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B&B Whinge

edited October 2013 in Off-topic
Why do you never get enough of those little plastic milk cartons?

Comments

  • It's probably not a bad thing. I opened one up once and it was green inside.

    <Gags>
  • Personally I'd like a choice of coffee...but I solved the problem by taking a jar of my preferred brand.
    But it doesn't solve the carton issue, admittedly.
  • take some cartons with you too!
  • Went to a five star hotel abroad recently. Tea, Coffee, sugar....no milk! I couldn't see a cow anywhere in my room.
  • Good heavens, if I saw milk in little cartons at a B&B I'd walk straight out again - it should be in a jug.
  • I hate those little milk cartons. The milk tastes horrible, as you say there's rarely enough of them and they use so much unnecessary packaging. They must cost more too.
  • I agree PM the milk is yuk.
  • we take a tube of condensed milk on our travels plus coffee and proper tea bags. So many places now only have weird herbal/fruity tea bags. They are all so mean with milk etc.
    They give more if you ask - I think it must be because they dont trust the staff.
    I used to help manage a 40 room hotel. Owners have a strange phobia about small extras which cost nothing. What the hell is a few tea bags etc against the reputation of the hotel.
  • edited October 2013
    [quote= Phots Moll]I hate those little milk cartons. The milk tastes horrible,[/quote]
    It does, yes. That's what UHT stands for you see. Many people think it means Ultra Heat Treated, but really it's Ultra Horrible Tasting.
  • Well I never knew the true meaning of UHT!
  • I stayed in a hotel a few weeks ago was pleased to find they supplied skimmed milk in jugs. I am not a lover of full cream milk and can just about tolerate semi skimmed. As for those little cartons - I can never get into them.
  • [quote=Lah-tay]Why do you never get enough of those little plastic milk cartons?
    [/quote]

    Because the cows can only produce so many of them per day AND when you consider the awkward shape of the cartons, trying to be released from an udder... well. It can't be easy for them.
  • Personally, I can never get enough of plastic but that's another story.
  • We travel with a little kettle, tea bags and a vacuum flask of milk.
    The French don't do milk in tea unless you ask for it specifically. If you buy tea here, you'll often get a tea pot of hot water, and a bag on the side, to dunk at will.
    Remember the BA ad, when some American actor said that we make tea, and then dump cow juice in it? Maybe we're the odd ones out?
  • My pet UK B&B hate were big signed B&Bs who did not provide breakfast. Don't they know what it stands for.
  • Bed and Bugs?
  • I don't use anything on that little welcome tray. I saw a programme once about hotel staff and how they 'wash' cups in bedrooms. I wouldn't use the bathroom glass or drink the tap water from the bathrooms either, although I'm sure it's drinkable. I always wonder whether the fancy throw/bedspread that matches the curtains gets washed between guests. I keep it well away from my face, or take it off the bed if it's not too cold. Has anyone ever looked at the mattress?

    *gags*

    Oh dear. I've put myself off the whole experience now and I'll be staying in a hotel at the weekend.
  • I take a little bottle of tea tree oil and rinse the cups out with that. Safe and disinfects. I also take the covers off. And never walk barefoot. I don't drink the water unboiled.
  • Never, EVER use the ice bucket. I have to confess I used it once to unblock a blocked loo.

    <Hangs head in shame>
  • edited October 2013
    IThere was one place we stayed at in Carnaervon and it was spotless. The couple lived there themselves some of the time and it was delightfully clean, comfortable and cosy. It was a little house in a terrace on a family park. I'd recommend that to anyone.

    Have stayed in some 'orrible places right on the sea front stinking of damp dog - yuk! I mean if it's your own dog that stinks it's prolly okay, bit like your own children when they need a baff but when it's an unknown thing - gross.



    Yes TN I too wonder if that thing gets washed in between guests AND imagine others sitting there with no pants on, on it and farting etc so yes, I too take it off.
  • [quote=dora]AND imagine others sitting there with no pants on, on it and farting etc[/quote]

    ARGH!
  • I'm even more pleased we've got a campervan now.
  • [quote=Liz]I don't drink the water unboiled.[/quote]
    I'm always surprised when I hear people say that - unless you don't drink the tap water at home, what's different? Mains water is pretty reliable wherever you go in the UK, although it can taste very different from region to region. I'd definitely run it for a while before drinking it.

    I'm not keen on UHT milk but I wouldn't want fresh unless the room had a fridge in it. I usually only drink tea in the morning and I'd rather drink weird plasticy milk than stuff that's been at room temperature all night. But normally I'd drink tea with breakfast, and I wouldn't be impressed if they served up UHT stuff in the dining room.

    I always get rid of the throw on the bed, too.
  • [quote=danfango]Mains water is pretty reliable wherever you go in the UK[/quote]

    It certainly is.

    However, water in any hotel is stored in a tank or series of tanks, otherwise they could not hope to supply more than a few rooms at a time. and those tanks are notoriously full of dead pigeons. And Legionnaires disease is destroyed by boiling. cold pipes warmed by hot pipes can spawn that nasty little disease.

    And then of course there is the tap the cold water emanated from - possibly used to dip peni for a quick post-coital cleanse in the absence of a locker beaker, and then someone may have enclosed the tap spout with their mouth getting a drink... or the cleaner may have used the same cloth on the toilet that she used on the taps.
  • Aaaaaghhh.....I'll never stay anywhere ever again.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Well okay, that was an obvious lie. But there's a lot to think about that I hadn't thought of before. Eeyew.

    By the way, I never tough bannister rails if I can avoid doing so. Or pedestrian lights buttons. Yuck.
  • Me neither. My family aren't allowed to either.
  • edited October 2013
    Me neither.

    And when my boys come home from school after riding the bus, I make sure they wash their hands.

    *shudders*

    Have you ever seen the grime on a public telephone?

    *shudders more*
  • [quote=bill]So many places now only have weird herbal/fruity tea bags.[/quote]

    I hate those.

    Gimme a mug of builder's tea any time.
  • Earl Grey for me; no milk or sugar.
  • Yek, Earl Grey and Lady Grey taste like washing up liquid to me.

    I used to hate herbal tea, but then I became allergic to milk, and as I like very weak tea, and dislike soya, i made myself drink peppermint. Then someone gave me a bag of Pukka detox, which tastes licorice-y, which i loved, and now I can drink any and truly enjoy them, except for the berry/fruity ones.

    And green tea of course is extremely good for you.

    After seeing that programme with Victoria Wood I was amazed that the stuff in tea bags is the lowest of the low, the left-over dust after all the expensive tea has been packed!
  • My wife agrees with you, Liz, about Earl Grey.
  • [quote=dora]Yes TN I too wonder if that thing gets washed in between guests[/quote]

    I just remembered earlier today.

    I used to work as a chamber maid in one of the big hotels in Reading.

    :) I used to make beds and clean rooms. It was few years ago now so things may have changed.
  • Back when I had a proper job I spent ten years stopping over in mostly four star hotels, two or three nights a week. If I'd have had the benefit of the advice given on here, I'd never have left the house.
  • Just as well, SM - and you survived!
  • Speaking as another survivor...
  • I've just enjoyed reading your comments in response to my whinge. During my stay last week, I was left with four of those cartons on the first day (nowhere near enough, especially as some were only half full and they always give you that really strong Nescafe), then two on the next day. I managed to get a small bottle of fresh but, with no refrigeration, fresh doesn't last long. At least I had a small bottle of water, which couldn't have been filled from the tap as it was sealed plastically. (I think I've just invented a word).

    I can't buy those plastic milk cartons where I live or I would have taken some with me, having had this problem before. That's a good point about the bedcover. I just keep it folded down a bit.

    As for the hygiene problem (touching buttons, doorhandles, etc.) when returning home after shopping I always wash my hands with antibacterial handwash. You'd have to remember to take some with you if you were staying in a B. & B. Just more to add to your luggage.

    Thank you for your contributions!
  • Tbh, I have a fold up bed in my suitcase too as well as an inflatable hotel room.

    Saves on worrying.
  • [quote=Liz]water in any hotel is stored in a tank or series of tanks, otherwise they could not hope to supply more than a few rooms at a time.[/quote]

    Ah, yes, you're right. I hadn't thought of that. OK, nothing but booze for me from now on. Much safer.
  • [quote=Liz]water in any hotel is stored in a tank or series of tanks, otherwise they could not hope to supply more than a few rooms at a time. [/quote]

    Not necessarily. Hotel I regularly use has signs in the rooms stating it is drinking water. I've never come to any harm in doing so.

    *twitches*
  • *admires metallic tint to BB's skin*
  • And lets not forget the bed bug problem some of these hotels have, if you ever see a corridor
    or rooms sectioned off, they're most probably fumigating the rooms.
    And...you wouldn't even know you have taken a few home with you.
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