I’ve only seen one in the bathroom, usually they’re out in the main area on a desk or dresser. As much as I adore coffee, however, I’ve never used them. My sister works in hotel management and has told us awful stories about the coffeemakers and I’ve never been able to get past them.
I’d love to hear some of those stories. People think I’m quite insane for thinking that using the in-room coffee makers is gross, and I’d love to have some ammo for when they shake their heads at me in derision.
I have never seen it, and stay in hotels between 200-300 nights a year. Mostly I stay in mid-level or nicer hotels, though.
Someone told me once that she’d heard that flight attendants use them to wash their panties, which seemed so bizarrely specific, sexist, and a solution to a problem so easily remedied (as if panties take up a huge amount of luggage space) that I dismissed it. I also pointed out that we weren’t 2 miles from ORD, but rather, in the middle of BFE, so probably safe from flight attendant panty juice. But that theme, gross stuff people might do with them, is probably a common one. That and that they aren’t cleaned.
People have used them to cook meth in, used the carafes as ashtrays, peed in them, just all sorts of things most of us would never think to do. My sister once told me she walked in on a very hard-working maid cleaning a room and was dismayed to find that the maid was scrubbing out the coffee pot with the mildew cleaner intended for the shower and* just wiping it out* with a towel. The maid was mystified as to why this wasn’t a good idea, and my sister was horrified to think how many people may have gotten ill from chemical residue since that particular maid had been working there.
So I go for the carafes in the lobby, since the hotel staff maintains them and can keep an eye on them, or stop somewhere else and get my caffeine fix.
I don’t travel much, but I’m not a complete recluse, either (yet). I haven’t used the in-room coffeepots because I mostly drink tea, and I’ve always found that the coffeepots just aren’t cleaned thoroughly enough to remove the coffee residue. I don’t like coffee-flavored tea. I’ve never seen a setup that was actually in the toilet area, generally they are in the area where the sink and blow dryer are. The last couple of times, the coffeemaker and microwave have been next to the TV, and well away from the sink.
Incidentally, I pack a lightweight sturdy cheap ceramic mug, well padded, in my luggage, and I use this and wash it out. I just don’t like the taste of styrofoam. The mug will go in the microwave and get the water hot enough for the tea. And I have a zipseal bag of teabags, too, because I don’t like Lipton tea very much, and that’s generally the brand that’s offered.
I saw this just last weekend at the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco. It’s not uncommon at all in my experience.
Okay, now I’m even more mystified. There are hotels where there is one room with the sink and the blow dryer and another room for the toilet? You learn something new every day…
I once found whiskers in the back of mine - as if some guy had been shaving and rinsing his razor in the water compartment. Every night for a week I called down to the desk to complain, and they never swapped it out or cleaned it. On the last day I found the time to carry it downstairs myself (busy family reunion, I’d been out early and come home exhausted every day) and showed the desk clerk. She was horrified. Then she left a message “for engineering” about it.
WTF?!?
Often the sink is outside the toilet/shower area, with a door in between. It’s int he same large area as the bed etc.
I stayed in two rooms this year like this. The sink was completely outside of the bathroom. I really hate that setup.
I hate to mention that this would not be a bad thing to a certain segment of the traveling public.
[but like you, I think we can dismiss it. Why not just wash your panties in the sink if you must wash them at your hotel?]
I’ve been trying to figure out how you would wash your panties in the coffee maker. And why. Do we want to smell like coffee? Do we put it in the water reservoir? Do we pretend to make a cup of coffee and use boiling water?
I have washed my panties plenty by hand. When I was visiting India, I was staying with rich cousins who had servants. The servants washed all your clothes, but they wouldn’t wash your panties. I’ve washed my own panties plenty of times. I washed them in the tub or in the sink. It never ever would have occured to me to wash them in a coffee maker, even if I had access to one.
In much of China it’s common to wash your panties the night after wearing them, and having dirty undies hanging around in your luggage or room would be considered gross.
I don’t see why you wouldn’t do that in the sink, though.
I would imagine they put their panties in the carafe, put water in the back, and turn it on. Scalding hot water= disinfected panties. Maybe you put a little shampoo in there, swish it around, and it’s almost like being at home.
But why is it just women doing it with their panties? What, men don’t like clean undies?
I can’t believe you have to ask this.
You should travel to France sometime. Bathroom components are often spread all over the place.
I voted that I’ve seen them in the bathroom - in crappy h/motels, but I don’t use the things anyway.
In some hotels/motels, there is one room that has the bathtub/shower and toilet, with a door. Outside this room is a sink with handy outlets. Sometimes the coffeemaker is in that area, sometimes it’s in another area. At any rate, having the sink in a separate room means that one person can be taking a shower while another person is brushing teeth and blowdrying hair. When you have several people sharing the room, this can ease the morning congestion by quite a bit.
In fact, in my parents’ house, the main bathroom had two compartments with a swinging door between them, a toilet and tub in one compartment, and a sink with plenty of counter space in the other room. Back when my little sister discovered blowdryers, this was a lifesaver.
If the panties are French cut…
[Insert french roast coffee joke here.]
Panties in coffeemakers and armadillos in the office. What a day on the Dope! 