Accommodations that provide breakfast/ have fridge

We also prefer to stay city center. In terms of meals, we do similar though we tend to do a snack/picnic/quick lunch midday. I have a canister that contains plasticwear, corkscrew, napkins salt/pepper/tabasco/ketchup/sugar, whatever little packets we have around. I have cups that flatten, and an immersion water heater.https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Immersion-Electric-Portable-Reheater/dp/B01M0Q84BR/ref=sr_1_6?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rITsHI5v1ptnGY4sdEeg2gTLUhd__z-p4fXssNKQOQ90Y27jSk3H3yC0eM315m5I-xV9vKFIxG0MfG2lTHyDNIaHI2dVHtbQnOeFQR2uH1J6ubuJdoyEWYHWYDnMtLjtvVX2a-uw5sr3oW5Ks3OKW0hmy275p3hRZmwRxhLHDlqPZBXQywACZEODZRRREo0i6a53De3O0NEmUMopavxWJKb3bhb7YOSyrzH6idh6fzm28R5I6gZvho76Blc9yVBZ0U1zmBCGBhMDGfXLQ4V3ducXoa_a_i4TXgM1MHpc8To.GerJoU11doBn86uUrVeOXEVWeAfNvWqC48M7kM2JRdg&dib_tag=se&keywords=travel+immersion+water+heater&qid=1747082279&sr=8-6

When I type my itinerary, I note for each accommodation whether there is a fridge, water heater, included breakfast etc.

We stay at smaller hotel and most of the time, we get a refrigerator. At a B & B, they will typically have a communal fridge or offer to put items in their fridge. I like to bring a sturdy ziplock and a few sponges which I can soak in water and freeze.

Depending on what I've booked, I'll bring instant oatmeal, nuts, dates, granola bars, etc. We stock up on yogurt, bread, cheese, chocolate, etc., at the grocery store for lunches. Coop is a favorite.

Even a metal table knife can get confiscated at TSA. I try to hang on to plastic knives that I encounter that seem to be particularly sharp.

It may depend on the country whether hotel/inn rooms have refrigerators. It seems like countries where people might hike are more likely to provide fridges. When we've noted that our room doesn't have a fridge, occasionally, one is brought to our room upon request.

First, look at booking.com and select breakfast as a filter requirement. Breakfast in Europe is far different than breakfast in the US or Canada. You can Google search a typical European hotel breakfast. Hard boiled eggs are usually available, but any other egg preparation is sometimes scarce.

Most every city has nice local restaurants were you can get a very filling and delicious lunch. I prefer a bigger lunch as you generally "walk it off" the rest of the afternoon. Most all grocery stores carry single salads and sandwiches for a lighter meal in the evening.

I have picked up plastic forks and knives as takeaway and reused them. I have never brought or needed a plastic plate as most containers serve as one. Some hotels have refrigerators and some do not. Each hotel usually will tell you if one is included in the room. Be sure to pack sandwich and quart bags. They come in very handy when you need to take snacks etc. when you are out for the day.

I don’t think there’s any magic to it. It just a matter of both the research before you book and making a note of it. But I can still mess up.

There are stays where I do want provided breakfast and stays where I don’t care. That usually has more to do with whether I am staying in a hotel or an apartment and what kind of days I expect to have (full, slow, far, near). But like you, if I know there’s no provided breakfast I will made a stop at a grocery store. I often bring coffee - but that also has to do with length of trip. For a long one, it’s easier to buy it there and use it. For a short one, not worth the trouble.

Like the previous posters, I filter for breakfast when it matters. When it doesn’t or when I am booking direct, I read what comes with the room and try to note that in my spreadsheet when I finalize a reservation. But just because I HAVE a system doesn’t mean I always remember to follow it. Sometimes I get in a hurry…..

Edit to say: I also think that options for provided breakfast and/or fridge depends a lot on what country it is.

I was surprised to see that booking.com and hotels.com don't (as far as I could tell) offer "refrigerator" as an amenity for filtering results. Trivago does.

I'm familiar with northern European hotel breakfast knowing there is going to be a decent protein source of cheese or eggs to keep me going for more than a couple of hours. I still think a plate is needed if I'm buying bread/cheese/fruit as meal as it's not coming in a stiff container. Good idea for the zip lock bags - I'll need to add that to my packing list.

For my last two solo trips to Europe, Edinburgh/Glasgow and Lisbon, where I stayed in 3 star hotels- no fridge in the rooms. For an earlier group tour in Spain in higher class hotels I don't recall fridges, but for that tour there were only a a few meals that were not included so not an issue. It must depend a lot on type of hotel/hotel brand and country.

I have a detailed packing list but still manage to miss an item or two. This time I missed taking a compact folding nylon bag. I bought a new one at the grocery store. A paper bag wasn;t going to work as I was cycling back to the hotel. Anyways the one I had is starting to fall apart so it's good to get a new one and it has a better system of a drawstring and toogle to keep it compact.

You can also bring bamboo or lightweight wooden utensils, instead of those cheap plastic ones. I prefer those and can reuse them over and over (within reason, of course). I love going to grocery stores and markets in European cities; it's always fun to see the different foods and try them out.

I prefer to book direct with hotels, rather than using booking (.) com, and if a hotel offers a fridge or other amenities, they will almost always mention it in the amenities offered with the room. I recently stayed at a hotel in London that had a fridge, microwave, sink, dishwasher and lots of nice dishes and glasses. It was very handy, especially since there were lots of groceries and takeaway places nearby.

And that's something to think about, especially if you're in a city without a car. When you check out the hotel or apartment or whatever, use the search feature on Google maps to find grocery stores and little convenience markets. Just enter your hotel in Google maps, then once it comes up, look underneath (to the right of "Directions") and you will se a circle saying "Nearby." Click on that and start typing "grocery store" and the options in the neighborhood will immediately be listed for your review.

I was surprised to see that booking.com and hotels.com don't (as far
as I could tell) offer "refrigerator" as an amenity for filtering
results.

Type amenities missing from the list into the 'Smart Filters" box that's below the "Popular Filters" list. We like to have a refrigerator (mini or otherwise) and microwave for reheating leftovers/takeout and keeping coffee as hot as I like it. Oh, we like a coffeemaker too. I pack a couple of small, reuseable plastic microwaveable plates and cups with covers (for oatmeal and soup), and a couple sets of plastic silverware. None of it takes up much room. Anyway, with a 'frige and microwave, having breakfast included isn't a big deal.

I'm a tea drinker so I've had to be creative in hotel rooms. During another trip, one hotel had the older style coffee maker with a filter for the ground coffee. I just put in water to heat up.

Usually I bring my own tea bags of orange pekoe and herbal tea and always when I travelled to the US. Tea in the US is terrible and I need to remember to specify HOT tea, especially in the south otherwise I would get iced tea.

It's always the rare but nice surprise to get really hot water, hot enough to make decent tea in hotels that have the buffet type breakfast and a hot water dispenser type set up.

I generally seek out and book aparthotels and then note nearby grocery stores. I'm an early riser and there's a kitchenette so it always works for me.

It's always the rare but nice surprise to get really hot water, hot enough to make decent tea in hotels that have the buffet type breakfast and a hot water dispenser type set up.

Ha, if you go to the UK, you will never have that problem. They always have a decent hot water heater in your room, with plenty of good tea.

So true, Susan, nothing worse than tepid water and horrible tea bags! I just spent 3 weeks in Italy and sometimes the water was tepid and sometimes it was great when they had a spigot on the espresso machines. That water came out molten! I also bring my own tea in a big ziplock bag.

I have a spork that really works great for my impromptu room meals. I bought some really nice almost completely prepped green salads in Italy on this trip. I did forget a wine opener though. Bad mistake.

I'm often a solo traveler too. When I'm solo I don't want to sit through a typical restaurant meal and wait to be waited on. I want to eat and go. I'm also an early riser and want to have my coffee and maybe a couple of soft boiled eggs and some cheese and fruit and get out the door. For those reasons I stay almost exclusively in aparthotels or AirBnB/VRBOs with at least a kitchenette so I have more flexibility and independence with my meals.

I usually eat lunch out and often will pick up some groceries for a simple dinner in my kitchenette. I do enjoy a good hotel breakfast but I only stay in regular hotels if I'm staying one or two nights. Longer than that and I want actual cooking facilities.

It really depends on where you are going. Hotels in Europe are different than hotels in the US.

As I'm traveling a lot, I don't want to go to restaurants all the time.

Sometimes I will look for apartment type hotels. They include a full kitchen. They also usually have self service laundry facilities.

If none are really available I try to find a hotel that has a tea/coffee maker (kettle) and a small refrigerator. Rooms with microwaves in Europe, that are not aparthotels, are rare. If it has a coffee maker, even better, but don't expect a US drip filter coffee maker. It will more than likely be a capsule type machine like Nespresso.

Sometimes the refrigerator is advertised as a "mini-bar." That could mean a small empty refrigerator to a cooler that never gets that cold. Sometimes they are filled with items for sale and there is little room for anything else.

I travel with:

Cutlery made of either Lexan or Bamboo or I'll take a couple of Sporks. (I've been able to use these to cut rolls, cheese, meats, salad vegetable,etc. I probably wouldn't try to cut a crusty load of bread.)

Immersion heater and cup for times when there is no kettle. If you decide to get one of these, learn how to use it properly or you will burn it out. Also make sure that if you want to use it outside of North American is is dual voltage. Unfortunately the one linked above is not dual voltage.

A small 7.5 inch plate I got from Walmart for 50 cents. (Plastic)

Coffee filter holder made for backpacking and is under 2 oz

Coffee filter for above or Japanese coffee filters that don't need a holder.

Coffee bags to hold coffee without the smell permeating onto everything in my suitcase. Mine hold up to half a pound of coffee and can be found on Amazon.

Coffee measure

Tea bags.

Salt and pepper packets pilfered from fast food and coffee places that have them.

While it sounds like a lot, the total weight isn't that bad.

I was also going to recommend you go for aparthotels. Then there is no need to pack a plate or cutlery, and you will get your barfridge. Some of the chains in Europe are Adina, Adagio and Citadines. I have stayed in all, all are quite good. Adina is probably the newest of the chains and has good properties.

Lavandula

Other aparthotel chains are Staybridge Suites, Fraser Suites, Residence Inns, Staycity, Wilde by Staycity and Native hotels.

Most of these are newer properties and you probably won't find any in a Rick Steves guidebook. He prefers older hotels with charm rather than ameities.

Thanks for naming chains that I can research for my next trips. Without having done research just guessing they may be farther out from city centres? Always a trade off.

Other aparthotel chains are Staybridge Suites, Fraser Suites, Residence Inns, Staycity, Wilde by Staycity and Native hotels.

My daughter took me to Minneapolis this weekend for a mother/daughter weekend, and we stayed at a Staybridge Suite. It was my first time at one, and I was very pleased with it. The kitchen area contained a full-size refrigerator, microwave, drip coffeemaker, utensils, dishes and a dishwasher. The room itself was comfy and roomy, and the included breakfast was very nice as well.

Without having done research just guessing they may be farther out from city centres? Always a trade off.

Yes, this was one in Bloomington, near the airport and shopping. But depending on where you stay, public transport is always an option.

For utensils we have the Rick Steves picnic set available here on the website. It is plastic, but heavier than typical disposable silverware. The knife is probably good enough to cut a bit of bread, but not enough for a steak. But it won’t get confiscated by airport security. It also includes a small corkscrew. I removed that from the set since some think the TSA might not like it, and we’re not wine drinkers anyhow.
Extra ziploc bags have come in handy for us several times, to store extra food, pack something that might leak, etc.

I'll throw Candlewood Suites, Homewood Suites, Towneplace Suites, Embassy Suites, and Springhill Suites onto the pile. Some of these will just have microwaves and mini refrigerators but they'll work if not planning on doing a lot of cooking from scratch.

Candlewood Suites, Homewood Suites, Towneplace Suites, Embassy Suites, and Springhill Suites. Are the chains mentioned by Frank also American only or are they in Europe also?

I won't be travelling to the US because of the exchange rate between the US dollar and Canadian dollar and other reasons for the next few years.

We often buy a cheap sharp knife and just leave it behind. I too like to have a plastic plate if I'm not staying in a place with a kitchen but I will always any make sure that we have access to a fridge of some sort - whether shared in a B&B or mini-fridge in the hotel room. I often remove much of the stock in the fridge so there's room for my small stash. Simply replace items on check-out day. I don't think I've spoiled any of the bottled products by leaving them out for a few days. I typically don't have the room serviced while I'm there so there shouldn't be any issues with me utilizing the fridge with personal items. Always take a stash of ziploc bags in various sizes. The freezer ones hold up best and can be rinsed and reused if needed. And a time or two, a baggie was taken to a nearby bar to get some ice "to go" for my "headache". Hubs is happy to seek that out for me if I need to cool down a soda or bottle of wine. :)

I think what you are looking for is a "suite", "aparthotel" or a "studio". These will generally have a kitchen of some sort - with a microwave, refrigerator, some heating element, as well as basic dishes, cutlery.

Next week we are going to Yosemite where we will stay in a hotel with a fridge & microwave. It will be a road trip, so we are carrying our own picnic box - dishes, cutlery, towels, small chopping board & knife, salt/pepper/sauces etc, dish-soap & sponge, ziploc bags in different sizes. I have a small collapsible kettle like this for tea and ramen/oatmeal bowls. In California, shopping bags are not free, so I am used to carrying shopping bags in my purse - I love the LOQI ones.

If I am flying...I fly very light...I try to get things at my destination if I can, but if possible I try to stay in a place with a kitchenette. My favorite stay in London (where I have been traveling frequently these last few years) is a studio. I don't even need to carry my kettle, because it is the UK and they have kettles in almost all rooms.

My problem is that if I eat out, I can never finish a meal, so I usually bring back leftovers for another meal - and having a microwave/fridge really helps with that.

If you have a stocked mini-bar and want to utilize it, take of photo of it filled so you know how to exactly put thing back so no one notices.

I did that in my last hotel a few days ago.

I will just second looking on Booking.com

An earlier comment mentioned not being able to filter by "refrigerator", technically true, but you can filter by "kitchenette", and the specific property will list a refrigerator if it is there.

On booking, you can look at apartment or studio type places. We often stay in these, simple places with a refrigerator, usually some way to heat things (stovetop, oven, microwave), a sink, and usually a stock of basic utensils, plates, pans, and other basics.

The cost of these places is no more than most hotels, maybe more than a single room, but very reasonable.

One thing to add: if you are eating in your hotel room, be sure to tightly bag up your food waste and debris after each meal and perhaps take it out to a communal bin either on the street or in the hotel maintenance area.
I’m paranoid about this since I had a mouse friend in my hotel room in London in 2023……
I had just eaten a lovely salad and dessert that I’d brought in from a nearby supermarket.

For your trips, you might want to look for places that say “continental breakfast included” or “kitchenette/fridge in room” when you book. Sometimes smaller boutique hotels or guesthouses have that, even in city centers. Also, Airbnb can be good if you want more control over meals and access to kitchen stuff.