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We are looking for a hotel for a two weeks stay. We would like to cook our own meals on an electric stove (with no fire). Is it usually permitted to use such high-power electric equipment in a hotel room?

(In case this is relevant, we are going to stay in Glasgow, Scotland).

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    Each hotel may have its own rules, the one in Germany last weeked did mention that using your own equipement to heat food or drinks was not allowed due to fire risks. Best stay in a hostel where you have the use of a kitchen. They often have double or family rooms.
    – Willeke
    Commented Oct 24, 2016 at 18:43
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    Most hotels do not want people cooking in the rooms, for both safety and smell. Guests don't want to check into a room that smells of stale cigarettes or stale bacon grease.
    – user13044
    Commented Oct 24, 2016 at 18:45
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    You'd have to ask the hotel to be sure, but hotel fire safety is a huge issue (even without a flame) as hotel fires can be incredibly deadly, so it is often not allowed. You're best off trying to find an extended stay hotel that offers some type of kitchen facility (or a hostel where a shared kitchen is available for all guests). Some hotels can arrange a microwave for you, if that helps. Commented Oct 24, 2016 at 18:50
  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. Commented Oct 26, 2016 at 11:12

7 Answers 7

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The simple answer is, no, this won't be allowed in any normal hotel-hotel.

Very simply, use holidayrentals.co.uk or airBnB.com to rent a "gite" instead. You'll save more money and it will be far more suitable for what you want.

You can instantly find examples of what you want, https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p78239

enter image description here

You mention a TWO WEEK stay so, indeed, it is very likely you would want to get a holiday rental, not stay at a hotel.


Note that in most world regions now, there's a category of "apartment hotels" (sometimes "suite hotels" or "long stay hotels" or "business hotels" or "aparthotels" or "apart-hotels") that indeed have kitchens, example

http://glasgow.frasershospitality.com/en/gallery.html

(go to the third photo!)

and this can blend through to just renting a "serviced apartment", so:

http://www.premiersuitesglasgow.eu

which of course have kitchens, priced for corporations though.


You are basically the perfect customer for holidayrentals.co.uk or airBnB.com.

TIP - book EARLY as the small owners of holiday apartments, sell out weekends and short stays you know? So it's hard to book two whole weeks, in some cases.

TIP - for two weeks you can definitely pay less! Just politely email and say "how much as you asking for a two week stay?" Good luck!

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    Nice comprehensive answer. If you have more than two people in your party, apartment hotels/serviced apartments are often very competitive in price with normal hotel rooms (for nicer accommodations).
    – user35890
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 6:14
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    The UK friendly terms are "self catering" "holiday cottage" "holiday letting" rather than gite (which Brits would only use to describe a large house in France).
    – CMaster
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 8:16
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    There's also "hostel" which in some parts of the world can mean a comfortable small budget hotel room with use of a clean and tidy shared kitchen (also lounge and internet-cafe), rather than a fleapit full of drug-addled youths. (The last one I used was in Zurich, where it cost as much as a 3* hotel does in many other places! I remember a chap sneaking out in full business attire. Job interview? )
    – nigel222
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 10:29
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    Good advice on the AirBnB and such, but your first conclusion is actually wrong. Many normal hotels offer rooms with full or small kitchens.
    – thanby
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 21:44
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    @thanby can you name one? I've never seen a kitchen in a UK hotel.
    – pjc50
    Commented Oct 26, 2016 at 12:05
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It's not just a matter of "high-power electric equipment", but of smell and dirt too: cooking is not an activity easy for the enviromnent, especially when with "environment" we mean "a room the size of two beds and a wardrobe".

And although some hotels could allow for it, why not simply searching for an apartment? Either on AirBnB or just on a booking site like Booking.com, you'll find lot of places with a stove included and you are allowed to cook whatever cross your mind. Or, you can find (but they are a bit rare) hotels with a floor kitchen and a common space to stay and eat. I once found one in Barcelona and it was really really good.

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While I'm not familiar with the situation in Scotland specifically, it sounds like what you'd want is an extended stay hotel -- the ones I've stayed at within the US will tend to have in-room kitchens with at least a stovetop (no oven), a full-sized refrigerator, and at least a small set of pots and pans and cooking utensils.

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  • Another term that's often used in the US is a "kitchenette." I suspect that isn't a known term in Scotland though.
    – fluffy
    Commented Oct 24, 2016 at 23:43
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    @fluffy I'd say the word is probably recognised, but "self catering" is the generic term you'd want to use.
    – CMaster
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 8:17
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    @fluffy I'd expect anyone comfortable with the English language to understand that "kitchenette" means "small kitchen". Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 13:45
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    @DavidRicherby well I mean it's easy to figure out what it means but if it's not commonly used then it wouldn't be what shows up in hotel listings.
    – fluffy
    Commented Oct 25, 2016 at 20:14
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    I can confirm the word "kitchenette" is widely understood in Scotland (as meaning pokey little room, with barely sapce for a cooker and a few cupboards).
    – Mawg
    Commented Oct 26, 2016 at 8:57
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For a room to be usable for cooking it has to fulfill 3 important criteria:

  1. Availability of sufficient power source (eg a powerful socket).
  2. Moisture-resistant furniture and ventilation to remove the moisture that is released when cooking.
  3. Sufficient fireproofing, that is not having easily flammable things like beds too close to a cooking station.

It's pretty obvious that typical hotel room fails at least points 2 & 3. The closest thing would be a bathroom, but I guess you wouldn't like to cook next to a toilet.

That's 2x "no" and one "maybe" - if you can find a socket which allows such power draw. Which results in no, you can't cook in a hotel room.

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TL;DR Don't in a hotel, use a hostel for cooking

In the UK, there is only one type of socket commonly found, the 13A 230V, which is rated at just over 3kW. (International type G, but no-one calls them that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country).

It is possible that the up-stream breaker (normally 32A) is not rated to allow all its sockets to draw 13A, as the hotel will expect them mainly to be used for charging devices. However, as they are likely to provide clothes irons for guests use, the socket will be able take at least 1kW.

The main problem you are likely have is that almost all hotel rooms have smoke detectors; The hotel management are likely to take a very dim view of triggering it.

Stick to instant meals that can be made with hot water, there will be a small electric kettle in the room.

However, If you DO want to cook when on your holidays, you can book into a youth hostel. They welcome guests of all ages, some have private rooms (dorms are more common), and there is a communal kitchen for you to use.

Some restrict how many days you can stay at a time; you may need to split your holiday over 2 hostels.

For all hostels: http://www.hostels.com/england or http://www.hostelworld.com/ and there are probably other search sites for them.

The largest association; you'll need to join either in the UK, or at home.

http://yha.org.uk (England and Wales) https://www.syha.org.uk/ (Scotland).

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  • I absolutely guarantee that the up-stream breaker will not be rated to allow all it's sockets to draw 13A. That is not how sockets work in the UK. (Among other things, they rely on the fuse in the plug for certain protections). However, it will be rated to allow at least one socket to do so (and probably several). Commented Oct 26, 2016 at 15:47
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If the room has a stove and/or an oven then yes, you can cook in it. They won't install a stove if it wasn't meant to be used.

As others have said, most hotel rooms do not have kitchenettes. The closest I've seen in the US is Extended Stay hotels that have microwave, a fridge and a two heater stove but no oven.

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You can not cook food in most hotel rooms, many will even object to bringing externally bought food and drink to your room. This makes sense when you remember that a significant part of a hotels business is about catering for you. Some hotels will have a small number of self catering rooms but these tend to be for longer tenancies and you must book them explicitly. It sounds like what you want is not a hotel, but what is usually known as an aparthotel. You can also look for 'self catering' accommodation.

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  • While full service hotels certainly want your food business, I've never known a hotel to object to take-out, and certainly not to drinks from outside (indeed, they often can provide a refrigerator to help facilitate this). Nor could they do so practically; nobody is searching bags for food or drink before you can go to your room. Commented Oct 26, 2016 at 16:58
  • @ZachLipton - I have. Most UK and European hotels that provide a fridge do so to sell you its contents (we call them mini-bars), and leave very little empty room for our stuff. Take-outs can smell and require extra cleaning, and can also be unappetizing to other guests. Drink can be an issue for legal reasons as well, as many European countries impose a duty of care on hostelries. Occasional use is rarely a problem, but the OP wants near full self-catering for a fortnight.
    – Paul Smith
    Commented Oct 27, 2016 at 8:44
  • Amazingly, I was recently in a hotel that warned they would charge for your drinks if found in the minibar. Commented Jan 31, 2018 at 22:55

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