I am planning my trip, and deciding between renting a house or staying at a hotel. I am shooting for great luxury, and will be traveling with my GF and two teenage boys. Personally, I think the rental would be better, but a hotel should offer greater service and make things far easier. Any opinions?
You can be a transient for a while. How long will you be staying? Renting a house may not be a practical choice if you're only staying for a short time. On one hand, paying for a hotel room will cripple your budget if you stay there for weeks or a month. A good alternative would be a hostel or a budget hotel, which usually caters to those who travel in groups and can offer you large rooms for a fraction of the usual cost.
I definitely think that if I was in the one spot for a significant period of time that I would go with the rental option unless my budget was essentially unlimited. Yes, hotels certainly would have some conveniences that perhaps a rental wouldn't have, but from a simply financial standpoint I do believe that a rental would be a better option.
You don't say how long you will be in that one area. If you are staying for more than two weeks, a rental would make sense. Remember that if you rent, and they don't have a cleaning service, you will be cleaning house during your vacation.
I might stay up to three months, although no more than a month in any one spot. I am thinking of also going to Nepal, but that might be for a few days after the three months and before we return home. The cleaning thing is a problem, especially with two teenagers, but they are fairly good and not prone to messes. I am more concerned with laundry, which is always a chore to manage on long trips. That is a big benefit for hotels, since they have an easy service. At a rental, we would have to do it ourselves, which is ultimately a waste of time when we could be going out and seeing the country.
Sometimes the hotels will allow people who are not staying in the hotel to use the service. You might be able to make a few calls and see if you can find a hotel who has an open service, then you could still have your rental, and more privacy, and get the laundry taken care of as well.
