And a couple of things I don’t.
Even though I sometimes call myself a digital nomad on Instagram, I’m far from it. I’m not spending my days working from a tropical beach, sipping cocktails while writing blog posts. The hashtag just works well on Instagram. I do live in a hotel and change jobs every few months and in 18 days I leave for Melbourne, Australia.
The transient nature of my life is partially from being a marketing generalist in an area filled with both talented marketers and companies that hire a LOT of short-term contractors. It’s all for chasing the money, and it’s not big bucks. But it’s a lot of fun and I learn lots and get to help many organizations with their marketing and communications. Oh, and most recently because I decided to go back to grad school.
However, I am loving living in a hotel. While, this time, it was for convenience, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made. And here is why.
It’s cheap
Seriously, it is. Monthly rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in downtown Seattle is around $2,000 per month. Even out of downtown it’s at least $1,500. Then you have utilities and internet on top of that. And you need to furnish it. Sure, I’m not in Seattle, but I’m close and I’m paying much less. My hotel apartment is huge and has a small kitchen. Also a nice bonus, that I didn’t know to budget for, is that after 30 days the Washington state hotel accommodation tax no longer applies AND all taxes were credited back to me. That rebate may have just funded my new Apple Watch. OK, it did with some cash left over. Hotel taxes are high.
No Maintenance
I’d be a terrible homeowner. Remember, in Sherlock (the BBC version) when Sherlock claims no knowledge of the solar system because it’s not useful knowledge to him? Home maintenance is not useful knowledge to me. There was a water leak in my first room in this hotel. It was under the carpet behind the kitchen cabinets. I reported it to reception and I was moved to another room. As simple as that.
No Commitment
Make a booking, tweak the booking (if needed), pack your bags and leave. My contract with Facebook was expected to run through until I left for Melbourne. There was even a Mashable article about it ending two months early, except they didn’t mention the three teams of contract market researchers let go. Living in a hotel means I can account for this, without leaving roommates in the lurch or having to give notice periods.
Housekeeping
I do enjoy walking in to a clean room after work on Tuesdays. The bed is made, the bathroom scrubbed, the room vacuumed. All included in the price. It’s great. If you’re curious, I still have to wash my own dishes and do my laundry. More on the laundry in a moment.
Convenience
Some may dispute the convenience, but I call it convenient. The hotel isn’t in a high traffic area and the nearest food is a Jack in the Box (it’s a step above McDonald’s?—I’ve never been so not real sure). It’s a 15-minute bus trip into downtown and the bus is hourly on weekends. There’s no supermarket nearby but there is Amazon Prime Now delivery for groceries (and cake and candy during the snow). It’s still convenient to get to work, and I only missed one day from the snow, but I think I was possibly overly cautious. See, that counts as convenient.
Hotel Laundries
This is the one thing I don’t always like about living in a hotel. There’s a coin laundry for guest use and most of the time there are enough machines. There’s only one week when all four washing machines were being used and three had someone else’s washing abandoned. Laundry took more than two hours that night.
Despite that inconvenience, I definitely recommend living in a hotel. If I could make it work for costs and location again, I will.
I’m intentionally not saying which hotel. Residence is the one big line I draw and I never share locations until after I’ve left. Send me a private message if you want hotel recommendations. I’ve only failed once with a cheap hotel.
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Featured Photo by Søren Astrup Jørgensen on Unsplash
