge they really should be on separate circuits. This is especially true if the rest of the rooms circuitry is on a ArcFault circuit. Appliances WILL cause nuisance trips of the circuit breaker every time.
 
This topic was mentioned in the following thread: www.innspiring.com/node/8757
I have a common area fridge, micro, coffee maker and hot water for tea.
  • Fridge gets used on a very regular basis
  • Microwave is rarely used.
  • The coffee maker is timer activated which I set up the night before...
We have been tossing around the idea of individual refrigerators in at least our larger rooms. But would not bother adding the microwave, could lead to more 'cooking' in rooms which we do not want. AND with as much mess left each morning at the coffee station, I sutter to think of cleaning up more than one area like that! Since I have carpet throughout our guest area, except bathrooms of course, having individual coffee areas would also lead to additional carpet cleaning at times when there is no time for it. As it is I had to place a plastic floor mat in the coffee station area to protect it from coffee stains.
 
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!).
 
We do have a central area with all of those things and, like everyone else has said, the cleanup in the morning can be brutal. Our last disaster was a guest who left a hard lemonade in the freezer. It exploded. The thought of cleaning that sort of thing up in every room and off the carpet keeps me from even considering having stuff like that in the rooms.
Guests can take their nuked meals to their rooms, take the coffee & tea as well, but I'd prefer to not be cleaning all of that everyday in every room. That would add at least 10 minutes to the cleaning of every room. PLUS, around here I'd have to supply each fridge with a thermometer which is more stuff to worry about.
It's not just the cleaning, it's the smell. Guests burn stuff in the micro. Then everyone in any room near them has to smell that all night. And all the wrapping from the foods being tossed willy nilly all over the room. Sigh. It's just not for us.
 
You are a b & B not a hotel. Do you really want to have all that stuff in your guest rooms? And, where would you put it all? Think of the possible damage and extra cleaning needed if your rooms should each one have all this stuff :-(
We just had it in a central guest lounge area and for the most everything was fine. I do agree about the odors made from reheating foods, making popcorn...I did not like that at all and thankfully we didn 't have much of it.
 
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!)..
gillumhouse said:
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!).
Do you use a hot water kettle or is your hot water always kept hot in some thing else?
 
We used to have a fridge on the landing but was never used we have tea and coffee making facilities in every room (but it is required for our rating) the biggest problem with it is getting all the mugs clean. We have picked coffee resistant carpets/styles and havn't had any problems with them so far. Don't think I would trust the guests with a micro who knows what they would put in it. But lve have microwaved things for people ie we have an annual conference called partylite which is kind of like Avon selling door to door (ie don't have a ton of money if are working a second job) and we let them bring their own tea and micro it on the first night but they are the most low maintenance people ever so am willing to budge for them. If i think it is going to be stinky then I put on Health and Safety Hat.
 
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!)..
gillumhouse said:
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!).
Do you use a hot water kettle or is your hot water always kept hot in some thing else?
.
I have a 4 liter Zojiroshi water thingy. Plug it in and it boils the water and holds it at a temp you select 195, 208, or I forget the other. At 212 it plays a minuette to tell you it is ready and then goes to standby temp as it cools down. It has a REBOIL button to bring it back to 212 quickly. It is on a revolving base and has a handle for carrying. I bought it because DH no longer has the strength to pick up a hot pot (I had a nice stainless expensive version that I gave to our museum) and with this one, he sets his cup on the sideboard, pushes the unlock and then holds the dispense button until his cup is filled. It is attractive and does not take up a lot of space.
 
We have a mini-fridge and coffee makers in the room. We nixed micro waves because we really didn't want guests cooking in the rooms. Cleanup is bad enough with the coffeemaker. I'm constantly cleaning up coffee spills on the carpet. We didn't want the added joy of cleaning the microwave.
We have a fire pit that guests are free to use, so most of the cooking, if any, goes on there. Most just go and eat at the local vineyard.
If you simply must have all these appliances in the rooms make sure your electrical service can handle it. If you're not sure, consult an electrician.
If you have a microwave sitting on top of a mini-fridge they really should be on separate circuits. This is especially true if the rest of the rooms circuitry is on a ArcFault circuit. Appliances WILL cause nuisance trips of the circuit breaker every time..
We have a mini fridge downstairs, along with a coffee maker and a pot for water. Did I mention the tiny microwave sits on top of the mini fridge? This is in the common area as you walk in the door.
I have had circuit problems when I have the GE Advantium microwave on the same time as the toaster, the same time as the electric portable griddle. Threw me a fit the first couple of times the powerstrip breaker, or the regular one tripped. Wasn't sure just what went wrong and how to fix it.
Occasional burned popcorn, otherwise, not much that goes wrong.
 
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!)..
gillumhouse said:
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!).
Do you use a hot water kettle or is your hot water always kept hot in some thing else?
.
I have a 4 liter Zojiroshi water thingy. Plug it in and it boils the water and holds it at a temp you select 195, 208, or I forget the other. At 212 it plays a minuette to tell you it is ready and then goes to standby temp as it cools down. It has a REBOIL button to bring it back to 212 quickly. It is on a revolving base and has a handle for carrying. I bought it because DH no longer has the strength to pick up a hot pot (I had a nice stainless expensive version that I gave to our museum) and with this one, he sets his cup on the sideboard, pushes the unlock and then holds the dispense button until his cup is filled. It is attractive and does not take up a lot of space.
.
gillumhouse said:
I have a 4 liter Zojiroshi water thingy. Plug it in and it boils the water and holds it at a temp you select 195, 208, or I forget the other. At 212 it plays a minuette to tell you it is ready and then goes to standby temp as it cools down. It has a REBOIL button to bring it back to 212 quickly. It is on a revolving base and has a handle for carrying. I bought it because DH no longer has the strength to pick up a hot pot (I had a nice stainless expensive version that I gave to our museum) and with this one, he sets his cup on the sideboard, pushes the unlock and then holds the dispense button until his cup is filled. It is attractive and does not take up a lot of space.
Are your guests able to figure out how to use it, or do you have to demonstrate?
 
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!)..
gillumhouse said:
I don't have a nuker. No place for it and not sure the electricals would support it. I can have coffee on the sideboard in the dining room - the hot water is plugged in (have to slap DH around for unplugging at night) and cups available for the tea drinkers at all times. With 3 rooms I do not want to encourage more food going into those rooms than already does (HUGE coolers have gone up those stairs!).
Do you use a hot water kettle or is your hot water always kept hot in some thing else?
.
I have a 4 liter Zojiroshi water thingy. Plug it in and it boils the water and holds it at a temp you select 195, 208, or I forget the other. At 212 it plays a minuette to tell you it is ready and then goes to standby temp as it cools down. It has a REBOIL button to bring it back to 212 quickly. It is on a revolving base and has a handle for carrying. I bought it because DH no longer has the strength to pick up a hot pot (I had a nice stainless expensive version that I gave to our museum) and with this one, he sets his cup on the sideboard, pushes the unlock and then holds the dispense button until his cup is filled. It is attractive and does not take up a lot of space.
.
gillumhouse said:
I have a 4 liter Zojiroshi water thingy. Plug it in and it boils the water and holds it at a temp you select 195, 208, or I forget the other. At 212 it plays a minuette to tell you it is ready and then goes to standby temp as it cools down. It has a REBOIL button to bring it back to 212 quickly. It is on a revolving base and has a handle for carrying. I bought it because DH no longer has the strength to pick up a hot pot (I had a nice stainless expensive version that I gave to our museum) and with this one, he sets his cup on the sideboard, pushes the unlock and then holds the dispense button until his cup is filled. It is attractive and does not take up a lot of space.
Are your guests able to figure out how to use it, or do you have to demonstrate?
.
I demo but it is so easy even DH got it on the first time he used it.
 
Victoria said:
It would be ideal to have fridges, microwaves, coffee makers, kettles, etc. right in the guest rooms?
Do any of you have these in your rooms or do you have a common area for guests to use these kinds of things?
For those of you who do have in-room applicances, do you find they are worth having?
Are you running a hotel/motel? I would disagree and say I would not want these things in the rooms. just my opinion. Yes in a common area, most B&B's would have this, common areas with 24 hour beverage service.
 
Victoria said:
It would be ideal to have fridges, microwaves, coffee makers, kettles, etc. right in the guest rooms?
Do any of you have these in your rooms or do you have a common area for guests to use these kinds of things?
For those of you who do have in-room applicances, do you find they are worth having?
Are you running a hotel/motel? I would disagree and say I would not want these things in the rooms. just my opinion. Yes in a common area, most B&B's would have this, common areas with 24 hour beverage service..
also fridges make popping clunking noises during that night and its really irritating.
 
Victoria said:
It would be ideal to have fridges, microwaves, coffee makers, kettles, etc. right in the guest rooms?
Do any of you have these in your rooms or do you have a common area for guests to use these kinds of things?
For those of you who do have in-room applicances, do you find they are worth having?
Are you running a hotel/motel? I would disagree and say I would not want these things in the rooms. just my opinion. Yes in a common area, most B&B's would have this, common areas with 24 hour beverage service..
also fridges make popping clunking noises during that night and its really irritating.
.
also fridges make popping clunking noises during that night and its really irritating.
our little guest fridge does that in the dining room and people stop and look around (yeah right it's a ghost you silly people!)
 
We have a mini-fridge and coffee makers in the room. We nixed micro waves because we really didn't want guests cooking in the rooms. Cleanup is bad enough with the coffeemaker. I'm constantly cleaning up coffee spills on the carpet. We didn't want the added joy of cleaning the microwave.
We have a fire pit that guests are free to use, so most of the cooking, if any, goes on there. Most just go and eat at the local vineyard.
If you simply must have all these appliances in the rooms make sure your electrical service can handle it. If you're not sure, consult an electrician.
If you have a microwave sitting on top of a mini-fridge they really should be on separate circuits. This is especially true if the rest of the rooms circuitry is on a ArcFault circuit. Appliances WILL cause nuisance trips of the circuit breaker every time..
We have a mini fridge downstairs, along with a coffee maker and a pot for water. Did I mention the tiny microwave sits on top of the mini fridge? This is in the common area as you walk in the door.
I have had circuit problems when I have the GE Advantium microwave on the same time as the toaster, the same time as the electric portable griddle. Threw me a fit the first couple of times the powerstrip breaker, or the regular one tripped. Wasn't sure just what went wrong and how to fix it.
Occasional burned popcorn, otherwise, not much that goes wrong.
.
We had to have our kitchen rewired when, after doing a reno, the first time we had the coffee maker and the A/C on at the same time we tripped the breaker. Quick decision that day...coffee or A/C!
 
We have a mini-fridge and coffee makers in the room. We nixed micro waves because we really didn't want guests cooking in the rooms. Cleanup is bad enough with the coffeemaker. I'm constantly cleaning up coffee spills on the carpet. We didn't want the added joy of cleaning the microwave.
We have a fire pit that guests are free to use, so most of the cooking, if any, goes on there. Most just go and eat at the local vineyard.
If you simply must have all these appliances in the rooms make sure your electrical service can handle it. If you're not sure, consult an electrician.
If you have a microwave sitting on top of a mini-fridge they really should be on separate circuits. This is especially true if the rest of the rooms circuitry is on a ArcFault circuit. Appliances WILL cause nuisance trips of the circuit breaker every time..
We have a mini fridge downstairs, along with a coffee maker and a pot for water. Did I mention the tiny microwave sits on top of the mini fridge? This is in the common area as you walk in the door.
I have had circuit problems when I have the GE Advantium microwave on the same time as the toaster, the same time as the electric portable griddle. Threw me a fit the first couple of times the powerstrip breaker, or the regular one tripped. Wasn't sure just what went wrong and how to fix it.
Occasional burned popcorn, otherwise, not much that goes wrong.
.
remnjava said:
I have had circuit problems when I have the GE Advantium microwave on the same time as the toaster, the same time as the electric portable griddle. Threw me a fit the first couple of times the powerstrip breaker, or the regular one tripped. Wasn't sure just what went wrong and how to fix it.
This is exactly what I was talking about. Any appliance that uses a heating element or motors pulls a lot of amperage. You'll notice that your circuit breakers (or fuses) are only rated for 15 or 20 amps. If the load on a given circuit exceeds the amperage rating, it will trip the breaker.
The solution is to add additional circuits. The size of wire being used is also a factor. 14 ga. is rated for 15 amps and 12 ga is rated for 20 amps.
If you are in an older structure, it's likely that you have 15 amp circuits. Consult an electrician and he'll be able to advise you on your particular situation.
 
Well we have a small common area on the second floor under the stairs going up to the third floor.
It is behind a door and it works for fridge and microwave. Our coffee / tea stuff is in a cupboard beside it.
Since we are presently rewiring the place, we have decided to put small bar fridges in the two suites on the third floor (so guests aren't continually running up and down the stairs) and we will make sure we hide these away tactfully in a cupboard. We will scratch the microwave in room idea and just have the common one on the second floor.
 
Well we have a small common area on the second floor under the stairs going up to the third floor.
It is behind a door and it works for fridge and microwave. Our coffee / tea stuff is in a cupboard beside it.
Since we are presently rewiring the place, we have decided to put small bar fridges in the two suites on the third floor (so guests aren't continually running up and down the stairs) and we will make sure we hide these away tactfully in a cupboard. We will scratch the microwave in room idea and just have the common one on the second floor..
Putting them in some larger suites upstairs is a good idea. We still have guests grousing that we removed the small fridge from the suite. There was no graceful place for it so we removed it.
 
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