The Best Appliances for Cooking in a Hotel Room
After the worst of the pandemic, once I started traveling again, I became an expert in cooking in American hotel rooms. Sometimes it amazes me what great foods I can turn out in small spaces. You can too, if you follow a few of my tips—including my list of the best appliances for cooking in a hotel room.
Indeed. You could even make a rolled French omelet in your hotel room — with the right equipment. See my list of the best appliances for cooking in hotel rooms.
It Started with Breakfast
Even before the pandemic, I avoided those dreadful “free” breakfasts you get at so many hotels today. You know: scrambled eggs made from some kind of weird powdery mix, make-your-own waffles using a waffle-maker that has been handled by about 96 grubby hands that morning, insipid factory-made cellophane-packaged muffins and sweet rolls, ground-to-dust off-brand cereals from serve-yourself canisters, watery juices out of questionably maintained machines … I could go on.
And if the food isn’t bad enough, what about the scene? Plastic plates and utensils, the cross-fire of blaring TVs and hotel-chain Muzak, unsupervised kids coughing into the steam trays of bacon while Mom or Dad yaks a little too loudly on the phone….And am I the only one in the world who thinks that adults shouldn’t wear pajamas in public?
Nope, that scene is not for me. If I take advantage of a free breakfast at all, I grab some whole fresh fruit, a carton of milk and maybe some slices of bread from the very back of the covered bread box (a little less likely to be sneezed on that way).
Then, I go upstairs and make some fluffy scrambled eggs and toast. Served with fresh fruit and some excellent coffee (I do my own drip, for sure) and I’ve got my day off to a happy start. Especially if my room has a balcony.
Then, It Was Lunch and Dinner
Tacos are so easy to make in a hotel room! Photo credit.
As long as I was packing my appliances for cooking in a hotel room, it wasn’t long before I started making lunch and dinner, too. The trick here is to be sure to snag a hotel room that has both a refrigerator and a microwave—and about 90% of those I frequent do. Combine those major appliances with your own tote-able appliances, and many, many of your favorite lunches (tacos, chick-pea bowls, salads with sauteed proteins like chicken breasts or lamb burgers, and dinners (stir-fries, pasta dishes, sauteed meats and fish, and more, more, more).
The trick is to pack just the right appliances and utensils for cooking. Of course, this all only works if you’re on a driving vacation—I doubt I’d pack all of this if I were flying (though I would definitely pack the little hot-pot and a cone filter, as it fits in a suitcase just fine).
Here’s what I pack. However, before we get started, one caveat: Make sure you follow all hotel policies about using appliances in your room. Some explicitly prohibit outside appliances. And don’t be careless — you don’t want to set off any fire alarms … or do worse. All these appliances will emit smoke and can cause fires if you don’t watch out.
The Best Appliances for Cooking in Hotel Rooms
One of the best appliances for cooking in hotel rooms: The Nesco 8-Inch Skillet ($32,95; Amazon).
I love this Nesco 8-Inch Skillet! It’s absolutely perfect for cooking for two. I cannot believe how many meals I’ve made in this thing. For breakfast, scrambled and fried eggs cook up just beautifully in this baby. Lunch? Grilled cheese, please. Or tacos. And for dinner, sauteed ground meats and/or veggies, made into Buddha bowls, stir-fries, or pasta dishes work great. Sauteed fish, chicken, and meats—combined with a salad mix you’ve snagged from a grocery—also works great.
If you’re cooking for four, try this 12-inch, 5-quart electric skillet, or one of these other 12-inch electric skillets.
The Nordic Ware 1-Quart Saucepan with Lid: Small enough to fit in most microwaves, but mighty enough to cook all kinds of things—especially pasta. Great for reheating and serving, too.
Microwave-safe bowls are often made of glass, and who wants to cart glass around the country? For cooking things like pasta and vegetables and potatoes, and reheating just about anything, I really like this Nordic Ware 1 Quart Saucepan with Lid. It’s almost unbreakable. It also multitasks as a serving dish.
3. Some Very Basic Utensils
Pack one spatula plus a set of tableware for as many people as you’ll be traveling with. I admit to using paper plates when I’m eating in hotel rooms; environmentally unsound, I know, but I prefer to minimize the amount of time I spend washing dishes in bathroom sinks. Most hotel rooms come with paper cups for coffee (and you can snag more from the breakfast room) so I rarely pack mugs, etc.
You’ll also need a small, lightweight cutting board, and a couple knives. The Zyliss knives, pictured above, are my absolute favorite knives to travel with, as they come with safety blade guards, making them easy to pack.
And please don’t forget to pack kitchen shears. I can’t believe how often I use them. I like these little jobbies, as they come with a blade cover.
OPTIONAL: True a toaster is one more thing to pack, but I like to make my own toast in my own toaster, thank you. While lightweight enough to make it easy to schlep, this Hamilton Beach model is also big enough for bagels (and some hotel breakfast buffets do offer halfway decent bagels). A toaster also comes in handy for lunch, when you want to make nice sandwiches on toasted bread.
A really nice thing about traveling to different U.S. regions are the great breads you can find from place to place. I’m dreaming about an Italian 5-Grain Bread I found in Florida, for example. I also found a crazy-good Jewish Rye elsewhere in Florida. Different breads from different areas do help you get a sense of elsewhere that those awful hotel breakfasts do not.
5. A Melitta Pour-Over Cone and a Small Travel Kettle
This, too is optional, depending on how much of a coffee-geek you are.
These days, most hotel rooms come with coffee makers, and a lot of people are just fine with that. But most hotel-room coffeemakers just don’t cut it for me. That’s why, no matter where I go in the U.S., no matter how small of a suitcase I need to pack, I always save room for my plastic Melitta Pour-Over Cone. It makes the best coffee (for me), and it’s very lightweight and easy to schlep.
While you can microwave hot water for your pour-over coffee, every once in a while, I end up in a microwave-less room. That’s why I also pack this great little 0.5-L travel kettle. It also comes in very handy for making my essential afternoon tea.
The product description says that you can also boil noodles in this pot. I have not tried it, but I don’t see why you couldn’t. Just be sure to wash it out extremely well after you cook anything in it! You don’t want residual noodle flavors in your coffee or tea.
One caveat: I bought mine in 2017, and it just now stopped working. Four-and-a-half years isn’t bad, but note that it doesn’t last forever. I’ll be ordering another one.
Better Yet: Stay in a Hotel Chain That Offers Rooms with a Kitchen
Best hotel rooms with kitchens? Let me tell you! This is one of my favorites: Element by Westin, but there are others. Read the full story here.
It’s true — you can cook a lot of things in a hotel room that has a microwave and a fridge. But also keep an eye out for the many, many hotels that offer rooms with kitchenettes. Here are some of my favorites.
Honestly — This Handful of Appliances Lets You Cook a Lot of Great Things.
I hope this article has helped you choose some great appliances for cooking in hotel rooms on your next foray into the world. If you’ve found this post useful, I’d appreciate your help! To support this blog, you can:
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