One nice thing about hotels is that they usually have commercial ice makers which are great for filling up coolers. But what about when you don’t have a cooler, but you have a few drinks that you’d like to ice down over night? Well, all you need to do is convert the sink into a makeshift cooler!
I never want to pay hotel rates for drinks, so I will typically stop at a store and pick up a few drinks. In order to cool them down I close the sink drain, lay the drinks in the sink, and proceed to fill it completely full of ice.
Now the reason I fill it completely is two-fold:
- The sink isn’t insulated. It’s going to completely melt in only a few hours, so you want the maximum amount possible to start with.
- Even with the drain closed most hotel sinks will drain overnight after the ice melts.
After you’ve covered the ice take one of your towels and fold it over to 2 or 3 layers and cover the sink completely. It will provide a blanket of insulation from the warmer outside air.
After an hour or so you’ll have ice cold drinks, and I’ve found that even after spending the entire night in the sink the drinks will still be cold the next morning.
Enjoy!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you really think this is news? I’ve been doing this for over 30 years! I normally enjoy your blog, but this is seriously reaching!
Jeff,
I wouldn’t really call it news… just a little tip! :-) I had to kind of discover this on my own as no one had ever shared it with me. Then while at a conference someone stopped by my hotel and saw my sink full of ice and when I explained it they thought it was a really good idea and suggested I share it.
And thus a post was born.
I’m guessing that there are some people out there who never thought of doing this, but if not I will only be demonstrating my ignorance to a few hundred thousand people. ;-) I’m glad you (normally) enjoy my blog and hope you’ll forgive me if I disappoint once in a while.
John
Where do you wash your face?
Smartass. ;-)
I use the toilet water.
Why not just cover the ice bucket (normally supplied I would think) with several layers of bath towels. I’ve been doing that for years, but most times now I pay for the mini-bar since I can’t afford the milk to go bad (for my kid).
May,
I’ve found that the ice buckets are generally too small to even put one 20 oz. Coke in them, much less several…
John
Nice! I’ve also discovered that hotel bathtubs are the perfect size to ice down two full kegs of beer. And you can still wash your face in the sink, and use the toilet for its intended purpose.
Nice tip, you can combine this with the salt tip to cool your drinks faster.
Exactly! :-)
LOL.
Believe it or not, the sink idea will keep the drinks cold longer if you first line the sink with several newspapers. Yeah, sorta messy, but it works :)
Have done that south of the border…
Or, I’ll get a styrofoam cooler from a drugstore if I’m staying for a few days.
Eva
If you can not afford an ice chest why are you traveling? The Hotel you stay at should not have to clean up your mess, I bet you say at check-in “can’t you do better than that?” or ” its just me but I need two beds”
Ding, ding, ding! You win the prize for the dumbest comment of the month!
Not only was that rude as hell, but you also make several assumptions that only a fool would make!
You give people named John a bad name. Hence my need to clarify that you are NOT John P!
Love,
John P.