Is it cheaper to live in a hotel?

[-]

Successful-Zebra-262@reddit

You can rent a decent hotel room in many places £500-£650 month

Reply

[-]

WarmTransportation35@reddit

£1000 for a week per person is not cheaper than a 3 star hotel.

Reply

[-]

Valuable-Wallaby-167@reddit

That 3 star hotel isn't also going to feed you, provide you with free gym access, do your laundry etc etc

Reply

[-]

WarmTransportation35@reddit

Lunch and dinner in cruises are free? Never been or wanted to one so don't know.

Reply

[-]

Valuable-Wallaby-167@reddit

Cruises tend to be all-inclusive

Reply

[-]

Bad_UsernameJoke94@reddit

And a lot more enjoyable to boot, probably. If I could afford to do so when Im older, I would. Travel the world and not have to do much for myself?

Reply

[-]

WarmTransportation35@reddit

I do like how on cruises strangers are more friendly and feel comfortable to talk to than on a regular holiday.

Reply

[-]

Years ago I went on a lower end relatively cheap cruise which had all inclusive as an additional extra you could pay for. Even on that one the meals and basic tea/coffee/water were included with the normal ticket, all inclusive just meant alcohol was included too. Worked out quite well for me because I don't drink anyway.

Reply

[-]

WarmTransportation35@reddit

Thank you for opening my eyes and getting rid of this image that cruises are super expensive. I thought the price was for common area, breakfast, room and maybe entry to shows but you had to pay for everything else. Guess it's like the package holidays in Spain but on a ship.

Reply

[-]

IntelligentDeal9721@reddit

You can live in hotels long term. There are sales people who live in hotels almost their entire life. I used to know one. Price is trickier - if you prebooked premier inn rooms around the UK when they were cheap you'd have travel costs but you'd see the arsehole of every interesting place in the UK in the process, you'd have inclusive cleaning, bills and usually even aircon. It might be cheaper than the equivalent fully serviced apartment but I doubt you'd go for that set of services and so the comparison to a "rental" in general seems stretched. A van might be cheaper.

Reply

[-]

Delicious-Cut-7911@reddit

I've heard of old people living on cruise ships because it is cheaper than old people care homes.

Reply

[-]

IntelligentDeal9721@reddit

To be fair so is dining out at the ritz half the time because a lot of care homes are a racket

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

Let's say the cheapest hotel averages around 50 quid a night. 30 x 50 = 1500 – hardly cheaper than a room or even a studio. Before you mention housing prices in South East and London, you also wouldn't find a hotel averaging at 50 a night either

Reply

[-]

WhaleMeatFantasy@reddit

There was a media article the other day about a bloke living in an all-inclusive hotel in Turkey because it was cheaper than his rent alone in the uk and he didn’t even live in London. Here it is. Sorry, Daily Fail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-13091743/amp/five-star-resort-Turkey-cheaper-UK-manchester-beach.html

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

I mean, you can move to a poorer country and have smaller expenses – it's not that surprising!

Reply

[-]

WhaleMeatFantasy@reddit

I don’t think it’s surprising. I do think it’s interesting that someone has actually done it. It’s also not something that was really possible before. WFH for most jobs has only been realistic since Covid.

Reply

[-]

sanehamster@reddit

I wouldnt absolutely depend on WFH when home is abroad being allowed. There can be legal or contractual issues. (Of course thats if the employer knows, though naturally no-one here would ever condone deception)

Reply

[-]

caniuserealname@reddit

Yeah.. the key detail there being *in turkey*. If you're going to move abroad it would be cheaper to rent abroad than live in a hotel abroad too. It's just generally cheaper to live in cheaper countries.

Reply

[-]

Al-Calavicci@reddit

To be fair you can get a youth hostel in London for £30 a night, so £900 a month.

Reply

[-]

wildOldcheesecake@reddit

That’s assuming they’d let you stay for that long. Highly doubt it!

Reply

[-]

Hip_Hip_Hipporay@reddit

Completely wrong. Many long-term workers in hostels. Why comment on something you know nothing about?

Reply

[-]

wildOldcheesecake@reddit

What?? Please reread what I said. I didn’t assume. I said that’s assuming.

Reply

[-]

KaleidoscopicColours@reddit

Lots of backpackers hostels take longer term occupants - typically those on working holiday visas Of course if you're a nuisance then you'll be gone pronto

Reply

[-]

wildOldcheesecake@reddit

Oh that’s actually good to know. I hope this info helps someone reading this

Reply

[-]

BroodLord1962@reddit

Yeah but does that include all meals or are you going to have to eat out, which is more expensive that cooking yourself at home.

Reply

[-]

Al-Calavicci@reddit

Don’t they usually have a kitchen facilities? To be honest I don’t know as I’ve never stayed in one, I only know they are £30 in London as just yesterday it was a conversation I had with a family member.

Reply

[-]

adamMatthews@reddit

They usually have a breakfast room with cereal, pastries, and watered down orange juice in tiny glasses. Most that I’ve been to didn’t have anywhere you could actually cook. A couple had a restaurant or tearoom on the side that you could buy food from. Really depends on the hostel though. Most of them are independent and non-profit. Things are cheap and facilities are lacking, but the savings get passed directly onto you so the rooms often have no markup at all after salaries and overhead costs.

Reply

[-]

BroodLord1962@reddit

You also won't have your own room

Reply

[-]

AbjectGovernment1247@reddit

But then you have to share a room with potentially awful strangers.

Reply

[-]

Al-Calavicci@reddit

Apparently you get your own room with a shower, don’t know about toilet facilities so guess they are shared. Totally not my scene though.

Reply

[-]

AbjectGovernment1247@reddit

Nor mine.

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

I wouldn't say these are equivalent though and think you can still find an actual room at £900

Reply

[-]

Hip_Hip_Hipporay@reddit

London-centric much? You can get a decent room in places like Manchester for 35 sometimes. It actually would be cheaper to live in a hotel when considering utilities and council tax. Except for not having a kitchen. So it would work out similar.

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

Sure, please show me a room in Manchester that would do a room for a month averaging at 35 a night

Reply

[-]

Loquis@reddit

But you also need to add in costs of running the place- gas, electric, water, council tax. For the hotel factor in food costs

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

I think 1500 is a decent budget for a studio and bills across most of the country?

Reply

[-]

KiNgTurTLeFaCe@reddit

A studio with bills would be far below that in the majority of the country, anything above about £900pm for that would be daylight robbery (even then I think thats a ridiculous price for a studio).

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

Yeah, I mean it's an example budget. I think you'd struggle to find a studio for 900 with bills included in some of the desirable cities

Reply

[-]

sleepyprojectionist@reddit

I’ve got a decent-sized studio in Manchester. Rent and bills together comes to approximately £785pcm.

Reply

[-]

KiNgTurTLeFaCe@reddit

Depends on the definition of desirable cities, but even places like Bristol you can find them closer to £900 than £1500. Its also worth pointing out that the "most of the country" as you have said previously is completley different to the desireable cities mentioned above. Saying all that, I used to live in North Wales and miss the house prices dearly 😭 I paid less than half of what I do now (1 bed flat in non-major Southern Town/City) for a 2 bed terraced house..... rental prices are just getting crazy nowadays!

Reply

[-]

JennyW93@reddit

I moved from N Wales to Aberdeen to Edinburgh and then ultimately back to N Wales when I wanted to buy instead of rent. I miss civilisation, but my wallet doesn’t.

Reply

[-]

Alarmed_Crazy_6620@reddit

Bristol studio for £900 with bills? Very-very tight

Reply

[-]

adammx125@reddit

Not saying it makes it cheaper, but some hotels offer a dramatically reduced nightly rate for a longer term stays.

Reply

[-]

A1700AW@reddit

Shared accommodation is the way to go, I would say. Far cheaper than a hotel, and with much more comfort.

Reply

[-]

CliffyGiro@reddit

> it seems impossible to afford a home Where? This is a very geographically specific issue. House prices vary wildly throughout the UK.

Reply

[-]

Revolutionary-Ad2355@reddit

Yeah, this. I live in the Scottish countryside in a 4 bedroom Detached house and I paid £275,000 - the same house in the south of England in a similar scenic setting would probably cost twice as much.

Reply

[-]

Key-Original-225@reddit

A 4 bed semi near me (Kent) is 600-700k

Reply

[-]

Revolutionary-Ad2355@reddit

Fucking hell that’s obscene - I know wages are higher down south but they’re not that much higher.

Reply

[-]

Key-Original-225@reddit

I live in a 2 bedroom flat, (1 of the bedrooms is so small, it’s actually only suitable for a office. It was 210k, it is in a nice rural area to be fair but the flat is tiny and was in a state of disrepair when we got it. Average 2 bed is between 250-400. It’s madness, 28 years ago my parents got a mortgage on a large 3 bed house. The house was 87k. That’ll never happen again.

Reply

[-]

Revolutionary-Ad2355@reddit

Yep that’s fucked up. I don’t know how people buy family houses down your way - it just seems ridiculous. My current house brand new was £55,000 24 years ago 😂 Yeah agree I think going forward it’s just going to get a lot worse too.

Reply

[-]

CliffyGiro@reddit

I also live in rural Scotland. Prices aren’t quite as good as 4 bed detached for £275,000 but close. I’m still within very easy commute to Edinburgh and Glasgow if I want/need to be in a city. Dundee and Perth are even closer but Perth doesn’t deserve to be called a City.

Reply

[-]

WarmTransportation35@reddit

An Australian would give you a different answer

Reply

[-]

updatedprocess@reddit

As would an Ethiopian.

Reply

[-]

DangerShart@reddit

There is a danger you get so bored you dismantle the Corby trouser press. If you take a 12 inch plate to the breakfast buffet though it can make it better value.

Reply

[-]

Hip_Hip_Hipporay@reddit

Better than living like some tramp in a lay-by.

Reply

[-]

Scary-Potato4247@reddit

Good ol' Alan! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swJFOE49LRQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swJFOE49LRQ)

Reply

[-]

nastypoker@reddit

I believe you are referring to a travel tavern rather than a hotel.

Reply

[-]

bez_lightyear@reddit

I don't care what you call your sordid little grief hole.

Reply

[-]

Candy_Lawn@reddit

just get Lynn to do it

Reply

[-]

Pheerandlowthing@reddit

Lynn I’ve pierced my foot on a spiiiiike

Reply

[-]

OldHelicopter256@reddit

Get a lock on that drawer as well.

Reply

[-]

Lower_Possession_697@reddit

I'm going round in circles.

Reply

[-]

biosmatrix@reddit

Could always go to b&q to get some tungsten tip screws

Reply

[-]

Lumpyproletarian@reddit

There was an older couple on local TV before the pandemic. They stayed in Travelodges and moved round the country staying in the ones when the £19 a night was on offer. They seemed to like it

Reply

[-]

jenangeles@reddit

I lived in a hostel when I was younger (late 20s/early 30s) which was great when you’re young and can work (housekeeping, leading pub crawls) in exchange for free/cheaper housing and laundry. Less great when I had to live in a hotel after an insurance claim for a month and a half, even the nicest hotel gets tired after a while when you’re older (40s) and having to WFH from a hotel room. I would shoot myself if I had to live there long term. The cost of living in the hotel was something like double our mortgage + the cost of having to buy meals out every day/eat meal deals because of no cooking facilities meant it got really expensive really quickly.

Reply

[-]

Quick_Syrup46@reddit

In and around London, I wouldn't be much worse off living in a hotel. You have the added bonus of having nowhere to buy and store shit you don't need, saving more money. If I was ever in the position to go down that route, I'd probably slum it in a van for the days/nights of the year when the temperature is comfortable, then hotels for the rest.

Reply

[-]

Conscious-Ball8373@reddit

Can't believe no-one's mentioned the obvious solution to hotel limits: A suite! Take, for instance, the Personality Suite at the Savoy, with entrance hall, open plan living/dining, bedroom, dressing room and bathroom. 68-80 square metres to call your own in central London with partial river views, all for as little as, er, £2,950 per night or £88.5k per month! A bargain!

Reply

[-]

Quality_Cabbage@reddit

Richard Harris lived there for several years. When he was being carried out on a stretcher, just before he died, he quipped to onlookers "It was the food!"

Reply

[-]

Quick_Syrup46@reddit

I'd certainly be taking the shampoo and shower gel for the nights back in the converted transit!

Reply

[-]

Separate-Ad-5255@reddit

If you want a cheaper alternative to the cost of living. I would personally get a static caravan, and a small plot of land. In the cities the land may be expensive, but in rural areas it should be cheaper you’ll still need a small amount but it certainly beats the costs of house prices.

Reply

[-]

YellowSubmarooned@reddit

They don’t let you do that without planning permission, which they never give. They want everybody feeding the machine.

Reply

[-]

Separate-Ad-5255@reddit

It depends, you can get planning friendly buildings. Even log cabins.

Reply

[-]

YellowSubmarooned@reddit

Good luck with that. It’s not the building type, it’s the change of use from agricultural to domestic dwelling that is the problem. It’s virtually impossible. If it was that simple everybody would be doing it already.

Reply

[-]

Separate-Ad-5255@reddit

There are ways around it. The amount of fields I’ve seen having caravans nearer a hedge hoping no one will notice is unreal.

Reply

[-]

YellowSubmarooned@reddit

There are no easy ways round it. Static caravans in the garden of your existing house, used by the occupiers of the house don’t need planning permission. These are what you are seeing. The only other way round it is if nobody rats you out to the council.

Reply

[-]

OccidentalTouriste@reddit

Are you Jack Reacher by any chance?

Reply

[-]

glumpoid92@reddit

Or a retired Major in Torquay....

Reply

[-]

BroodLord1962@reddit

No it's not cheaper really. You would only have one room, you would have to pay for all your meals apart from maybe breakfast, you would have to pay for your laundry to be done etc, etc, etc.

Reply

[-]

TowerHou@reddit

You can find extreme cases where running costs are similar but.. 1) You would be comparing a shabby hotel vs a regular studio 2) You'd have a terrible internet connection 3) You would not have access to cooking facilities, prepare to spend at least 2x on food 4) You'd be living far from public transports (they have a big impact on hotel prices) Even if you are able to compromise on location, it is never cheaper than renting, mainly due to hidden costs. It becomes more of an interesting comparison as the prices go up (i.e. comparing a £2500+ flat vs living in a hotel/serviced apartment/airbnb).

Reply

[-]

SausagenBacon@reddit

I was looking at booking an air bnb for a month recently as I was having trouble moving house. Found at least one for around £1k per month in SE London. I think you could, in theory, book air BnB’s for say 1-3 months at a time and move around. You’d have to live out of a suitcase though.

Reply

[-]

secret_side_quest@reddit

Not cheaper, but can definitely be done. After my great-uncle died, my great-aunt sold their house and most of her possessions and went to live in a luxury London hotel in Kensington. She lived there for 10 years until her physical decline meant she moved to a care home. She loved it at the hotel - all the staff knew her and took extra special care of her, and she loved meeting all sorts of people from around the world. She once had a proposal from a Saudi prince! She declined - she remained in full mourning for my great-uncle until the day she died. She was a proper British lady, a minor aristocrat. I don't think the hotel life would be for everyone, but it worked for her.

Reply

[-]

skybluepink77@reddit

There's an Airbnb I use occasionally when visiting friends, and there's a young guy there who lives there all the time \[and goes out to work, so he's not confined to his room!\]. This is a particularly cheap Airbnb, it's £40 a night including laundry/cleaning. So that's around £1200 a month, electricity, water etc all included and free parking too. But on the other hand - he doesn't get to use the garden, he has just a room and an ensuite, and the rooms are small. Very claustrophobic, you'd think, but the Airbnb owner said he'd been there two years!

Reply

[-]

Emotional-Ebb8321@reddit

haha no. Even in the cheap hotels, a room with single bed would set you back £30 a night. That's £900 a month, in an area where rent would be £600 a month. Add to that you're eating out every day because you don't have proper cooking facilities.

Reply

[-]

mkkz05@reddit

Alan Partridge did it... with hilarious results.

Reply

[-]

Lo_jak@reddit

If you really want to save money look at **Live-in property guardians** 100% not for me but I have seen an increasing number of people do this to get by

Reply

[-]

weeble182@reddit

I've had friends that did this about a decade or so ago. I nearly joined them in a property, but the appeal of living in an empty school was depressing so didn't bother. They lived in some incredible places though, always made an interesting visit

Reply

[-]

Gazz1e@reddit

I wouldn't say so at the moment. Hotel prices are supply and demand, the UK Gov are consuming lots of hotel rooms for migrants, which is pushing up the demand.

Reply

[-]

Lower_Possession_697@reddit

Do you struggle with maths? Or do you just not know the prices of hotels and renting?

Reply

[-]

WarmTransportation35@reddit

I think OP wants their maths confirmed or see if there is a hack that they don't know.

Reply

[-]

psvrgamer1@reddit

No a room in a house is about 16 pounds per day plus bills. That is for a room in a shared house in a good area at 500pcm. Gas, electric, water, council tax etc per day works out about £4.75 per day. Total cost in shared house £20.75 To go to a bad b&B these days would be about 50 pounds so far cheaper to rent in a shared house.

Reply

[-]

BaseballFuryThurman@reddit

AskUK moment

Reply

[-]

VikingCarpets@reddit

DAN!

Reply

[-]

sennalvera@reddit

No. A cheap hotel room might be £100/night. That's £3000/month. Even in London, it's cheaper to rent a room than live out of a hotel. And as far as I know hotels have policies against this anyway.

Reply

[-]

audienceandaudio@reddit

> Can you live in a hotel for long term? You *can*, but I'd be surprised if you find anywhere that it genuinely is cheaper than renting. Living in a hotel also (very likely) means no cooking facilities, so you have extra expenses in feeding yourself.

Reply

[-]

thecuriousiguana@reddit

And no laundry facilities. And very limited storage space.

Reply

[-]

Tim-Sanchez@reddit

I highly doubt you'd be allowed to by the hotel, but even if you could it wouldn't work out cheaper. £50 a night would be cheap for a hotel, but that's £1500 a month. In most parts of the country you can get a small flat and all bills for less than that, and in somewhere like London a hotel would be much more expensive. Even if it was cheaper, you'd then struggle to buy/store/cook food, need to use a launderette, and there'd be logistical issues around having no address. It would definitely work out worse.

Reply

[-]

rice_fish_and_eggs@reddit

The grail is a bus stop opposite a poorly maintained public toilet. Free water and shelter all year round.

Reply

[-]

BulkyAccident@reddit

No, it would almost never work out cheaper.

Reply

[-]

LifeNavigator@reddit

No, hotels in the UK is expensive.

Reply

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Reply

Reply to Post

101 Comments