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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not wee in the hotel kettle?

377 replies

greatauntfanny · 30/05/2021 19:21

Summary of events:

  • In hotel room with new(ish) partner.
  • Go to make myself a cup of tea, ask if he wants one.
  • His eyes widen and he yelps 'No! Don't use that! People wee in them!'
  • I have never heard this and say something along the lines of 'What? Why would anyone wee in the kettle? There is an ensuite.'
  • He says that everyone knows you should never use the kettle in your hotel room because people wee in them 'and worse'.
  • I tell him I'm going to take my chances and make a cup of tea (although I boil it out once first to be on the safe side).
  • He looks repulsed and says 'I can't believe you're doing that, that's disgusting, I didn't think you were like that' (basically how I'd expect him to react if I actually did a wee (or 'worse') in the hotel kettle myself.
  • We go out later for an after-dinner walk and he points at a dog poo and says 'look, there's your dessert.'
  • We are getting ready for bed and he picks up kettle and asks me if I want a cup of wee to take to bed.

So, question, in case you haven't guessed: is weeing into the hotel kettle 'a thing' (in which case IABU for making a cup of tea in what is essentially a toilet) or is my partner being weirdly OTT about this? Girls group chat theories have so far ranged from he's an extreme germophobe (red flag) to he's testing my reaction because he's 'into' poo and wee related 'activities' (also a red flag) to he wees in hotel kettles himself (also a red flag).

The only non-red flag is that he's right and people are weeing into their hotel kettles left right and centre which would be a a green flag for him but a red flag for the rest of society. I'm not really sure what outcome I'm hoping for here. Help me out?

OP posts:
Jack80 · 31/05/2021 18:08

I've never heard of it but I can imagine it's happened, I always boil first them rinse the kettle and use the second boiling water and wash the cups in the sink before use. Your partner was maybe warning you but he was being OTT with it instead of use saying boil it twice. The poo comment is very strange.

munchkinman · 31/05/2021 18:10

Never heard of anyone weeing in a hotel kettle... x

csigeek · 31/05/2021 18:10

I think your husband is in a Facebook group that I’m in.
Never use a hotel kettle because you never know if it’s been McGurk’d. IYKYK

Lindyhoppity · 31/05/2021 18:12

Worked in a hotels for a few years.
Never once had housekeeping call down to say they needed to replacement kettle as someone had pissed or shat in it……

I’d say run away, more Red flags than a golf course

Starwind74 · 31/05/2021 18:12

I can imagine it happening in the days before en suites ( which I am old enough to remember), although I have never heard of it happening. However I was surprised when someone told me some men wee in their own wardrobe when drunk ! so who knows!

lucybluebella26 · 31/05/2021 18:15

My mum has been a hotel cleaner for around 15 years and yes, people do wee in kettles, plus God knows what else, but it is a rarity. They're often replaced when something like that happens.

I'd be more concerned about his reaction and treatment towards you tbh.

fatchilli123 · 31/05/2021 18:17

Cousin used to be a room cleaner at local hotel . Yes they do . Much worse is the bathroom glasses do not use them unless you see the cart with fresh glasses so they are changed daily. Some places don't care what is used to clean everything in the bathroom

Teachertired92 · 31/05/2021 18:23

My exes friend did this once because he thought he was hilarious, and my ex said he would never use a hotel kettle again! Not something I’ve heard of anywhere else though? And my brother works in a hotel!

UnluckyMe · 31/05/2021 18:23

@oystercatcher44

Never heard of weeing in the kettle.

But I believe that washing underwear in hotel kettles is a thing.

Shock

That would explain that musty after taste

WhySoSensitive · 31/05/2021 18:23

I haven’t read the full thread but wanted my 2p worth as an ex hotel and holiday lodge cleaned...

Yes people pee in kettles. Yes I’ve found shit in kettles. This was also at a luxury location too, it never surprised me how disgusting people were or how they left their rooms/lodges.

Bard6817 · 31/05/2021 18:23

Seasoned and international traveller here for work - stayed in more hotels than judith charmers….. Wash it out - twice if paranoid - never heard of people pee’ing them.

He sounds like a twat though. Sorry.

theleafandnotthetree · 31/05/2021 18:23

@SimonJT

I have heard of this, but I still use hotel kettles, I do boil before use and thoroughly wash the cups.

I did however find an entire shit (on a plate) in a chalet fridge in Austria.

Well at least they were ensuring it didn't go off
MollyMinniesMum · 31/05/2021 18:24

@csigeek

I think your husband is in a Facebook group that I’m in. Never use a hotel kettle because you never know if it’s been McGurk’d. IYKYK
I know!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Flobbertybillop · 31/05/2021 18:31

He sounds like an immature twat really.

Wonderfulstuff · 31/05/2021 18:32

Having worked in a hotel I'm afraid he is right... and worse.

csigeek · 31/05/2021 18:32

@MollyMinniesMum 😂😂 glad at least one person got the reference!

Francescaisstressed · 31/05/2021 18:42

Worked in a hotel during my uni years and can confirm people did worse than wee in them. Found blood and poo stained knickers in them more than once and when eventually brought up to colleagues they said people clean their underwear in them
They are never ever cleaned properly and I have never stomached using them since, although hotels in general are pretty grim.

HairyPottyMouth · 31/05/2021 18:42

I never have the hot drinks in a hotel room, but that’s because I’m fussy about the water (lovely soft water where I’m from, so I’m spoiled) and the tea bags are never Yorkshire Tea.

Panaesthesia · 31/05/2021 18:48

Oh god he's absolutely a kettle wee-er isn't he

Dobbyisahouseelf · 31/05/2021 18:49

Nope not a thing. Your new DP sounds a bit odd and childish.

Boxerbinky · 31/05/2021 18:51

Hotelier here.. noodles and eggs cooked in kettle yes! Never had one with wee in my numerous years experience!

coachnhorses · 31/05/2021 18:53

He sounds like a prat. A childish prat

LINZIK83 · 31/05/2021 18:55

In fairness I have always wondered and cleaned the kettle out before 8ve made a cuppa!

LouLou789 · 31/05/2021 19:00

I’ve heard this, and also about women washing period knickers by boiling them in hotel kettles, I once bought a small travel kettle in a fit of paranoia but really, it’s pretty unlikely in these times of en-suites.

Tigerstripe20 · 31/05/2021 19:00

Yep I have heard of it, plus I once saw a ‘hack’ some woman had done of a way to clean her undies when travelling light, which included a picture of a pair of lacy undies in a minging pond of water in a hotel kettle.
I never use a hotel kettle or mugs and always wipe the remote control .
I used to pre - Covid travel a lot and once came back early to a hotel in Dublin to see the maid wiping out the cups with a cloth I wouldn’t wipe my bins with.