Hotel doesn’t have freezers

[Anonymous]

DH and I went to NY last night for a wedding. We left our 7 month old with my parents. I knew the hotel didn’t have freezers in the rooms, but assumed I could pump and fill a bag with milk and they could just put it in their big commercial freezer to hold for me - a friend told me she had done that in the past.When we got to the hotel I asked about this and they said they cannot hold or store anything in the freezer for us as it’s a major health code violation. They would not even store our ice packs, which I thought we could rotate in my cooler bag worst case.

Is this common and what do others do in this situation? I have had to pump and dump which I hate but not sure what my options are otherwise. So frustrating!!

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is a health code violation.

[Anonymous]

Why didn’t you call and ask beforehand? You made an assumption and it was wrong. Now you know for next time.

[Anonymous]

It is a good thing they wouldn’t store your bodily fluid.

[Anonymous]

I think the best thing would to be to ask for some ice and stick it in a cooler.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the best thing would to be to ask for some ice and stick it in a cooler.

This. Does the hotel have ice machines? Fill some bags with ice and put them in your cooler. If there are no ice machines, ask for ice at the restaurant.

[Anonymous]

In the US, my husband asks for ice and puts it in his cooler. In France, our home country, especially in the countryside, we've been able to place milk in the hotel's fridge (never asked for freezer, and never for breastmilk - they might have a reaction to that).

You should have called to ask, OP. People are weird about breastmilk, and good hotels do have to obey food safety laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, this is a health code violation.

right. we now know that breastmilk is teeming with bacteria, so why would you think they can stick your bacterial laden bodily fluid in the freezer where they keep food?

[Anonymous]

Don’t know if it is hotel or state specific. We stayed at a hotel in Savannah, I think it didn’t have fridges at all in the room, and they agreed to store for us deli and ice packs in their fridge / freezer.

[Anonymous]

This is what happens when you assume. One hotel might have done it one time for your friend, but OK...that has nothing to do with THIS hotel THIS time.

Call and ask. Call ahead. Plan. Prepare. Think things through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is a good thing they wouldn’t store your bodily fluid.

+1

[Anonymous]

Oh wow, I've traveled all over the world and hotels have always frozen breast milk for me. Never tried it in the US, though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the best thing would to be to ask for some ice and stick it in a cooler.

This. Does the hotel have ice machines? Fill some bags with ice and put them in your cooler. If there are no ice machines, ask for ice at the restaurant.

I have never stayed at a hotel that doesn't have access to an ice machine somehow--in cheap ones, there is a vending machine and an ice machine, and in ritzier ones, you get ice via room service. And there is always an ice bucket, whether a cheap plastic one, or one for icing down your champagne.

Why did you discard it, instead of putting ice in your cooler bag?

[Anonymous]

Agree it was a bad assumption to make. No clue why you didn’t ask for ice and use a cooler. But now you know for next time.

[Anonymous]

They probably had a mini fridge they could've given you for your room. Or you could've used ice from the ice machine. You should never expect to be able to use a commercial fridge or freezer. Ime some places will let you no problem but at others it's a nonstarter.