Karla News

Are Extended Stay Hotels a Good Value?

Extended Stay Hotels

Several years ago, I stayed in an extended stay hotel with my parents. We had moved from the UK to the US, and while looking for a house to buy my father’s company paid for four months accommodation in an extended stay hotel. We were lucky we did not have to pay for the extended hotel stay ourselves, but if we had, would it have been a good value? In fact, are extended stay hotels a good value overall, or would another long stay option, like an apartment, be better? I believe extended stay hotels are a good value for the money, and a better value than most other options – and here’s why.

Cost of Extended Stay Hotels vs. Services – When you stay in an extended stay hotel for a long period of time, there are certain services that come with the hotel. Swimming pools, gyms, maid service, room service, electricity and all utilities, free high-speed wireless internet, fully-equipped kitchens and even security. Staying in an extended stay hotel is like living in a self-enclosed world, where everything is taken care of. If you factor in the cost of a swimming pool, a monthly gym membership, maid service, internet service, free electricity, water and local calls and much more, you actually get away living quite cheaply. You can get a suite in an extended stay hotel for as little as $55 a night, or $1,650 a month for a family of three or four. Because it includes all the above services, you have nothing else to pay for except food (and continental breakfast is usually included in the hotel rate). Cheap at twice the price.

See also  Eating Near the Carnegie Mellon Campus

Cost of Extended Stay Hotels vs. Convenience – If you need to stay at a temporary location for a few weeks or a few months, it’s extremely difficult to find a landlord who will rent an apartment for that short a period of time. Sure, you can spend a long time looking for an apartment, deal with problem landlords, and still not find what you need. Or, you can just pull up to the first extended stay hotel that suits your needs and book yourself and your family a room. Much more convenient and much easier, at a much better value too.

Cost of Extended Stay Hotels vs. Ease of Mobility – Extended stay hotels are a good value because you can literally check out the minute you decide you want to move. If you have a short-term lease on an apartment, however, you have to either serve out the lease or pay a huge penalty to the landlord to be able to get out of the lease. What you save on renting an extended stay hotel room, you could easily lose when the landlord decides to keep your deposit.

No Deposit Needed for Extended Stay Hotels – When you move into an apartment on a short term lease, you always have to hand over a sizeable deposit. In the thousands of dollars range for some apartment buildings, if you move out and the landlord decides to keep some or all of your deposit, you either have to walk away from it or take him/her to small claims court to try to get it back. If you stay in an extended stay hotel suite, there’s no deposit, so if you suddenly find you have to leave there’s no deposit to lose either.

See also  Top Five Things to Do in Mexico City

No Cleaning Required When Leaving An Extended Stay Hotel – One thing I’ve always hated when I’ve had to move out of an apartment is the cleaning I have to do to get my deposit back. In an extended stay hotel, there’s no cleaning required. Just hand in your key and leave. The maid will get your cleaning done, while you are already settled into your next destination – refreshed, relaxed and unstressed.

Extended Stay Hotels For Relocations – If, like my family, you relocate from one place to another for a job, but you don’t have a house in the new place yet, staying in an extended stay hotel can be an excellent choice. When we moved, all of our belongings were in many enormous crates with a moving company. If we had moved into an apartment, the moving company would have had to move our belongings into the apartment, and then moved them out again when we found a house. But, staying in a fully-equipped extended stay hotel, we didn’t need any of our belongings with us and my father’s company paid for them to be stored. They remained in storage with the moving company until we found a house, then were moved in and unpacked. Staying in an extended stay hotel meant we only had to unpack once, and having moved so many times in my life I’ll support that every time.

I have always believed that staying in an extended stay hotel was a good value for the money. Not only is the cost not that high, but because it includes so many amenities, an extended stay hotel can be a very good deal. But, don’t forget when you stay in an extended stay hotel it’s not just the actual cost of the room, you’re also paying for convenience. To me, someone who has moved at least 30 times in her life, I’ll pay for convenience every time.