Where to source reasonably priced accommodations for medium-term trips back to the U.S?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You're temporarily going back to the U.S. for some reason.  For a short visit, you can stay in a reasonably priced hotel/motel. But what if you don't have any family/relatives in the U.S. anymore and need to stay two-weeks or a month or more?  Then what?

 

Nightly hotel-motel rates these days still can be very expensive, especially in the bigger cities near international airports. But you're not going to be staying so long that you likely can rent a furnished apartment month-to-month. So what to do?

 

Last time I checked, the alternative accommodation sites like VRBO and AirBNB seemed to have higher nightly rates in the U.S. than many of the reasonably priced hotels-motels, because those two services are often offering entire homes as opposed to a modest hotel room.

 

So, what to do for a two-week to two-month stay back in the States with no family/relatives to mooch on?

 

Edited May 8 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Sheryl]

Many Air bnb properties  have reduced rates for weekly/monthly. And Air bnb has rooms as well as entire places.

 

Obviously a lot depends on location and time of year.

 

Air bnb hosts, if they like you, may be willing to rent you directly after the aid bnb period ends.

 

 

 

[pomchop]

Get the IHG credit card and get 150 k points to use at holiday inn express and other of their brands.  In lots of places u can get a room for 10-15 k points per nght  sometimes even less 

 

Check out other credit card offers from the lower level hotels like choice....

 

have to have good credit of course and usually spend 3000 in 90 days and also pay a one time $95 fee.....

i often buy costco or sams club/walmart gift cards to fulfil the spend as they never expire and easy to use

 

u can likely get enough points for at least two weeks of rooms assuming you are not looking for hotels in major tourist cities during peak dates....

[soi3eddie]

Take a tent. Seems to be very popular as a form of housing in the USA these days.

 

Edited May 8 by soi3eddie

[bkk6060]

Abnb is cheaper then a hotel if you want to just stay in a room in someones house.  You obviously have access to their home, kitchen, TV, etc.  I personally cannot do it I am too use to my space and privacy.  But, for a few weeks for many it may be doable.

[ChipButty]

I have sent you a message with a link that rooms and co living spaces, not sure I can post the link here, 

[impulse]

On 5/9/2024 at 2:17 AM, Sheryl said:

Many Air bnb properties  have reduced rates for weekly/monthly. And Air bnb has rooms as well as entire places.

 

Obviously a lot depends on location and time of year.

 

Air bnb hosts, if they like you, may be willing to rent you directly after the aid bnb period ends.

 

+1 on AirBNB, especially of you can find a good landlord.  But be careful of the add-ons. I have some friends that rent out their places on AirBNB and they add $$ hundreds for a cleaning fee.  Some of them have a multi-page list of chores to be done upon leaving, lest they charge a penalty.  They're near the beach, so the market lets them get away with murder... 

 

Contrary to some posts, there's a lot of AirBNB's for an entire home, as opposed to a room in someone's home.

 

There are also a lot of extended stay hotels that have monthly room rates.  They cater mostly to business travelers on extended projects like plant turnarounds, etc.  I'd start with Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc.  Or Google "extended stay hotels".

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

23 minutes ago, impulse said:

There are also a lot of extended stay hotels that have monthly room rates. 

 

I was looking at the Extended Stay America chain in the U.S. lately... They claim to advertise monthly rates, and have an extended stay rate for anything longer than 14 days.

 

However, when I look at their actual rates, they bill those longer stay rates on a single night basis. And when you look at their broader rates, they have several other types of per night rates that are actually lower pricesthan their supposed longer stay rates....

 

I found nothing where you can actually book one of their rooms by the month -- set price for a full month stay.

 

[Cryingdick]

On 5/8/2024 at 5:55 PM, bkk6060 said:

Abnb is cheaper then a hotel if you want to just stay in a room in someones house.  You obviously have access to their home, kitchen, TV, etc.  I personally cannot do it I am too use to my space and privacy.  But, for a few weeks for many it may be doable.

There are many properties on Airbnb that you get your own unit. I have stayed in many carriage houses and upstairs apartments etc. for inner cities there are a ton of condos that are actually quite good for the price. 
 

I agree on not wanting to share but if you search right you don't have to.

 

That being said prices have really gone up in the past few years. The places I would go for were around $100 a night and pretty decent now go for $200 a night or more, 

 

I paid $1,800 for three weeks in Panama Beach a few years ago. Last time I searched it is now $5,000. 

 

I looked at Extended Stay America awhile back and they wanted more than $3,000 a month in some outer burb of Minneapolis. I don't find the value in that and it is how I found Airbnb. If Airbnb, Vrbo, don't have it, it doesn't exist.

 

cheap housing is becoming very scarce.

Edited May 10 by Cryingdick

[Yellowtail]

Just hide your passport and pretend like you don't speak English. 

 

Where are you looking? Typically, the further you get from major urban areas the better. 

 

Off season tourist areas are often pretty good. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

38 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

I looked at Extended Stay America awhile back and they wanted more than $3,000 a month in some outer burb of Minneapolis. I don't find the value in that and it is how I found Airbnb. If Airbnb, Vrbo, don't have it, it doesn't exist.

 

I was looking today at their (Extended Stay America) properties around the L.A. area, and they typically had nightly rates between $100 and $150, depending on the particular location.  However, at least around the L.A. area, a lot of their properties get pretty scuzzy reviews from customers about being dumps... not exactly the business traveler friendly image they try to portray.

 

Last year when I stayed in L.A., and in other trips, I typically -- with a fair bit of research work -- was able to find some national chain hotels (a Days Inn by Wyndham that I like) that are clean and well kept for around $100 per night. But you have to look.

 

Of course, if I was going to be there for a full month, that would mean a monthly rate of $3000+ -- which to me seems a crazy monthly price for a small but decent hotel room.

 

Edited May 10 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Cryingdick]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I was looking today at their (Extended Stay America) properties around the L.A. area, and they typically had nightly rates between $100 and $150, depending on the particular location.  However, at least around the L.A. area, a lot of their properties get pretty scuzzy reviews from customers about being dumps... not exactly the business traveler friendly image they try to portray.

 

Last year when I stayed in L.A., and in other trips, I typically -- with a fair bit of research work -- was able to find some national chain hotels (a Days Inn by Wyndham that I like) that are clean and well kept for around $100 per night. But you have to look.

 

 

 

the extended stays I saw where located around some mundane place like Land O' Lakes corporate headquarters or some other dull place.  Price sounds about right, they didn't seem to offer much if any discount for extended stays. I guess they think that is cheap enough already.

 

is it just me or have motels become way worse than I remember them as a kid? I remember when people would go on road trips and vacation in them. Free HBO!!!!!!

 

the last few motels I have used I refused to undress to sleep on the bed and kept above the blankets. It amazes me also how crackheads seem to pop up even in the most unlikely motel parking lots. More and more they seem to be making trade off the homeless and all that goes with that.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

41 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

I looked at Extended Stay America awhile back and they wanted more than $3,000 a month in some outer burb of Minneapolis. I don't find the value in that

 

You said you don't find value in that above... e.g. $100 a night in the suburbs... But then you mention that places you consider "pretty decent" are going for $200 per night or higher lately....

 

I'm not following???

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

is it just me or have motels become way worse than I remember them as a kid? I remember when people would go on road trips and vacation in them. Free HBO!!!!!!

 

the last few motels I have used I refused to undress to sleep on the bed and kept above the blankets. It amazes me also how crackheads seem to pop up even in the most unlikely motel parking lots. More and more they seem to be making trade off the homeless and all that goes with that.

 

I've noticed the same thing around the L.A. area... The typical motel clientele seems to have taken a big downward turn, and a lot of the properties are old and show little signs of any upkeep and improvements, making them a somewhat sketchy short-term accommodation option.

 

[Cryingdick]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You said you don't find value in that above... e.g. $100 a night in the suburbs... But then you mention that places you consider "pretty decent" are going for $200 per night or higher lately....

 

I'm not following???

 

 

The places I was staying in for $100 a night a couple years ago now go for $200 a night. I was looking to book a simple airbnb in Ann Arbor recently, which is midway up to my lake place. A couple years ago I had a decent spot in the center of town for around $100 all in. The last time I looked I couldn't find anything in the center and what was on the fringes was a little over $200. 
 

 

Edited May 10 by Cryingdick

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:

The places I was staying in for $100 a night a couple years ago now go for $200 a night. I was looking to book a simple airbnb in Ann Arbor recently, which is midway up to my lake place. A couple years ago I had a decent spot in the center of town for around $100 all in. The last time I looked I couldn't find anything in the center and what was on the fringes was a little over $200. 
 

 

Yikes!!!

 

Were there any decent, clean, modest hotel options available there in the $100 to $200 range? I'm thinking there had to have been.

 

As I mentioned above, I checked out AirBNB and VRBO prior to my U.S. (L.A.) trip last year, and didn't find anything in any area / setting I'd want to stay for anything close to the $100 per night hotel rate I ended up booking.

 

 

[Cryingdick]

Just now, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Yikes!!!

 

Were there any decent, clean, modest hotel options available there in the $100 to $200 range? I'm thinking there had to have been.

 

As I mentioned above, I checked out AirBNB and VRBO prior to my U.S. (L.A.) trip last year, and didn't find anything in any area / setting I'd want to stay for anything close to the $100 per night hotel rate I ended up booking.

 

 

 

if you moved more towards the Detroit side of the freeway there were options for around that. I can only imagine the nightlife. Now I just drive straight through to the UP even if it takes me ten hours from home. 
 

Yeah maybe out west you wouldn't find a decent Airbnb for that price. I live in a cheaper region. So I find it can be a better value if more than a motel more comfortable. 
 

I have a travel trailer be using the Hipcamp site to find cheap places when I travel these days. The nomadic lifestyle in the USA seems to be dying the place has become so crowded after Covid.