Help me survive a travel lodge holiday, family room, holiday with toddler on a budget!

[ToddlerAdventure]

A few months ago we booked a few nights in a travel lodge type hotel, close to an attraction. Basic, with just tea and coffee facilities.

I don't want to waste money on expensive "you're a captive customer so we will rip you off" type food.
Issues:
•hotel is budget so the breakfast is a rip off.
• it's on the motorway so unlikely to be near much.
•obviously no fridge

I want to take as much supermarket food as I can but I am struggling with what to take that isn't complete crap.

There will be no fridge - solutions for storing milk etc? Run a bath of cold water? Would long life milk be ok?

No toaster- breakfast ideas? I could do pre wrapped croissants or bagels but would rather not...they don't fill me up for long enough and, quite frankly, bung me up.

Lunches- I will buy all the fruit and snack options but nowhere to store margarine...it would be ok in cold bath water wouldn't it?! I could make basic sandwiches? But, again, nowwhere to keep anything cool. Don't fancy warm, salad sandwiches.

Evening meal I accept will need to be eaten out.

Have you got any clever suggestions for food when you have limited options? And how to survive sharing a room with a 3 year old

Can you buy one of those portable travel fridges? There a small ones with a carry handle that take the equivalent of 6 cans of drink. At least you’d have milk for drinks and cereal etc, and a bit of room for butter etc.

Do you have a cool box you could take instead?

Possibly a bit late but did you consider self catering instead? Would make more sense.
I think marg ok in cold water. I would get milk every day. You can get those yoghurt pots with separate cereal which are ok for breakfast.

I would check the breakfast is actually a rip off before dismissing it. We always have the breakfast and eat so much we don’t have to have lunch. Not on purpose. It’s just if you have a big cooked breakfast you are full for ages.

Obviously that wouldn’t apply to the toddler. He might be free at the breakfast anyway.

Ok - now contacting friends to see if anyone has a mini fridge. Will the hotel care if I plug that in? I don't want them servicing the room and I doubt they would anyway as it's budget.

Cool box- probably wouldn't be ok for 3days

Take a cool box and keep that in a cold bath. If you don’t have one, virtually everyone else does and someone will lend you one.

Use the sink UHT milk.
Posh pot noodles.
Cheese slices keep well or frozen cheese sandwiches.

Cool box with a new bag of supermarket ice in every day?

I’d get/borrow one of those big cool boxes if possible, load it with frozen blocks and let that be your ‘fridge’.

Porridge pots are great for breakfast as you only need a kettle. Ditto some soup pots/instant noodles or cous cous? Bread, cheese and butter For sandwiches, maybe some cold meats for the first day.

instant portidge - the 'just add water' pots
couscous with tinned veg for dinner.
bread keeps ok
milk (even uht) will spoil quickly once opened.
will dc drink milk from powdered milk?

Also could you not just buy a pint of fresh milk when you’re out each day?

No restaurant at hotel so breakfast is a pack up deal at a stupid price.

if you take a cool box you can freeze the milk before you go and use that as the cooling blocks.

Get a cool box that can be plugged into the mains. Acts as a mini fridge when we have to take food for my child who has allergies.

Have you rung to ask if they can pop a fridge in your room, or if you can hire one?

What about the pots of porridge you can get where you just add hot water?

Sandwiches, could you go for wraps over bread as there's no real need for butter, maybe a bit of mayo as that can be fine stored out of the fridge?

Take some zip lock bags to store what you can in cold water too keep it slightly chilled and then some empty ones, when you get to the attraction or even popping into the service station ask if they can fill it with ice and then you can triple bag the ice and pop it in your sandwich bag to cool things during the day.

We bought a plug in cool box out of Halfords that acted as a mini fridge. Used it when we went glamping.
Keep milk, yoghurts, cheese, ham in that then buy fruit & bread.
You'll be out most of the day at the attraction I'm assuming?

Travelodge breakfast is all you can eat and free for kids. It's also pretty cheap. I'd far rather do that than faff around with UHT milk.

Yes to the porridge! Great idea!

I've never frozen a cheese sandwich before, guess I could, then load it into a cool box and that would do lunch for the first day.

Sorry cross post. I'd do pots of porridge where you just add boiling water then.

Sorry, it's a "Days Inn" hotel...probably even cheaper than a travel lodge!

I hang a carrier bag up outside window
With milk etc in , you hang in indoor handle then push bag outside and shut the window on the bag.

Days inn are nicer than travel lodge.

Would there not be a cafe nearby where you can get a nice brunch? Sounds like a lot of hassle.

Some great ideas, thanks all! We had money when we booked it and due to various disasters, we have to budget now. Yes, out all day at the attraction but the food will be extortionate there!

Breakfast may be free for under 12s at travel lodge ( it was last year).
Do you have a flask? You can put milk in it or buy a single pint daily. Hot dogs can be cooked in a flask of boiling water. Apples, bananas and oranges are portable. Id shop daily for picnic type stuff. Have fun op.