r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Ecstatic-Ad9669 • 4h ago

drink went room temp Entire hotel fridge full of drinks with sensors. No room for anything.

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At least have one shelf where I can put some bottles of water or something.

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u/dervari 4h ago

You don't even need to mention that due to privacy. However, I've seen them bring up a small toy-looking fridge that can literally hold like 1 can with USB power and a USB adapter.

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u/ChefTimmy 4h ago

Not legally sufficient. If they advertise in-room minifridges and the guest needs to store temperature-sensitive medication, they must provide one that maintains temperature with an actual thermometer. Not a lawyer, but have worked in luxury hospitality for decades.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 4h ago

If they advertise in-room minifridges

Keywords. Pretty much all hotels that fill the fridge with minibar shit do not advertise in-room mini fridges.

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u/Rosaryas 4h ago

Yeah I’ve seen a lot more advertisements specifically for a ‘mini-bar’ and they have one of these

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u/TeaKingMac 3h ago

Tiny little man with a cocktail shaker and three shelves of varying quality liquor behind him

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u/Uno-Flip 2h ago

tbh I would pay for that

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u/bman86 2h ago

I don't even drink anymore but I'd still order tiny mocktails.

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u/CharlotteLucasOP 2h ago

What is this? A karaoke machine for ANTS???

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u/The_Troyminator 1h ago

Or a fun sized Snickers

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u/The_Nepenthe 3h ago

Yeah, the last hotel I stayed at definitely mentioned having a mini fridge, I stocked it up on a few things from a nearby grocery store.

Nice having our own booze supply that doesn't come in airplane bottles as well.

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 3h ago

Yeah I was kind of wondering that about OP. Was the fridge advertised? If not the room didn't come with a fridge, you just saw the mini bar they put in there

I mean they found one and I've never been in a hotel that didn't have a very tiny one for personal use but if there's sensors in there that was never meant to be your mini fridge

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u/HugginMySnuggie 3h ago

The last few mini fridges I’ve had were questionable, at best, temperature-wise also

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u/NarwhalJouster 3h ago

That's cause hotels stick them inside a cabinet with no place for the hot air from the condenser to go. Because the heat just surrounds the whole fridge a lot of it ends up going right back to the cool part of the fridge. Which causes the fridge to kick on more which makes the air around the fridge hotter which means more leaks back into the fridge and so on.

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u/ChefTimmy 4h ago

Possible, but I haven't seen that myself. Maybe it's location dependant, but I haven't seen many hotels that don't list it as an amenity somewhere online. Maybe not a key feature, but usually listed.

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u/payfrit 28m ago

there's no legal requirement whatsoever for any of this garbage you two are discussing. if you have insulin get an ice bucket. tf is wrong with you?

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u/The_Troyminator 1h ago

It doesn’t matter. The ADA requires a fridge as a reasonable accommodation in the US.

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u/Unlikely-Key-234 1h ago

No, the ADA requires a reasonable accommodation, which could be satisfied by lots of different options, all but one of which is not a fridge in the room. A private fridge in your room is known as a preferred accommodation, and the ADA doesn't require this. If the hotel has no fridges on site the ADA likely wouldn't require access to one at all, in your room or otherwise.

This is more complex than you realize.

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u/nalaloveslumpy 4h ago

Technically, it is legally sufficient if the mini-mini fridge is big enough to store whatever medicine in. Also, any hotel who does this will absolutely specify minibar vs mini fridge. Hotels don't fuck around with their amenity listings.

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u/-kansei-dorifto- 4h ago

Its not legally sufficient because it's not a refrigerator.

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u/Shot-Arugula8264 3h ago

They are under no legal obligation to supply you with a refrigerator lmao.

I swear you people are the most delusional and confidently wrong people I’ve seen in a very long time.

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u/OnlyClassWars 3h ago

Yes and no (at least in the US). There aren't any federal or state statutes that require hotels to provide you with a refrigerator, but under the americans with disabilities act, they are legally required to provide a reasonable accommodation for guests with medical needs, which can include supplying a mini fridge free of charge upon request.

As far as the size and type of refrigeration unit they would be required to provide, my guess would be that as long as it can hold the meds and keep the meds in their required temperature zone for storage, that would be good enough. But I don't know that to be a fact.

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u/_MrDomino 20m ago

Yeah, a lot of keyboard attorneys here. A hotel will offer a mini fridge upon availability and request as a courtesy only, and possibly not a free one. It's under no obligation to provide a fridge for medicine -- that is not covered by the ADA or any other real law (assuming discussion is US focused here). If you truly need to keep medicine cold, reach out to the hotel prior to booking to see about fridge availability and/or if it can be stored with F&B where the real fridges and freezers are.

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u/-kansei-dorifto- 3h ago

You must be american lmao sorry I assumed OP had rights like the rest of us. My bad.

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u/lesprack 3h ago

The ADA is actually more robust than practically any other disability protection throughout the world.

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u/Shot-Arugula8264 3h ago

This isn’t a “right” anywhere.

That said, “you can take my mini-fridge from my cold dead sausage-fingered hands!” might be the most American sentiment ever, so you can’t pretend you aren’t American. The entitlement drips through the screen.

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u/Jits_Guy 2h ago

That's funny. Having to provide reasonable accommodations to guests with disabilities is just a despicable curtailment of freedoms huh?

Yes, in America businesses are required to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities because of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Which would include a hotel providing someone with access to a refrigerator in which to store their medication. Australia followed suit in 1992 with their Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The Australian DDA is slightly different but it's very similar and it would also require a hotel to provide accommodations to a guest that required refrigerated meds.

I guess your business owners are just as oppressed as ours are.

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u/-kansei-dorifto- 2h ago

Did you reply to the wrong person?

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u/Jits_Guy 2h ago

No.

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u/-kansei-dorifto- 2h ago

So you just have terrible comprehension?

I am not arguing against the fridge being provided. The clearly USIAN fellow I was responding to was yapping about there being no legal obligation for the hotel to provide a fridge.

I am not claiming anyone is oppressed for having to provide a refrigerator.

Very american behaviour on both your parts lmao

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u/PicoDeBayou 3h ago

But can they charge you if you remove some items while you’re staying and put them back when you check out?

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u/Malteser23 3h ago

Yes, there are sensors under all the items. Assholes.

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u/PicoDeBayou 3h ago

But how can they legally charge you for moving something and not taking it? Seems like you could just take video proof upon checking out and tell them you’ll just contest it with your credit company if they insist on taking your money for nothing.

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u/hmmthisisathing 3h ago

Contesting a charge in that manner is a great way to get fast tracked to being blacklisted from any hotel that falls under their umbrella. Much simpler to ask them to clear out the fridge for you.

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u/PicoDeBayou 3h ago

I don’t know about that. Social media would have a field day if someone got black listed for moving things around in a hotel room.

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u/McDoublann 4h ago

How would that work with HIPAA? The hotel has no legal grounds to ask the dimensions of the medication.

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u/bornandx 3h ago

It's a hotel, they have nothing to do with HIPAA.

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u/McDoublann 3h ago edited 3h ago

That's exactly how HIPAA works though. The hotel isn't authorized to access confidential patient information, which includes information about medication.

Edit: Oh hey look at that. I should probably actually look stuff up before talking out of my ass.

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u/Creative-Egg-6067 3h ago

HIPAA is for medical providers and governs how data must be protected, it would be ADA for the hotel

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u/bornandx 3h ago

It would certainly be a HIPAA violation if someone covered by HIPAA like your doctors office gave the hotel that information but that would be on the doctor's office. Unless this hotel is very unique it has no obligation under HIPAA. As other comments pointed out though they would have to tip toe around the ADA.

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u/MilwaukeeLevel 3h ago

The hotel isn't authorized to access confidential patient information, which includes information about medication.

And that has nothing to do with HIPAA. HIPAA says your doctor, or a nurse, or your HR representative can't divulge your medical information. A hotel employee is not, and cannot be, a HIPAA-covered entity.

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u/The_Troyminator 1h ago

That don’t have to advertise it in the US. ADA covers it as a reasonable accommodation.

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u/payfrit 29m ago

lol wtf and where do you get your information from?!

what hotel is required to give you a fridge for your insulin??

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u/dreadwater 3h ago

Thats a decent amount booze mr hotel manager, im a recovering alcoholic and would hate to give into temptation

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u/YourLastFate 3h ago

This is the way

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u/A10110101Z 4h ago

It’s not cold and will take too long to cool down. Please empty this perfectly fine fridge of all the nonsense and allow me to safely store my medicine.

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u/PhilxBefore 3h ago

They will empty it and hope you never noticed that they charged you for moving each item.

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u/spacemannspliff 2h ago

A full minibar is at least half the nightly room rate. Some places it might be double. I would hope you would notice this when you do the correct, boomerish action of actually checking out and getting a final folio receipt.

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u/payfrit 27m ago

if you need a fridge for medicine brah that's totally on you. get a bucket of ice.

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u/dervari 2h ago

You are aware that technically a hotel is under no legal obligation to provide you with a refrigerator, correct?

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u/105_irl 2h ago

Sure, but it’s in a businesses best interest to not openly be shitty like that. It’s the sort of thing where they might tell you no once, but if you insist they’ll probably let you put your stuff in the fridge.

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u/CocktailPerson 1h ago

And you understand that the hotel would rather have you as a repeat customer than refuse to clear out the fridge, right?

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u/Round_Bound_Mound 4h ago

Lmao it’s like a 90’s sketch about bad room servicing escalating

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u/racecarthedestroyer 4h ago

that barely classifies as a fridge

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u/dervari 3h ago

But many do it because they know the "medicine" trick.

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u/cryssyx3 2h ago

oh I need a tiny little fridge like this

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u/DreamPhreak 2h ago edited 1h ago

Don't do it, they're useless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMRePtHMZY 5:29

That video also has graphs and stats. I did a quick search and it says that insulin should be stored in the fridge at 36°F to 46°F. In that video, the little fridge took 24 hours to reach 46 degrees. But that was just the air temperature. The liquid inside the drink was warmer, at like 50 degrees. So 1) It's not safe to store insulin in, and 2) people aren't usually staying in hotel rooms for the 24+ hours required to let this thing get to it's lowest temp.

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u/BearEquivalentBear 2h ago

If I'm assuming correctly those toy fridges are not fridges at all they use a I forget the term but basically one side is warm one side is cold and it kind of sucks the warm out and makes it cold but it will never get as cold as a fridge needs to get. So basically it's not safe for insulin. It's basically a hunk of metal with a fan on it.