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Being Vegan

Vegan hotel tips: Tales of the mini fridge

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Text inlay: Vegan hotel tips: How to eat vegan while traveling. Tray with vegan cheese, crackers, and snacks on bed.

Vegan hotel tips & how to eat vegan while traveling: Whether you are traveling for work, road tripping across country, or just staying for a night. How to eat plant-based at hotels, bed and breakfasts, and more.

Breakfast, lunch & dinner ideas to keep you full while on the road (including a bed picnic!)

Exterior hotel with pole at Black Hawk Hotel in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The best part of travel is the food. I always look forward to the vegan restaurants I’m going to visit, and finding plant-based gems even in unlikely places. 

But when you’re going somewhere for work or traveling through small towns, sometimes vegan options can be on the slim side.

That’s why it’s good to prepare for all contingencies.

With some vegan hotel tips and well-planned snacks, you’ll know that a plant-based breakfast is waiting for you in the morning. 

Vegan hotel tips: How to eat vegan while traveling

Old luggage propping open door at Black Hawk Hotel.

Continental breakfast

Many hotels offer continental breakfasts with your stay. Most of the time I don’t even bother going down to see what’s there, because the spread tends to be underwhelming for vegans. However, there have been some pleasant surprises on the times I’ve ventured out.

Most offerings include bananas, apples, and oranges.

Some chains have roasted potatoes. Potatoes are pretty substantive on their own. And if you have anything in the room to add with them, it can become a pretty decent breakfast.

Hotel restaurants & room service

Vegan charcuterie board with Herbivorous Butcher meats and cheeses.

Things are moving fast in the vegan world. As fast food places are adding vegan options by the day, more hotels are also getting the message that guests would like vegan options. 

Loews Minneapolis Hotel has Herbivorous Butcher vegan meats & cheeses on their room service and restaurant menus. (That’s their vegan charcuterie board above.)

Courtyard Marriott has added Beyond Meat to their Bistro menus. They’re offering a burger & flatbread pizza. However, neither of the options are vegan by default.

The burger at Courtyard Marriott is served on a brioche bun, which isn’t vegan. And the pizza is served with cheese.

Ask the staff about ways they may be able to veganize these options at their location. It would be awesome if a vegan bun was standard.

Hotel check-in at Moxy Uptown.

Many hotel restaurants have salad or pizza as an option. So salad with balsamic dressing or pizza without cheese and with plenty of vegetables can be a decent default option.

Depending on the chain, room service is not always an option. Even if they offer it, the price and selection may be less than inspiring. However, I have cobbled together meals from room service in the past.

One time I ordered an omelet without the eggs. On the menu the omelet came with potatoes, onions, garlic, spinach, and bell peppers.

I simply asked for all of those fillings sautéed in oil and not butter. Plus a fruit bowl, toast, and jelly. It wasn’t the best breakfast of my life, but I’ve had worse.

Look for a hotel with Starbucks in the lobby

Starbucks oatmeal in cup on lap.

If you stay at a hotel that has an actual Starbucks location in the lobby, then you’ll know that there will be non-dairy milk & a vegan breakfast option as well.

(Some hotels make their coffee using Starbucks beans, but that isn’t the same thing. Only actual locations will have food options and consistently offer non-dairy milk.)

I like to start my day with a soy latte, and oatmeal with blueberries. Oatmeal is filling. And it’s nice to have a hot breakfast option in cold weather months.

B&B

Farro and potato hash in bowl on table.

For a non-hotel option, bed and breakfasts can be a good choice.

Even if a B&B isn’t strictly vegan, they can often prepare a vegan breakfast. I’ve had great luck emailing B&B managers ahead of time (before booking) to see if it’s an option. 

I’ve had terrific vegan breakfasts at bed and breakfasts in rural areas like the Cotswolds, Woodstock, Illinois, and Mason City, Iowa.

If a bed & breakfast is unfamiliar with how to make vegan breakfasts, it doesn’t hurt to email some links to recipes.

(Here’s my breakfast recipe index. It should give you some ideas!)

AirBNB

David standing in Airbnb in Nashville, Tennessee.

Of course, if you rent your own apartment or house with kitchen, you can stock it yourself with the vegan essentials. (Non-dairy milk for morning coffee is a must!)

I like to check Happy Cow before booking in an area to see what locations will have the closest proximity to vegan restaurants and natural grocery stores. Then I’ll save on gas or ride share costs if I can easily walk to the vegan restaurants I want to visit.

Make a grocery store run

How to eat vegan meals in a hotel, even if you only have a dorm-sized refrigerator | cadryskitchen.com

Whenever we’re traveling, the first stop is always the local grocery store.

If they have a natural grocery store like a co-op, Trader Joe’s, or Whole Foods, the options are going to be better. (Here are some of my favorite Trader Joe’s vegan products.)

However, even if you only have a Target or Walmart, it can be done.

Stock your hotel fridge

Collage of portable vegan travel meals - dolmas, nuts, hotel refrigerator, oatmeal, and baked tofu.Breakfasts & on-the-fly meals are a lot easier when you’ve stocked your hotel fridge. Here are some of my favorite easy travel options.

Oatmeal

There are all kinds of shelf-stable oatmeal options. Some are packaged in little bowls for serving, and some come in packets.

The packets are easier to throw into your carry-on if you won’t have time to stop at a grocery store at your destination. But the ones that come in bowls are awfully convenient. It means you won’t have to run down to the hotel’s breakfast area to grab a bowl.

Non-dairy yogurt

If you have a refrigerator, containers of non-dairy yogurt are an easy breakfast or snack. 

Bagel or toast

Bread or bagels in the room makes for a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

While most rooms don’t come with a toaster, there’s usually one in the hotel breakfast area that’s available for hotel guests.

Depending on your time and space constraints, you can pair it with individual packets of shelf stable nut butter or hummus.

Or natural grocery stores usually have freshly ground nut butter for sale by weight near the bulk bins. That way you can just get the amount you’ll need for the trip and not have to commit to a whole jar.

Hummus can also be found in shelf stable packets. Or you can get a tub for easy snacking or spreading. Luckily, these days hummus can be found in almost every grocery store.

And of course, bagels are best with non-dairy cream cheese. There are so many vegan cream cheeses on the market. Miyoko’s is my favorite. But Kite Hill, Go Veggie, and Trader Joe’s non-dairy cream cheese are also good.

Cold cereal & non-dairy milk

I have a friend who happily eats cereal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. So this can really be an anytime meal. Pick up your favorite dry cereal or granola and just add non-dairy milk.

If you don’t have time to go to the grocery store in your work trip destination, I have actually packed shelf stable packs of non-dairy milk in my checked luggage. It can feel like a bit of a risk with your clothes, but I have gotten through okay.

Several brands make small, lunch-sized boxes of non-dairy milk. Then if you don’t have a refrigerator, you can just use each one singly on cold cereal or granola in the morning.

Of course, if you have time to run to a grocery store for non-dairy milk, that’s better. You can find non-dairy milk all over the place now – even places like Target and Walmart.

Baked tofu in vacuum-sealed packages

I count on baked tofu slabs as a really substantive and filling option. They are good for breakfast, as a sandwich filling, as an addition to a bed picnic (more on that in a bit), or as a quick snack that will keep me going until mealtime.

They’re also great to throw in the cooler on road trips or for taking food on a plane. You can find them at almost any natural food store. Trader Joe’s sells their own label of them, and so does Wildwood.

Kale salad in plastic tub. Wildwood baked tofu in packaging.

Stock up at the deli

When I make my natural grocery store run, the deli usually offers a wealth of vegan options. I especially like substantive salads like wheat berry-based salads, bean salads, tofu salads, or kale salads with chickpeas.

Since those are protein-rich options, they keep me full for a lot longer than a salad that’s exclusively vegetable-based. You can get individual containers for the amount of days you’ll need them, and then throw one into your work bag each day.

While you’re there, see if any of the daily soups in the deli are vegan.

Hit the salad bar

Many grocery stores also have salad bars. Obviously you can make a salad. Or you can pick up slices of raw vegetables to eat as a snack on their own, with hummus for dipping, or as a sandwich topper.

Also, check out the pre-made salads for vegan options.

Vegan sandwich with mustard and salad.

Make a sandwich

Grab some vegan deli slices and make a sandwich with the aforementioned bread. While you’re at the grocery store, pick up some packets of mustard by the napkins and silverware.

Hummus or nut butter also works as a sandwich topper.

Shelf stable meals

If you won’t have a refrigerator in the room, check out some of the shelf stable meals sold in the center aisles of grocery stores.

I’ve seen a lot of people take metallic packets of Indian curry on camping trips. And that would work well in this scenario too. They come in microwavable pouches that you can just heat and eat.

Dry or canned soup

Canned soup with pull tabs are an option (so that you don’t have to be that person packing a can opener). Even easier, McDougall’s makes vegan dry soup mixes. You just have to add water.

Don’t forget the snacks!

Finally, no long work day is complete without snacks. Think trail mix, fruit, chips, or nuts.

Have a bed picnic

Hotel bed with tray holding crackers, non-dairy cheese, pickles, dolmas, and vegetables.

I never feel sad about a bed picnic. It’s basically the hotel version of a grazing board.

In fact, I’ve shared some of my bed picnics from Oklahoma, Omaha, and makeshift hotel nachos from just outside of Denver.

Here’s how to do the bed picnic like a pro.

Pick any or all of the following:

  • Fruit
  • Hummus
  • Nuts
  • Tofu slabs
  • Vegetable slices from the grocery store salad bar
  • Pre-made deli salads
  • Vegan deli slices
  • Vegan cheese
  • Vegan queso for in-room nachos
  • Crackers
  • Tortilla chips
  • Jalapeños
  • Olives (jarred or from the grocery store olive bar)
  • Dolmas (canned or from the deli)
  • Pickles (jarred or from the salad bar)
  • Guacamole
  • Salsa

I hope these vegan hotel tips give you a good starting point how to eat vegan while traveling.

Here are more helpful posts while you’re on the road:

  • How to get vegan meals at non-vegan restaurants
  • Vegan tips for taking food on a plane
  • Vegan fast food: Plant-based options on the go
  • Vegan options at the Denver International Airport

Content and photos updated November 2019. Originally posted August 2016.

How to eat vegan meals in a hotel, even if you only have a dorm-sized refrigerator | cadryskitchen.com

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Posted On: November 10, 2019
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About Cadry

Cadry Nelson is the writer, photographer, and recipe creator behind Cadry’s Kitchen, a vegan food & lifestyle blog started in 2009. Through approachable recipes, vegan travel guides, and down-to-earth discussions on the social aspects of being vegan, Cadry shows that living a vegan lifestyle is deliciously uncomplicated. Cadry has been featured on Mashable, Today, Reader's Digest, Yahoo, Delish, Shape, and Huffington Post.

Comments

  1. Tracey says

    August 18, 2016 at 8:00 am

    I love these ideas!! It couldn’t come at a more perfect time as I leave for vaca this weekend 🙂

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 18, 2016 at 10:36 am

      Thanks, Tracey! I hope you have fun on your vacation. Maybe it will be almost as glamorous as Grand Island, Nebraska. 😉

      Reply
  2. Marlene says

    August 18, 2016 at 8:29 am

    To take it one step further, there are a couple of vegan bloggers who travel for work (vegan macgyver and vegan roadie) who use the coffee pot, iron, hair dyer, ice bucket and other things available in hotel rooms to “cook” in their rooms. It’s inspiring, although I haven’t done much more than use the coffee pot for hot water for instant miso soup that comes in packets or oatmeal. Check them out on IG & YT and probably other social media! ?

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 18, 2016 at 10:37 am

      That’s awesome, Marlene! I admire their ingenuity. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  3. Shell says

    August 18, 2016 at 8:32 am

    So many great ideas for eating while traveling! I am happy to eat cereal for every meal and I’m your friend. Do you have another friend like that or am I said friend? 🙂

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 18, 2016 at 10:40 am

      Ha! You are said friend. 😀

      Reply
  4. Kim says

    August 18, 2016 at 4:31 pm

    We were so pleased that a hotel we stayed at included plain oatmeal as a hot breakfast option with soy milk on the side! We usually think it’s just going to be fruit for us at a breakfast buffet, so we were thrilled. Thanks for these great ideas!

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 19, 2016 at 9:12 am

      Wow, that’s terrific! I would have been very pleasantly surprised too. I keep hoping that as soy milk/tofu becomes more prevalent in other chains (like Starbucks, Chipotle, and Noodles & Company), that hotels will follow suit. It really seems like it’s only a matter of time.

      Reply
  5. Susan says

    August 18, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    I loved this post, I am always curious to what other vegans do when traveling.
    One thing I noticed when I first went to the US was that there isn’t always a fridge in every room! Or course I discovered this after I got back to the room with a bag full of goodies. At least it was just for one night! So I always try and make sure to get a room with a fridge when I am traveling there. Here in Australia, rooms almost always have a mini-fridge (aka the mini bar, generally stuffed with overpriced booze and chocolates) that I can use for storing stuff. Microwaves are not very common in rooms here, however. But a proper kettle is. In the US it all seemed to be those silly coffee makers. Kettles FTW!

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 19, 2016 at 9:17 am

      If you ask at the front desk, usually they will put a small refrigerator in your room if one isn’t already there. Although, there’s sometimes a $10/per day charge for that. A while back, we had a week of travel that involved staying at 3 different hotels. While we were at the first one in Minneapolis, I got a bunch of stuff at Herbivorous Butcher. Then I had to find a way to keep it cool for multiple stops. At the last hotel, there was no fridge, and I was so worried my stuff would go bad. But luckily, the hotel was able to bring one up to my room without too much difficulty. Phew! I would have hated for my precious bounty of seitan and vegan cheeses to go to waste. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Ryan C says

    August 19, 2016 at 1:16 am

    Whilst travelling in Europe, I’ve found it exceedingly easy to eat vegan, even in the smallest of towns, in the smallest of ‘pensions’ in Austria. Then again, I am a lover of some hearty bread, natural fruit spreads and muesli, for which the owner so graciously fetched a carton of soya milk for my use for the duration of my stay. Even their little local grocery stores were well-stocked with options aplenty.

    My Austrian relatives were shocked to hear how easily I was managing being vegan in their lovely town; though Vienna was a breeze, Freistadt was by no means a hardship! It also helps that the country’s largest grocer, Spar, has recently partnered with the Veganz chain to begin stocking a bounty of vegan options nationwide, from their smallest service station shops to their largest hypermarkets. (Woohoo!)

    Reply
    • Mary Ellen @ VNutrition says

      August 19, 2016 at 6:37 am

      I was just traveling in Europe myself and I love Spars and I finally found a Veganz! Both are awesome for vegan food items. 🙂

      Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 19, 2016 at 9:20 am

      That’s a great point, Ryan! We’ve eaten very well in Europe as well. The spread of breakfasts tend to be much better suited to a whole foods, plant-based diet. We had a particularly good experience at a B&B in the Cotswolds in England. The proprietor got a box of soy milk for our personal refrigerator, along with having a generous spread of vegan options at breakfast.

      Reply
    • Karen Joslin says

      May 16, 2017 at 9:55 am

      Does anyone know how vegan-friendly Iceland is? My omni man and I are considering going there for summer vacation.

      Reply
      • Robin says

        November 25, 2018 at 7:36 pm

        First of all, awesome choice for a summer vacation- it’s gorgeous. It’s not especially veg friendly; when I was there two years ago I had my best meals from grocery stores. You won’t starve like you might in say, Senegal, but you’re probably looking at pasta or pasta.

        Edinburgh, Paris, London, and anywhere in Costa Rica all surprised me as being very veg-friendly. India, not surprising.

        Senegal, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands (lots of dairy) and Hawaii were all challenging for me.

        Reply
  7. Mary Ellen @ VNutrition says

    August 19, 2016 at 6:43 am

    This is a great post Cadry! I’ve been in to my vegan travel board!

    I’m with you on trying to find a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s but places where you don’t have one I bring shelf stable soy milk with cereal or bagels with peanut butter for breakfast. I also bring MacDougal’s soup in a cup just in case I can’t find lunch or dinner.

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 19, 2016 at 9:22 am

      Thanks, Mary Ellen! It’s great to be well prepared. I’d much rather have more food than I need than not enough. After all, with shelf stable soups and whatnot, I can always eat them another time.

      Reply
  8. Melanie says

    August 21, 2016 at 7:44 am

    I’ve definitely employed all those strategies before, great list! It’s amazing how creative we can get when we need to be 😉

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 25, 2016 at 10:04 am

      Thanks, Melanie!

      Reply
  9. Amey says

    August 21, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    excellent post! I definitely love a good bed picnic. Since Musty isn’t vegan, I’ve had many a solo bed picnic over the years. There’s almost nothing I love more than browsing a new grocery store — especially in a foreign country…. so if I have that chance, I’ll definitely seize them moment and stock up on all sorts of goodies.

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 25, 2016 at 10:05 am

      You’re absolutely right about the joys of grocery stores – especially in foreign lands. On some trips, I’ve been known to visit multiple grocery stores a day. Luckily, David finds it endlessly interesting as well. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Mary Dmyterko says

    November 11, 2019 at 7:32 am

    My husband and I have been vegan for 10 years. At the time we were living in northwest Missouri and it was thanks to our local HyVee and Amy’s many vegan options that got us through that first summer without cheese. LOL But now it’s so exciting and satisfying to shop even at our local stores in Cañon City and up to Colorado Springs for a Trader Joe’s run. Since we live in the mountains we stock up and one of our favorite items is Trader Joe’s frozen mushrooms. For breakfast I sautee the mushrooms and then add slices of polenta. I love the combo. We also have sampled TJ’s soy ice cream. The price for a quart runs about 4 dollars. Recently we tried the cherry chocolate chip variety. Big chunks of dark chocolate and dried bing cherries. It gets 4 stars. Thank you for your blog. I really enjoy it. Mary Dmyterko, Cotopaxi. CO PS There is a restaurant in the Springs called the Burrowing Owl which is totally vegan. If you come this way, check it out.

    Reply
    • Cadry says

      November 12, 2019 at 9:00 am

      Hi, Mary! Thanks for your newsy message! I agree that vegan specialty products have really multiplied and improved over the years. It’s amazing to see the growth.

      Your mushroom and polenta dish sounds delicious. I just recently tried the cherry chocolate chip ice cream from Trader Joe’s too. So good!

      I’ll be sure to check out Burrowing Owl if I’m ever in that area. Thanks for the recommendation!

      Reply

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Welcome

Hi, I'm Cadry Nelson. I'm the recipe creator, writer, and photographer behind Cadry's Kitchen.

Cadry's Kitchen is a vegan food & travel blog. It features plant-based comfort food classics that are ready in about 30 minutes.

You can also find travelogues & recommendations on where to eat vegan while traveling - even in unlikely places!

Contact me at cadryskitchen@gmail.com.

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