Any Ozbargainers Looked Into Living Long-Term in Short-Term Accommodation? E.g. Hotel/Serviced Apartment?

illumination on 14/02/2022 - 17:44
Last edited 14/02/2022 - 17:45

So before you bite and say, "obviously it's more expensive, why would you bother" - yes, I know. I am not thinking of the conventional ways of paying cash directly to do this. In fact, I'm thinking of something similar to how people "hack points" and "Fly First/Business Class for the cost of Economy" by figuring out the loopholes and sweet spots in various airline loyalty programs. Hotel loyalty programs also have sweet spots, but I am nowhere near as well versed in the hotel's loyalty programs as I am airline programs.

My thoughts are by combining things like Manufactured Spending, identifying the sweet spots of various programs which could give you benefits such as free breakfast and/or free room upgrades, plus buying hotel points on a discount, taking advantage of book X nights, get Y nights free, obtaining "free status" through various Credit Cards, you might be able to do this in a way that could even be cheaper than the traditional way of buying or renting a home.

It's not beyond me that what I've listed above amounts to a fair bit of effort too, to which a dollar value ought to be assigned to the potential time/effort required to pursue such an elaborate endeavour.

Of course, there'll be various pros and cons of this. Let's start with some cons.

Cons
  • No permanent place of residence (and thus no proof of address?)
  • Typically smaller living space
  • Limited flexibility in terms of decor, furniture
  • Less likely to be family-friendly (I presume "hacking" the cheaper, lower end rooms would be easier than suites/large serviced apartments)
Pros
  • "Fancyish" living
  • More convenient location…?
  • Cheaper (if you can "hack" it right? this is precisely the purpose of this post LOL)
  • Flexibility in not being locked in to a contract
  • No need to consider the need to buy and sell furniture

Anyway, the thought just crossed my mind as I'm in the process of looking for a place to live (in Singapore) and it's not particularly easy or cheap right now because the rental market there is going bonkers. I mean, not that short-term accommodation is ever cheap in Singapore, but as I said, I'm not here to imply that it is easy to achieve what I'm proposing. I'm more just putting it out there for discussion!

I'm also acutely aware that even if someone had this figured out, they'd be unlikely to post it on a public forum out of fear of ruining it for themselves, hahaha.

TLDR

Anyone looked into living long-term in short-term accommodation, and found ways to do it cheaper than the typical buying/renting a home method?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • mapax on 14/02/2022 - 17:57
    +1

    How much per night would you be willing to pay?

  • bobbified on 14/02/2022 - 17:59
    +2

    You'll need to have very-little-to-no possessions to be able to live that kind of lifestyle.
    And breakfast or other "benefits" you get would not be worth the extra shitload you have to pay for it.

    Also, amongst all my travels, I find that Singapore is one most expensive places in the world for hotels.

  • spackbace on 14/02/2022 - 18:04
    +5

    Cooped up in like 35sqm? Fk that

  • AustriaBargain on 14/02/2022 - 18:07

    I'd do it if I were rich. Then I'd get old and poor one day and they'd have to finally kick me out.

    • afoveht on 14/02/2022 - 20:59

      Nikola Tesla lasted the whole hog.

  • Quantumcat on 14/02/2022 - 18:14
    +2

    You can buy a room in a cruise ship. That would be much more pleasant than being in a tiny hotel and having to move constantly, plus stress to nature sure you had a roof over your head every night.

    • pharkurnell on 14/02/2022 - 18:17

      You only have to worry about eternal gastro outbrakes every trip… good for weight loss though

      • timthetoolman on 14/02/2022 - 18:30

        That's the only worry?
        Sorry boss, I won't make it in today, I'm in Fiji.

        • pharkurnell on 14/02/2022 - 18:32

          I'm in Fiji.

          … locked in a cabin spewin and shittin everywhere lolol!

        • oO0Dam0Oo on 14/02/2022 - 18:33

          Take it from someone who has worked in healthcare. After a while gastro is just a bad fart then its done and dusted with regular exposure… Well most of the time.

        • AustriaBargain on 14/02/2022 - 21:03

          You also need to look at fat old people in swimsuits.

    • AustriaBargain on 14/02/2022 - 21:02

      Clearly you've never been on a cruise ship.

      • Quantumcat on 14/02/2022 - 21:18

        I've been twice

  • [Deactivated] on 14/02/2022 - 20:47
    +2

    Con: you live in a hotel

    That's it. End of conversation. That covers everything.

    • illumination on 15/02/2022 - 05:44

      Wait, why. I surely can't be the only one that doesn't think of living in a hotel as being all that crappy…

      Maybe this is just reflective of a subpar, alternative "at home" living situation… HAHA

      • [Deactivated] on 15/02/2022 - 09:11
        +1

        have you stayed in a hotel for more than a few days?

        Notice how there's not a full kitchen, the couches are uncomfortable, the rooms are very tiny.

        Unless you mean a serviced apartment which is different.

        • illumination on 16/02/2022 - 00:50

          Yep, I have. I've done 2x 14 day quarantines during covid hahaha. Prior to that, hmm, nope..! But yea my experience didn't put me off at all. The food sucked though.

  • plmko on 14/02/2022 - 21:36
    +1

    Damn this is like volunteering to be the guy in the Terminal movie. At least that guy didn't pay a cent.

  • OzCheapo on 14/02/2022 - 21:56

    Forget Singapore, Melbourne's going lulu. People anticipating the open borders have driven price upp up up… to the moon

    • markathome on 15/02/2022 - 00:53

      This isn't my experience. But to be clear, are you referring to Melbourne rent or short-stay/hotel prices?

  • morse on 15/02/2022 - 04:23

    As far as I know most serviced apartments provide a different level of service to long term tenants. You can pay someone normal rent but you don’t get a cleaning service, breakfast etc. So it’s basically living in a small not very well kitted out apartment possibly in a good location. Perhaps with nice facilities such as a pool and gym, but you’ll be sharing it with other guests/tenants which can include screaming kids or just people with little regard for the building/others.

  • Cheaplikethebird on 15/02/2022 - 10:53
    +1

    Struggling to find it now but there used to be a video on YouTube about a guy in New York who was homeless but got by by moving from one housesitting job to the next. He had a hotel luggage trolley that he'd use to wheel his stuff between apartments and at every place he'd sit he'd find a nearby gym and sign up for a trial membership.

  • ultravanilla on 15/02/2022 - 11:03
    +1

    I have done several long term stays in serviced apartments… I think it's doable if you have the right mindset and lifestyle, but for me I'd rather a longer term rental where I'm able to kit it out how I like, even if it's for say a 3-4 month stay. You can just buy cheaper stuff and offload it on FB marketplace when you move on, and other transient workers, students and expats will usually snap it up, particularly somewhere like Singapore.

    The "fancy" novelty wears off quick. Once you're there more than a week, it's just a small space with bland furnishings, a barely functional kitchen and probably a weird stain somewhere on the wall/floor/ceiling.
    If there's more than one person in the space, make sure you all have activities outside of "home" that you do independently. Even if you're used to apartment living, it's that much smaller.
    Also, cleaning can be a bit of a nightmare. While some S/A might offer weekly or fortnightly cleaning service to long term guests, it's not generally thorough, so you'll end up wanting decent cleaning products and possibly a vacuum if you have rugs/carpet. Or you can try to time running into the cleaner and ask nicely to borrow theirs.

    I don't have any hacks on saving money or paying with flight/hotel points; It's been cheap for me only because my employer was paying an accommodation allowance. While there's flexibility with short stay accommodation, you'll get the best rates if you commit to longer stays eg. 30/60/90 night minimums etc.
    Is Singapore because of a job offer? If so, can you negotiate an accommodation allowance as part of your package, or does your employer already have an arrangement for accommodation with someone?
    If you're paying out of your own pocket, the money you spend on a longer term rental and furnishing it will probably still be cheaper than a serviced apartment stay of anything longer than a couple of months and you can spend your points on cheap flights and hotels to get out of Singapore.

    • illumination on 16/02/2022 - 00:54

      Yea my work situation is not the most straightforward. It's not quite a job "offer", but rather a continuation of my Singapore job (been working remotely for a while).

      Anyway, yea as I said in my OP, I was not really seriously considering it but I wanted to just generate some discussion, hear some other views and leverage off any research that anyone had previously done.

      Having read all the responses, I've gone from being about 4% keen on the idea to about 2% keen. But nonetheless, I've seen some interesting anecdotes shared here..!

      • ultravanilla on 16/02/2022 - 11:10

        Fair enough. Depending on how much work you have to do face to face, have you considered a vaccinated traveller/work pass and live in Johor Baru? Much cheaper living on the Malaysian side of the border.

        • illumination on 18/02/2022 - 15:43

          Yep I absolutely have considered that lol. I think I would more seriously consider this if it weren't for the border measures in place at the moment. Otherwise, it's not feasible/practical at all at the moment.

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