It's no secret that in many urban areas, housing costs can be ridiculously expensive. We're looking at $1,200-$1,700 a month in some cities so living near where you work and having many paid-for luxuries at hand could be beneficial. Would free wi-fi and housekeeping be enough to make you live in a hotel for a decade? It was for Joy Bricker...
A woman in DC has recently moved out of the Marriot hotel she has been staying in for the last 10 years. 10 years people... 10 years. Housing rates were high and she would have paid something equal or greater in rent, so she decided so live at the hotel.
Although you can't exactly customize things to your liking she did add a divider screen to partition off the room into a dining and living area (it also holds family photos) and add small comforts like blankets and throws to make things feel more homey. The only real piece of furniture she added was a chair and she interacts with the staff regularly and even serves them tea.
Joy Bricker loved the free internet, pool, housekeeping and security and only left due to health reasons. You can read more on this story over at CNN. Would you consider living in a hotel? Or does the idea seem to lack a little personality for your style of living? Share your thoughts below!
Image: Flickr member makou0629 licensed for use by Creative Commons
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This post made me think of the Eloise books, with her living in the "tippy top" floor of a fancy hotel. :)
I've been in nice "residence" type hotels that with a little tweaking (hot plate and small convection oven plus some kitchen storage and a dishwasher) would make wonderful studio apartments. A regular hotel room - maybe not.
I have a coworker who has been living in the hotel across the highway for two years now.
I would definitely consider it an a larger metro area than where I currently live.
I would feel like I had my life 'on hold' if I was doing this, I can't even bear renting anymore, rather live in something humble that I can do what I like with, and can't be forced to move out of. But that is a luxury not all can afford I know.
This story is a nice change from all the hoarding horror stories on TV. I think people can live with very few personal items once they realize that they don't need that much stuff to be happy. It looks like that lady knew that she had a full life, good friends and family, her health, good memories, and didn't need much to prove her happiness.
I don't think this is so unusual - a great aunt of mine lived in a midtown residence-style hotel for years before she died in the early 80s. For her, it was convenient and she didn't have to worry about maintenance, etc. Granted, it wasn't the Marriott...
Two words: maid service.
As a previous poster said, it's a wonderful contrast to the hoarding horror stories. To be so free and unattached sounds very appealing, though I might have wished I could personalize it a little bit more.
As a sidebar, this hotel is right down the road from me and I have put family up there. It is pretty basic, but clean. It's a garden-style complex in a safe, residential area, and you do not have to go through the lobby to get to your room (in other words, it's not Eloise's hotel) The rooms are like a studio apartment, complete with kitchenettes. When you figure in the maid service, security, continental breakfast, wifi, and utilities, the amount she was paying was pretty competitive for Falls Church City.
I work for a Marriott in Ohio, and we were just talking about this this morning in our meeting! This isn't unusual at all. When I lived in Michigan, I worked for Marriott as well, and an elderly lady lived at the hotel for many many years. It was a Residence Inn, so it was like a studio apartment.
maybe if in a situation where I had to live somewhere for a year or 2 away from family & my own things in a new city yes.
I've never lived anywhere where it made sense financially but I'd do it.
For two years I lived in a studio efficiency that was smaller than some hotel rooms I've stayed in.
Couldn't do it, happily. Cooll enough for those who can...
Internet, HBO, toiletries, etc., are not "free" in hotels, they are factored into the room cost.
I used to joke with my recently deceased Mom that it would be cheaper and more fun for her to stay in the Providence Biltmore and have staff around to keep an eye on her and keep everything clean than to pay for assisted living / nursing home.
Turns out I was right, her assisted living cost anywhere from $5,000 to $6,000 per month (but included meals) or $150 - $200 night.
I have lived in hotels a couple times for a few months when traveling where I would have lived there if I worked longer in that city, especially if it was cheaper in the long run than renting a apartment.
No utilities, use of business equipment, phones, tv, room service, maid service, etc.. it makes sense.. :)
It's adorable that they list $1,700 a month as 'ridiculously expensive'! I would be lucky to pay that in rent alone, never mind utilities and in home entertainment, to live in my SF neighborhood in a one bedroom apartment.
I've heard of people spending their retirement on cruise ships because it's less expensive than some retirement communities. They get a clean room with housekeeping, all meals included, all kinds of entertainment and socializing, and access to the cruise medical team if needed. Sounds like a great way to spend your golden years to me!
I'm confused. If this place was less than $1500/mo, that would make it less than $50/night. Is that for real? Seems very cheap for a hotel...
Also about the San Francisco comment, $1500/mo is not really ridiculously expensive in this area either... I walk dogs in $3000/mo apartments just a few miles from this hotel.
My BF worked in Atlanta for a year and lived in a hotel room with a kitchenette. The monthly rate was the same as a 1-bedroom, but everything was included.
It was pretty sweet.
I get nostalgic, because now I live with him in an apartment in Pittsburgh, and we've got all the bills and no maid service, LOL
I would count myself lucky to retire widowed in the future for the duration to somewhere that nice. Most people wind up somewhere far less pleasant toward the end. That home wouldn't work for my current life stage with my husband, though.
Coco Chanel did it, at the Ritz in Paris (granted she was a fascist).
I think it is wonderful and absolutely I would live in a hotel full time. We have done essentially that for the last 5 years @ 250+ hotel nights a year. We travel for business and pleasure. We are not at the mercy of our "stuff".
I would gladly do it if a) I lived alone with no pets and b) I had ever lived anywhere that it was equal or cheaper than renting/buying a home.
I could do it for a year if in an interesting city, but I must have a couple of pets and a lot of plants, so I'd find a small home elsewhere.
We lived in a hotel for over two months last summer. We were moving from Boston, where our rent was $1400 before utilities and got a studio room with kitchen for $1500/month with internet and everything included, so it made financial sense. We wanted to buy a house before December, when I was due to have our son, so I just started looking as soon as we got here and we put an offer in on our house 3 weeks after we moved. We even kept the cat with us (although after an altercation with the cleaning lady, we had to cage him once a week when we let housekeeping in). My husband telecommuted to his work from the hotel room, and it was nice for a preggo not to have to worry about cleaning a whole house (or cleaning at all). Sometimes I miss just living in that one room, but it wouldn't work at all with the baby now.