Hotel Living.. Need Food Ideas

How about a crockpot? Do you use one at home? You can make all kinds of meals in a crockpot, including stews, soups, pieces of meat, porridges, etc. If you don't use one, you could do a Google search for recipes, and to check out info on how easy to use they are. (You could take 2 crockpots and fill them up the night before, one with breakfast and one with lunch ).

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That is such a great idea. I am absolutely going to do that on our next trip. Cool!

We, too, are going to be spending a week in a hotel in the near future, and usually we just load up on the free breakfast buffet (and we insist on stay in a hotel that has a good one, with hot foods and with at least a mini-kitchen), carry some extra fruit, yogurt, make PBJ sandwiches and eat out, a lot.

When we go to a new city, we make sure to research the city well and have things to do every day, museums, parks, etc. You can go to a grocery store and purchase a bag of hard-boiled eggs, enough sliced cheese, cold cuts (if you eat them), veggies and avocado, and make your own sandwiches, and take those for the day wherever you go, plus fruit and raw veggies (like baby carrots). In addition to your large cooler, bring a smaller cooler that you can pack with you to leave the hotel. Thermoses are always so handy, too, if you have a decent drinking water supply (I find hotel water to be fabulously gross, myself, so we tend to buy gallon jugs of water from the store. A night of $5 pizzas can be pretty cheap and if you eat meat, buy a roasted chicken, some salad ingredients, fruit, fresh bread and you have a fairly inexpensive meal. Not cheap, but less expensive.

Almost every hotel carries a few mini-fridges for use of people who have babies or who need to keep their medications cold, so call the hotel directly and request a mini-fridge in your room. It may be free but there may be a charge, either way, I would think the value would be immense.

Also, in the past, when we have gone on business trips, we have absolutely had DH's company cancel reservations and allowed us to make them ourselves. They just tell you what the highest price is that they will fund and you do tons of research online and with AAA's help and find a larger or better equipped room, in a hotel with a full breakfast, perhaps even a cheap restaurant nearby or other things to keep you busy with the children (parks, mall, attractions, etc.). Often, we find better suites with full kitchens and indoor pools, for less than what the other employees are paying for simple rooms. Just really consider location, depending on where your DH needs to be during his stay.

Can you potentially consider renting a car for one or two days of your visit (or taking cabs) so that you can take the children to a children's museum or other area attraction one or two days to help keep you from going stir crazy?

Have fun!