Why I Love Living in a Hotel

I love living in hotels!  We all do!  Sure we miss having organization and a way to cook our own food sometimes, but for the most part the benefits far outweigh the costs.  You see, I am more relaxed in a hotel and in our house, and a relaxed mom is a very good thing.


I have been quite spoiled over the past 5 years by having a wonderful housekeeper/nanny that worked with us multiple days per week pretty much taking care of the cleaning and most of the laundry.  But even then I still had plenty of cleaning up to do and then of course cooking!

I don't mean to complain but at times it can be overwhelming, especially when all I want to do is enjoy the kids, get messy, and not worry about it.  To me, it was worth it to have someone take care of the cleaning so I could focus on what really mattered...the kids!

But being the Type A personality that I am, I tend to worry about messes, nag people about them, and can generally ruin a perfectly good mess-making time by throwing out my anal attitude.  After living in hotels for 9 months I have learned to let a lot of that go.  Hopefully that can carry over to settled down life, but I will still want a housekeeper!

I know some of you will say I must be crazy, how could anyone want to live in a hotel?  I assure you I used to think the same thing until I did it!  To be clear we move around a lot and that helps. If staying in the same hotel for months on end, I don't think I would enjoy that. But when moving around we get new foods, new atmosphere, and the things we don't like about a place is as easy to fix as packing up our 5 bags and moving on!

So here are my reasons for loving life in a hotel.....

Less belongings We have less belongings because of our lifestyle and living in hotels encourages us to carry less. Having less things means less laundry, less responsibility, and less worrying! We carry 2 big packs, a small pack, and a couple day packs...that's it!  We pared down a whole large pack about 3 months ago and it felt great.

No cleaning  This is my personal favorite!  I do not clean at all, ever!  We usually go 2-3 days before having housekeeping come in, so I straighten up a little but with so few belongings and no kitchen there just isn't much to do.  Plus, if we do make a mess or just need cleaning more often we ask, it's included in our rate anyway!

No cooking  For me no cooking is both good and bad.  I do enjoy cooking some and feel we can eat more healthily when I do cook.  But it is time consuming for 5 people.  The preparing, shopping, actual cooking, and clean up takes at least 2 hours out of every day, then there is the angst I go through in trying to come up with new healthy meals that all my children will eat...no easy task in my household.  So, overall, I love not having the stresses or time constraints, but admittedly I do enjoy when we splurge and have an apartment or condo so I can cook some.

Very little laundry  I do some of my own laundry. In fact, I do not think I have hand washed so much clothing in all my life. Still, it's pretty limited. In Asia the cost is around $.50-.75 per kilo of laundry. That includes washing, drying, and the detergent.  It is also returned pressed and folded so that all we need to do is sort who's clothes go into which pack.  With 3 boys this is an unbelievable time saver.  I used to spend at least 1 hour a day on laundry!

Toilet paper and soaps provided  A small thing but still a cost savings.  We use the TP and soap that is provided as well as any toothpaste or shower caps (they make great little baggies:).  If you figure you spend $3-4 per week on these items, possibly more, it adds up quick over months and you never have to worry about running out!  All we need to do is send a child down top reception!

Towels and sheets changed anytime  I have to admit to being a bit on the lazy side when it comes to changing sheets.  I'm not sure what my problem is with it, but in hotels we certainly have the cleanest beds we have ever had.  It's also nice for the occasional bed-wetting accident (the 4-year-old just finished with Pull-ups, not me, I swear) as the sheets are changed and brand new within hours:)

No maintenance  When we lived a stationary life in a house, there were always things breaking.  Remotes dying out, pipes leaking, toilets not flushing and heat or AC shut down, so we were constantly fixing stuff & rolling around with our portable Air Con unit. The list goes on and on, but in a hotel it is another quick trip down to reception and usually within a day or less the problem is fixed free of charge. What is easier then that?

ROOM SERVICE   Okay, this may be my favorite part!  When you just don't even feel like leaving the room, or someone is sick (happens quite a bit tummy wise out here), or you want a late-night popcorn to watch a movie with, room service is the perfect thing.  Nothing is better then getting breakfast, lunch, or even dinner in bed and living in a hotel makes this an option whenever we want!

It is not the lifestyle for everyone.  Most people cannot even imagine it, but for us it has offered a freedom from the constraints of domestic life in order to enjoy each other more and focus on what we really want to be doing!  I know it won't last forever, and perhaps that is why the harder aspects to it are so easy to deal with, but for now we are quite content with it!  And did I mention almost all of them have pools??

As an aside, we have moved into an apartment for the next 3 months and I have to admit that steady internet, unpacking our things, and having our own kitchen has been very nice.  But deep in my heart I yearn to get back into those hotels and on the go.

What do you think?  Could you live in and out of hotels for 9 months or more??