Living in a hotel for an extended period can feel like an adventure. Yet beyond the excitement of new cities and luxury amenities lies the question of cost and practicality. After months of living this way, breaking down expenses and weighing the benefits helps reveal the reality of long-term hotel stays.
We left Airbnb months ago and chose hotels instead. Before making the switch, we prepared by applying for credit cards that offered travel points. The Chase Business Preferred Credit Card proved essential, providing a welcome bonus of 100,000 Chase points. We transferred these points to Hyatt, ending up with 100,000 Hyatt points at the start. Along with additional points, we had about 400,000 Hyatt points ready to use when we began our hotel life.
Our journey in this lifestyle started in Taipei, Taiwan. We stayed three nights at a Category 1 Hyatt hotel, which cost only 15,000 points total. The hotel did not include meals, but that didn’t bother us. Taipei is known for its excellent food, so we enjoyed exploring the city’s vibrant culinary scene. Ordering food via apps and eating out was easy and affordable. Sampling local dishes enriched our experience and helped us connect with the culture during our short stay.
From Taipei, we moved on to Manila, Philippines. Here, we checked into the Grand Hyatt Manila, a high-end hotel with top-tier service. The hotel had a spa thermal suite that became a highlight of our stay. The spa featured a locker room, experience showers, steam and dry saunas, and a hot tub. I found this particularly relaxing and often used the facilities without seeing anyone else around. The spa’s quiet exclusivity added a sense of luxury to our routine.
The Grand Hyatt charged 12,000 points per night. Staying seven nights totaled 84,000 points. Combining that with Taipei’s usage, we spent 99,000 Hyatt points for 10 nights. We covered those points using the Chase Business Preferred Card offer, which meant the stay was essentially free for this part of our trip.
At the Grand Hyatt, we also used a guest of honor certificate to gain access to the Club Lounge. This perk included breakfast and dinner services. The lounge staff treated all guests with exceptional attention, responding promptly and warmly to every need. The experience felt almost royal. Though lunch wasn’t included, we found great places around the hotel to eat lunchtime meals. We enjoyed a mix of local and American foods. Over time, our tastes craved moments of familiarity, so meals like Denny’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and pizza offered comforting breaks from the local cuisine.
After Manila’s Grand Hyatt, we moved to the Crowne Plaza Manila. We stayed there for 16 nights. Unlike the Hyatt stays booked with points earned through credit cards, this stay used IHG points, specifically 174,000 points. These points cost about $870 when purchased during a sale, breaking down to roughly $54 per night. The best part was that booking with points didn’t involve extra taxes or fees, which often add to hotel stays when paying cash.
The Crowne Plaza experience also benefited from elite status perks. Ali held Platinum Elite status with IHG, which made obtaining room upgrades easier. We got a nice upgrade on this room and found many amenities accessible with that status. Obtaining the IHG Premier credit card made achieving Platinum status straightforward since the card includes this status as one of its benefits. It also carries a low annual fee.
Looking at the monthly costs, paying $54 per night at Crowne Plaza contrasts with paying cash directly for hotel rooms, which often run higher. However, the initial set-up with credit cards and transfers took planning and dedication. The points accumulated made many of the high-end stays feel more affordable or even free.
Living in hotels also brought unexpected challenges. For one, even the best spas segregated men and women, so shared experiences like spa time weren’t always possible. There were also moments when we questioned how long this lifestyle could remain sustainable. Many days we felt like business travelers, shifting hotels as new offers or deals popped up.
On a practical level, staying in hotels means fewer chances for personal cooking and more reliance on eating out or ordering food. This may not suit everyone’s tastes or health goals in the long run. Socially, hotel stays provide convenience but lack the community feeling of a neighborhood or home environment.
One thought that surprised us was that staying more nights does not always improve chances for upgrades or better service. Sometimes shorter stays mean more attention. Yet long stays created familiarity with hotel staff, especially when elite statuses came into play. That familiarity sometimes turned into perks or personal touches that enhanced the experience.
Our hotel living also showed how crucial travel credit cards have become. Their points can unlock quality rooms and experiences that would otherwise cost much more. Knowing how to earn and use these points efficiently can transform travel budgets and allow longer trips in comfort.
Ultimately, choosing to live in hotels for months involved weighing costs, loyalty programs, hotel perks, and personal preferences. It gave us access to great locations and services while requiring active management of points and spending. For people wanting flexibility and some luxury, it can work well for months at a time. However, the lifestyle demands both financial planning and adaptability to hotel living’s rhythms.
The hotel life offers interesting trade-offs — freedom from leases or homes but adjustment to transient spaces and hotel culture. Food, social life, and amenities differ from traditional living. Credit cards and point programs ease financial burdens and elevate experiences. Whether this lifestyle works depends on individual needs; for us, it has been a rewarding adventure with both highs and challenges.
Breaking down costs reveals that extended hotel stays do not have to be prohibitively expensive with the right strategies. Yet it remains a balancing act, blending points, loyalty, and day-to-day decisions to create comfort and sustainability. For anyone considering this path, understanding the nuances of points programs and real costs helps set realistic expectations and unlocks opportunities.
Living in hotels might not suit everyone, but for those open to it, it becomes a unique way to explore the world while maintaining a degree of comfort and convenience. The costs are real, but so are the rewards—rich experiences, flexible lifestyles, and surprising comforts found inside familiar hotel walls.
