YOUR HOME AWAY 
Hotels often strive to provide guests with a “home-away-from-home” experience. But would it still feel this way after you’ve stayed there for a month? That is, are they a legitimate habitation option while you’re between homes?
Yes, they are. In fact, it’s an option many people choose when moving to a new home. And you’re about to find out why.
The truth is, there are a lot of unique benefits to relying on extended stay hotels for temporary housing. And we’ve listed the best ones below. Read on to learn why you should consider an extended stay hotel if you’re between houses.
Your new home may not be ready for habitation for some time. Many of your things will be in boxes and, therefore, inaccessible, until you or someone else gets around to unpacking them. If you forgot to label some of your boxes, this can take even longer.
But, whether or not your new home is ready for you, an extended stay hotel is always ready when you need it. You can move in immediately. Typically, this can be done with very short notice, too.
Other temporary housing options, like short-term apartment rentals, don’t make this quite so easy. That is, their approval process can take up to a month. Plus, these apartments are unlikely to be pre-furnished for your convenience.
We already mentioned how moving can be full of unexpected complications, like improperly labeled boxes. Even worse, your moving truck might be delayed. Then you have no boxes to sort through at all.
This could leave you without dishes for weeks. And when will your bed arrive?
You don’t have to worry about these things with extended stay hotels. They have everything you need fully accessible.
And, speaking of unpredictable, you might not have a home picked out at all. Sometimes people get evicted when they least expect it.
Perhaps you’ve had time to make arrangements for moving out but not enough time to find somewhere to move into. Your things are in public storage, but you can’t live there.
So, if you’re in-between homes when you weren’t prepared for it, extended stay hotels are there for you. They will be your temporary home while you find a more permanent one.
As mentioned, your furniture is ready and waiting for you at an extended stay hotel. Well, okay, it’s not your furniture. But it can be while your actual furniture is still on the way.
Plus, hotel furniture is probably more comfortable/in better condition than your own furniture, anyway. That is, hotels keep stocked with top-of-the-line furniture that is replaced before it even starts to get worn out. Can you say the same about your own furniture?
This point is extremely important for temporary housing options. Namely, how would you eat your food at a short-term apartment?
As we said, your dishes might be in storage or on a moving truck somewhere. Then, you’ll probably end up wasting money on disposable plates and silverware. (That doesn’t solve your lack of pots and pans, though.)
And, if you do decide to unpack these items in your temporary apartment, you’ll have to box them back up again when you move out in a month or two. That basically means you’re moving all over again!
Alternatively, you can book an extended stay hotel, complete with a fully-stocked, in-room kitchen.
You heard right. Moving to a temporary apartment means you have to move twice.
Anything you unpack has to be repacked. And anything you unloaded into your storage unit has to be loaded back up and shipped to your new home next month. To put it simply, “Ugh.”
Granted, with extended stay hotels, you will still have to move things out of public storage if necessary. But you definitely won’t have to worry about unpacking, repacking, and then unpacking again.
Besides dishes and beds, extended stay hotels have all the amenities and utilities you need, too. That includes wifi, electricity, waste management, and probably even a laundry service. There should even be a computer center where you can type, send, and print important documents for working at home.
In fact, it’s likely they’ll have more amenities than the actual, long-term home you’ll be moving to. These are hotels we’re talking about, after all.
Conversely, if you move to a short-term apartment rental, expect to pay $100–$150 for utilities each month that you stay. Don’t forget, that’s in addition to your rental fee. Whereas, with extended stay hotels, utilities are already factored into your rate.
That last point illustrates just how comfortable an extended stay hotel will make this uncomfortable transition. Specifically, hotels are designed to be even more comfortable and convenient than an actual home. Thus, this temporary home will feel more like a vacation (the good kind).
Lastly, your arrangements to stay at an extended stay hotel will be more flexible than those of a short-term rental. Typically, apartments make you pay, and stay, for the whole month. On the other hand, extended stay hotels could charge you per week.
This makes extended stay hotels affordable for a few reasons. First, the hotel will give you a discount off of their standard, nightly rate when you stay for a week or more.
Secondly, you might not need to stay a whole month. So why pay for the time you won’t use?
Thirdly, what if you have to stay for a tiny bit longer than a month? At extended stay hotels, you can pay for a month plus one night. But with short-term apartment housing, you’ll have to pay for two whole months.
Moving to a new home is always difficult and stressful. If you want to make it easier, consider booking an extended stay hotel during the transition.
Want to learn more about extended stay hotels? Then read this guide on why extended stay hotels are a great financial decision.