nacho

I think it's those you mentioned. I have never travelled close to any of them. I wish my kids were able to fall asleep before 8, they were playing with each other during bed time and very often Mr needed to stay in bed with them until they fell asleep.

pinniped

I hate the new Homewoods that don't have full kitchens! If it's an extended stay with family, I don't want to have to microwave pizza or order takeout every night.

RI, as far as I know, is the only brand where you can count on a full kitchen with oven plus stovetop.

EDIT: Crap! Other posters have examples of RI's without full kitchens, so hmmmm.... I sadly stand corrected - I truly thought this was an RI distinguishing feature.

Schnit

You need to check out the pictures, I wouldn't count on that.

Residence Inn Philadelphia City Center had no oven in any room. They even had no kitchen rooms.
Mystic non of the pictures showed an oven, but our room did have. Unfortunately it sparked when in use so we couldn't use it.

Those are the ones this year that did not have. I know I have seen it before, but cannot remember where.

nacho

I have stayed at several RIs without an oven (1 bedroom). I think the 2 bedrooms have ovens and the same goes for TPS.

Jon Maiman

Correct, generally only 2 Bedroom suites at RI's have ovens. YMMV.....

--Jon

Happy

a functional kitchen but no oven IIRC. At least 2 cooktops and full size fridge. We really like this brand even we are only 2 adults. The new ones built in past few years seem all have functional kitchens, incl one we stayed a few months ago that is very close to the "Guitar Hotel" in Ft. Lauderdale, just to use up an expiring FN cert - it has a working kitchen just not as big as RI's is.

We also stayed for 3 nights at RI Clear Water downtown to use up the June 30 expired FN certs. That RI pt redemption is Studio not one bedroom. But their breakfasts were acceptable, only bagels were prepackaged. Yogurts were Chobani brand Greek Yogurts. Hot dishes were self-served. The things lacking were the fruits. Other RIs and Fairfields we stayed in March from Jacksonville to Orange Beach, AL, all had self-served hot breakfast items, and all of them had fresh blue berries and strawberries.

I think it is really up to the owners of the franchisees to decide how to skim the items under the name of Covid-19 precaution. Not all owners are this bad. Though because Marriott gives the carte blanche, the guests are left to the owners' mercy or consciences.

Eujeanie

I've occasionally heated up leftovers or a microwaveable meal and of course the popcorn RI's had, but what all do you "cook" in these hotels? I can see in a vrbo rental, etc., but honestly I can't imagine "cooking" a full meal in a RI.

Happy

Those are what we normally do, but occasionally we do some veggie stir fry when we prefer cooked veggies over salads. With many half-prepared frozen meals available in grocery stores you can really make some nice meals with very little efforts.

For examples, I recently found a local grocery's own private label frozen seafood turn out to be very good - Cajun Shrimp, and white wine Mussels. They are all raw, uncooked, and coated with sauce individually or crumbed individually. Then you cook in a skillet on stove top. The outcomes are better than you go to a restaurant and then wait 20 min for the meal which often come up short in taste and temperature.

Schnit

Depends on how much you consider cooking. With the kids we have many times brought a baked mac and cheese or something like that, which will reheat much nicer in an oven than the microwave. We have many times brought prepped but not yet cooked stuff with us to cook in the oven when we get there.

I met someone at a RI in January that was living there for 6 months while consulting on a job. His wife was retired and there with him. So they ate breakfast in the lobby but she cooked the other 2 meals everyday. They werent going to do take out for 2 meals a day, everyday, for 6 months.

Jon Maiman

Summer of 2021 we stayed at the RI Myrtle Beach, SC. We had treated my sister-in-law and my twin nieces to a week at the beach. They don't like to dine out very often, so we cooked most of our dinners in the rooms. Menu included Taco's with chicken, peppers and onions; Pasta Primavera w/Shrimp, Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, etc. It helped to have two adjacent rooms so we could use the 2 burner stoves in both rooms (no ovens). Took a bit of juggling but we got it done and had nice meals. Since I knew we would be cooking more, I did bring some better cookware with me from home for this trip.

Even when we are traveling on our own, I may still cook a dinner or two in the room. Did that for a couple of stays at the RI Bethany Beach, DE. It is nice to have the option and the RI kitchens are workable for that purpose. RI's with grills are even better. Opens up even more options. Granted if I am at a timeshare or other property with a larger kitchen (4 burner stove and oven), I will probably cook even more since it is more conducive.

--Jon

Eujeanie

I guess I think of cooking as really from scratch, whereas I need lots of ingredients, herbs and spices. I can see where some of these options are really quite simple.

I think what troubles me is not me, but others....fear of fire is someone falls asleep, for example, I just have an overactive imagination.

One time we did stay in an RI or similar where someone of a different culture cooked a traditional meal which completely stunk up the place, and I would never do that to anyone.

But thanks for enlightening me.

Schnit

Both of those apply to any apartment complex you could live in. If your neighbor falls asleep they could cause a fire. Or they could be cooking stinky food.

I lived in an apartment building that always smelled like ethnic foods. Just walking through the hall it would take on the smells.

DELee

That's their way of providing free birth control.

David

DELee

Well, apparently there are microwaves that have a convection feature: Reviews for Hyatt House & Place at Tempe / Phoenix / University (Post 36) and Reviews for Hyatt House & Place at Tempe / Phoenix / University (Post 39)

David

Eujeanie

My home oven has a convection feature. Ask me how many times I've used it.