There’s not a lot of content on the Internet about the cost of living in hotels full time. Most people who adopt a nomadic lifestyle opt for some combination of AirBnb, monthly leases, or extended stays in hostels.
The purpose of these updates is to provide a picture of what it actually costs to live in hotel rooms. These numbers aren’t hypothetical. All of these hotels were what I felt was the best available choice for a variety of reasons including cost, ongoing promotions, specific locations, etc. In all cases these are last minute bookings, two weeks or less from arrival.
Eventually I’d like to gather enough data to compare typical rooms across hotel chains or by continent. But this sample is fairly representative of what to expect for anyone contemplating the cost of living in hotels while traveling for an extended period.
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Cost of Living in Hotels Nightly Breakdown
From January 2025 until the end of June the nightly breakdown was as follows:
- 130 at sea
- 48 in hotels
- 5 visiting family
Out of the 48 nights in hotels, the breakdown was as follows:
- 18 in Hilton hotels
- 10 in Choice Hotels
- 8 at Caesars Las Vegas Hotels
- 6 in Wyndham hotels
- 2 at an independent hotel
Points earned through hotel stays were:
- 64,845 Hilton Honors Points
- 23,041 Wyndham Rewards Points
- 21,245 Choice Privileges Points
- 7,338 Citi Thank You Points
- 3,233 Capital One Miles
- 1,398 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Overview of the Numbers
Keeping the cost of living in hotels economical enough to make sense depends on my job as a merchant mariner. Spending a night at sea costs $0. Over time the cost of living in hotel rooms is averaged to about half when nights at sea are accounted for.
Total cost for that 183 day period was $4714.74. Average total cost of a room in the first half of 2025 was $98.20 with the most expensive room coming in at $152.48 (Homewood Suites Downtown Austin). That average includes 3 nights paid for with points. (60,000 Hilton Honors Points redeemed.)
At the most basic level The average cost per day over a 183 day period was $26.19. That’s equivalent to $785.79 in total monthly household expenses. It’s a significant savings over the cost of rent and bills, not to mention all the hotel rooms I used to book while paying rent.
These numbers don’t reflect the $2026 I won while staying in Vegas.
Best and Worst Hotels
The best hotel I stayed in during this period was the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. $81.86 per night including resort fees. Vegas is the hotel capital of the world and it’s hard to beat what they’ve got to offer there.
The worst was probably the Comfort Inn Deerfield Beach at $106.30 a night. It was fine for the money but overall unimpressive despite its proximity to the ocean.
So far the total spent on rooms has been $23,008.40, averaging out to $94.30 over 242 nights in hotels out of 545 since giving up an apartment.
