Our last two family vacations have really taught me the value of having a kitchenette. Kitchettes are small kitchens in a hotel room usually comprised of a stovetop, microwave, toaster, fridge, sink and pots and dishes.
In Disneyland in Anaheim we stayed at a hotel that had a microwave and free breakfast. The free breakfast is always a plus when we are booking a hotel and I know that when I go away for business I always try to make sure that I have a free continental breakfast in the hotel to save time.
In Disneyland this strategy did not work out so well. We found that the breakfast was offered across the complex from our hotel room and there was no seating so we would have to bring back our toast and cereal. Second the food was not very good there was no jam, the butter was some kind of squeezable butter and the cereal was just the crappy stuff the kids always want to grab. To make things worse there was always a lineup in the morning for the poor breakfast.
After the first day of our Disney vacation we went to WalMart for Jam, bagels, cereal and milk and all the snacks that we would need for the week.
Then this Spring we went to Hawaii and stayed in a hotel with a kitchenette. The kitchenette was great, we would eat breakfast and lunch and even some dinners in the hotel room. As we all know kids like snacks all day long and we could prepare food in the room. Whenever we went out for a meal we would bring back leftovers and put them in the fridge and then microwave or heat them up the next day.
I know that when you are on vacation it is nice to get away from the idea of cooking and cleaning, since in the hotels and companies we visit most of the time have services as DBM Janitorial Services to do the cleaning for everyone. For us on holiday we were hoping to save money by having the kitchenette and preparing some of our own meals but there were further advantages that we found:
- Ease of preparing food
- Time saving of preparing food
- more snacks, less meals
- Eating what we want when we want
The idea of having a kitchenette on a family vacation for me is just a way to make things easier as well as cheaper. I was not looking for more work but in the end I think that we saved money and time and I would never travel to a hotel now without booking one. You should be able to get a kitchenette added to your room for about $20 per night or so, with that low of a price the convenience and the savings for food for your family it is well worth it.
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