My body does not cope well with jet lag. Whether it be a four- or 12-hour time difference, my body clock takes about a week to reset. Which often means, I’m sleeping very little at night and functioning off of caffeine. And lots of it. 

So when I wake at 3 or 4am in a hotel room and have failed to fall back to sleep I like to make myself a cup of tea or coffee. But on a recent stay in New York City when I desperately went to reach for the in-room kettle I realised there wasn’t one. 

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Being accustomed to Australian and European hotels, it completely slipped my mind that in the United States of America, kettles are not a common household item. Yes, that’s right. Flipping the switch on a kettle is not part of Americans morning routine. Why? Mainly because their power outlets do not support most kettles, which require 240V of power to boil water. Only 120V of power comes out of sockets in the US. So electric kettles in America would take a really, really long time to boil. 

Plus, there isn’t a massive tea culture in the States as there is in Australia and Europe. So there is no need for rapidly boiled water. When it comes to coffee, most households have their own coffee machine that creates its own boiled water to brew coffee grounds. 

So how do Americans boil water if they need a cuppa? They use a microwave or stove top, which unfortunately are not key amenities in a hotel room. At some hotels you can request a kettle be brought to your room and in others you may just be out of luck. Hopefully your room has its own coffee maker, but that is not an essential amenity in hotels either so be sure to check what amenities are available in your room before booking if a kettle is a deal breaker. 

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