Great Tip, Rick!! Unplug That Fridge!!

Refrigerators are my arch enemy! Every room that I go in that has one, I either turn it off or unplug it. I can't stand the noise. Been doing that for years :-)

Great tip as long as you have nothing that needs refrigeration.

Don't forget to plug it back in when you leave.

Never, especially in a heat wave. Those refrigerators get nasty smells and mold quickly, even if empty.

I have to disagree with the advice to unplug hotel refrigerators. Doing so will most likely violate guest accommodation terms, and the hotel may hold you liable for property damage. When the power to a fridge is cut, the frost built up inside may melt and leak, or trap moisture inside the warm appliance, leading to mold and foul odors. Additionally, many modern properties use smart mini-bars with automated sensors, meaning a loss of power can signal to the hotel computer that the fridge is emptied. It is better to leave the appliances alone. It’s not yours, so don't mess with it.

VAP: I watched much of his presentation, including the fridge tip.

IME the guest mini-fridge (not the mini-bar fridge) has been turned to "OFF" upon check-in. This has been the case for roughly 80-90% of my hotel stays. So usually, the only chance for melting frost - if indeed the unit contains a freezer component, which some do not - comes about during my stay. And of course only if I mess with it by turning it on.

When I leave the room, my practice has always been to leave the controls as I found them upon check in.

My wife can't sleep with the fridge noise. It always goes off at night.

About Rick's plastic water bottle tip ... - Did anyone else see this? (I have a tip of my own to offer...)

After drinking part of a bottle, he then crunches it up in the middle so that it fits better inside his pocket. Having tried that myself before - and having found it mostly unsatisfactory - I picked up a plastic flask for my recent trip like this one... it stayed in place in a big pants pocket (like you might have in a pair of travel pants or cargo pants) and was pretty comfortable whether full or not.

https://www.amazon.com/GoPong-Sneak-Alcohol-Anywhere-Flask/dp/B01H583E0C?th=1

Really? That’s not good or smart advice with all the things that could go wrong from mold, to ruining the compressor, etc. etc. and the possibility of ending up receiving a bill to replace it.

Bad advice for all the reasons listed above.
I want a fridge in a hotel room.
I ask the hotel in advance to remove their products from it so I can store my own groceries.

I will add to what has been said. Turning off a fridge without opening the door will quickly cause foul odors and mold.

At least open the door if you do unplug it.

I’ve turned off or unplugged refrigerators before that made too much noise, but I do open the door. If it won’t stay open then I put something there like a cup that will keep it open so it doesn’t smell (although if there’s no food in it, chances are it’s not going to smell anyway).

I like having a fridge in the room. In fact, I look for hotels that have them. They're good for keeping water cold--I like cold water--milk for coffee, snacks, leftover picnic foods, etc. (I'm waiting for the lecutres on why cold water is bad for me.)

If the fridges make too much noise, I understand why they invented ear plugs. Although I've never had this problem.

What I'm finding now, are hotels that advertise a mini--fridge but they are actually "coolers" that don't get cold enough to hold anything that can spoil.

I have no memory of having heard a refrigerator in a hotel room. Guess I have been lucky all of these years. If it were a problem I would call the front desk and ask them to deal with it.

I don’t recall ever having a problem with hotel refrigerator noise either. The only issues have come from it not being on, or conversely, on occasion being so cold it froze my food.

My experience has been the exact opposite; 100% of the time, the refrigerator is already running and cold when I check into a room. Just because one may check into a hotel with a refrigerator turned off doesn't make it ok to do so.

Even if a refrigerator does not have a formal freezer compartment, it still utilizes an internal evaporator cooling plate to drop the internal space down to a safe temperature. The coils behind that wall run below freezing. Every single time we open the door, room humidity hits that cold wall and turns to frost. Under normal operation, a timed cycle melts this thin frost, and the heat of the motor evaporates the moisture back into the room. If you pull the plug, there is no warm motor to cause evaporation. Now there may be too much water with the circulation system interrupted, and hours of accumulated frost melt all at once. Because hotel refrigerators lack heavy-duty drainage systems, that sudden meltwater may overflow the tiny internal drain pan and leak.

White noise is a completely normal part of the background sounds of life. Are we really getting so sensitive to basic everyday sounds that we feel entitled to start messing with a property's fixtures? If a piece of equipment is genuinely broken and causing an unusual racket, let the front desk staff know, and they'll handle it. Again unplugging room electronics yourself may violate the guest terms you agreed to, and it opens you up to claims of property damage.

Wow, who knew posting a simple travel tip from Rick would create such a lively debate? :-) It sounds like there are some good arguments for leaving the fridge plugged in after all.

I think it's great that so many hotels now have fridges that people are complaining about the noise.

Wow, who knew posting a simple travel tip from Rick would create such a lively debate? :-)

(My thoughts too! I'm holding back the chuckles.)

Still, I can't tear myself away, and I feel unfaithful abandoning poor Rick on this issue since I tend to disagree with him on several important issues... Boy, do I have questions...

How is a noisy refrigerator an "everyday sound" that I should be able to deal with at nighttime? I usually sleep in my bedroom, not in my kitchen.

How is a noisy refrigerator a sleep aide? "White noise" it is NOT. These cheap little things don't provide continuous and pleasant audio; they are poorly insulated, so if they are on, their cheap little compressors cycle off and on day and night, cycling off with a "clunk" sound, and then rattling like crazy when they come back on.

If a fridge does get moldy, why would a guest be charged? Do housekeepers not clean inside the refrigerator anyway?

Has anyone you know actually received a hotel bill that included a charge for replacing a mini-fridge, or even seen wording in a room agreement that promises such a fee?

Why should "messing with a property's fixtures" be a bad thing? Heating and a/c controls were meant for customer use, as are light fixtures, curtains/blinds, coffee makers, hot tubs, etc. If the property wanted the refrigerator to run 24/7, no matter the impact on lifetime of the refrigerator, on their electric bill, or on the planet, then why do these refrigerators have temperature adjustment dials and on/off switches that are accessible to the hotel guest, just like the other appliances and fixtures? Why do they have plugs on cords, when they could be hard-wired into a circuit? If you're in a motel and the porch light is bothering you, you shut the curtains or switch off the light, right? The rooms I use warn me about pets, water usage, smoking, non-paying guests, etc. And there are usually warnings about using the door locks properly for my own safety (and to guard against liability on the part of the property owner.) If it is so harmful to turn a refrigerator off for a night or two, then why isn't there a warning of some kind right on the refrigerator door? My answer is that the property obviously expects customers to treat this appliance like any other room appliance. If they were routinely incurring damages that they could not afford, they would educate guests on the issue.

"If a piece of equipment is genuinely and causing an unusual racket, let the front desk staff know, and they'll handle it." Now that's some real faith in the front desk staff! They could call the maintenance person - who likely doesn't ever repair replace fridge compressors anyway as it requires special equipment... but they might be able to replace the fridge - IF a fresh one is on hand. But by 5 pm or so, he/she will have gone home for the day. And the front desk staff isn't qualified to work on or replace the things. They can maybe switch you to another room IF one is available, but they don't have a naughty/nice list for room refrigerators, so they have no clue if the switch will work for you. No one wants to play musical rooms if they don't need a fridge and they can just turn it off!

A fridge in a room is a one of the top two selling points for me when I'm looking for a hotel in Europe.
The noise it might make is worth having some nice cold beverages to drink in the middle of the night.

Wouldn’t it be common sense plus a bit of courtesy to just ask the front desk if it’s possible to unplug the thing without causing damage? At most of the hotels we’ve stayed in there is fine print you sign about your responsibility for accidental or intentional damage to the room. And in regards to RS, I still remember the FB post of him going past the sign that said “Danger, Stay Back!” (or something to that effect) and all the flack he got about it. Just because RS says something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing to do……..sad that has to be pointed out.

We were the unsuspecting victims of a refrigerator that was not plugged in once. We were in one room and the kids were in the room next to us. During the day we had bought some cheese and put it in the fridge in the kids room. When we came back to our rooms that night, omg the smell! BUT, for a moment we thought our son had had gas, lol. Poor kid took the blame for it for a while. Then my husband took the cheese and walked I don't know how many blocks until he found a dumpster to put it in.

I agree that just because RS says something it isn't always right. I lump this into the same category as taking food at breakfast to have for lunch later.

We were the unsuspecting victims of a refrigerator that was not plugged in once.

So within the context of this discussion, you're implying that the previous guest(s) - in this room - maybe Rick Steves himself or someone who takes his advice - has actually victimized you by unplugging the fridge.

It's hard for me to see your cheese problem as anything but a failure on the part of the hotel. Either 1) the management doesn't care whether everything in your room is in working order and has failed to include "check fridge" on the list of housekeeping duties, or 2) housekeeping personnel are not properly hired/trained/supervised.

Think it through... When the cleaning person opens the fridge to empty and clean it, it takes no more than 3 seconds to make sure the unit is running. If it's not, then it takes maybe a couple more to check that it's plugged in. If it is connected and it still won't work, then it must get reported. Very simple.

If the shower doesn't drain properly, if the RX6 cable on the TV is disconnected, if a window lock is broken, none of these problems were listed as "amenities" on the hotel website! Even if you feel like the previous guests did something "wrong" (like showering with a hair loss problem??) they are gone and cannot be held to account. Now that you are there, it's the job of the hotel to give you the room in working condition, as promised - otherwise they are engaging in false advertising. If a guest has a loss - cheese in this case - it's because the hotel failed, and the hotel should be compensating you and perhaps rewarding you additionally for pointing out a flaw in their service contract with you.

I like Rick's tip because I think it's a good tip - certainly NOT because Rick happened to say it.

mikliz97, I think Rick owes you cheese.

Mr E--LOL, now if he would like to send me back to Paris for it, I would not say no:)

Russ--It was sarcasm.

When the cleaning person opens the fridge to empty and clean it, it takes no more than 3 seconds to make sure the unit is running. If it's not, then it takes maybe a couple more to check that it's plugged in. If it is connected and it still won't work, then it must get reported. Very simple

You are making the assumption that housekeeping will do this. They have limited time to get rooms clean and reporting maintenance issues is not always done. Nor is checking to see if a refrigerator is running. They might open the door, look for anything to throw out, and move on. Just last month, I checked into a room that looked clean but when I opened the refrigerator there was still food from the previous guest. The surprising thing is each room is supposed to be checked by a houskeeping supervisor before is available for a new guest.

I've also walked into hotel rooms with obvious maintenance issues that were never reported. Even by the housekeepers.

That's why when I check into a room, I do a room check that includes looking for any "tiny visitors," that new linens are on the bed, fresh towels in the bathroom, lack of mold or visible dirt in the bathroom or elsewhere in the room. I check the kettle, coffeemaker and refrigerator if there are ones in the room.

Some hotels now tell housekeeping to turn off the fridge to save electricity. I've stayed in numerous hotels where the A/C is automatically shut off after check out time. If not one is in the room for a day or two, the hotel doesn't want to pay for the extra electricity.

I've also requested a new room if I check in to one where the refrigerator is off. I don't know is someone turned it off or if it's broken.

Considering the number of hotel rooms I stay in each year, I have seen quite a bit. And these are not cheap hotels.

One bit of advice, if you do decide to shut off a fridge that has been running while you are in the room, prop the door open just a bit to let air circulate.

Frank II, I agree, but Rick still needs to pony-up the cheese.

I agree, but Rick still needs to pony-up the cheese.

I don't know. I've seen some of his attempts at humor and they seem pretty.....cheesy.

I’m joking about his, but after all the recent discussions about the severe heat waves in parts of Europe, and the relative absence of A/C in Europe, compared to places where it’s commonplace, might Rick suggest that you open up the fridge, for even a little cooling effect?

Let's hope Rick is smart enough to know that wouldn't work

If you do this, please be polite and plug the fridge back in because those of us who use them are not happy when we discovered that you thought the fridge didn’t need to be used and so now it’s hot when we’re trying to put our meds, etc., in there

Well, I’ve heard about people without proper or functioning heaters using an oven to try and keep a place warm in the winter, with the door open. Expensive, but it apparently works, to some degree. Why wouldn’t a refrigerator do the same thing for cooling?

The fridge keeps the inside cool by transferring the heat out into the room via the evaporator coils. Thus the heat in the room is unchanged, assuming 100% efficiency, which does not happen. The net effect would be to make the room warmer as the heat from the motor would be added.

A fridge and an oven work differently.

Carrie, thank you so much for posting the link. I was just in europe and saw Rick three different times. It was fun to watch the video. I saw one of his tour books in his hand all marked up just like he showed in the video.