How to get a good rate on an extended stay hotel

[wendow]

We have sold our house and will close in a month. The housing market here in CO is pretty hot due to low inventory and high buyer demand. So, we haven't been able to find a house yet. We are also considering trying to go back to our home state of TX so this is making us think maybe we shouldn't buy anything right away anyway while my dh applies for jobs. He's been applying for a couple of months already in TX. SO, we need an extended stay hotel but wow, they are high!! We went into a couple today to check rates. I'm still waiting to hear back from the lady at Homewood Suites with a quote but it's looks like $3000 a month is the low end. This is just not affordable for us. We could stretch ourselves and spend probably $2500.

I guess I am looking for any and all tricks/tips for getting these lower. Has anyone stayed in one for a month or two with a family? How did you afford? Can you bid them on Priceline? Which chains are best? Which are cheap but still good?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm just panicking a bit. We are a family of 6.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[a1tinkfans]

maybe consider a house rental, month to month instead. Perhaps even someone that is vacationing/working/traveling abroad, etc...Not sure how to snag a cheaper long term hotel rental, but think certain brands....have more opportunities...is it LaQuinta? Marriott extended stay and from a while back, extended stay america??
Hope this helped a bit...
Atleast you are voluntarily moving on versus what so many others are going thru...ie foreclosure etc..
Always looking for the + side

Good Luck!!

 

[descovy]

We did extended stay hotel when our house sold in May and our new one wasn't ready until July.

In our area, you can't rent a apartment that short. There is also the added expense of utilities, etc... Marriott was too expensive.

Your biggest problem is your family size. You will have to get 2 units most likely. We are a family of 5 and intown suites flat out said no. We went to an off brand one. It was in our neighborhood so we knew we were in a safe part of town. We paid $225/week in 07.

In June the kids and I went to my parents house for 3 weeks, and my husband couch surfed with an old friend. This helped with expenses as well as kept us sane.

It was stressful at the hotel. We were lucky we were in a familiar area, and had our stuff in a storage unit nearby... So we didn't have to pack much. Meals were the worst. We had a 2 burner stove, micro, fridge. But it was a different world shopping nearly every day. You can't buy anything big, so it was amazing how much our grocery bill shot up. We did eat out to the point of being sick of eating out.

It was summer, so we spent nearly everyday at the YMCA. It was an adventure. Having done it, I would do it over again. It was the most economical way to make this move happen.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

If you try googling "Furnished executive housing your city name" or "furnished corporate housing your city name" you'll find companies that rent out apartments and homes in nice nieghborhoods, fully furnished, for extended stays for folks either in your set of circumstances (although they mainly work with businesses, they're available to anyone) or folks who are living and working in a place for a month or two and don't want to stay in a hotel. We've stayed in such places on moves before.

 

[jsmith]

Not sure where you are in CO-the for sale signs in my area along with people i work with having homes on the market for months to a year and the number of short sales says the market is still pretty buyer friendly here. But-perhaps you would be better served by taking a six month lease on an appartment and then just paying to break the lease when (if) you move back to Texas. That will take the pressure of the huge rent off and if you are there even 60 days save you a huge amount of money. It will also give you time to consider your housing options where you are if it should turn out that you are not able to return to TX. Again-not sure where you are and in some areas the soft sales market has pushed rents quiet high so this wont be the best option in all areas.

 

[wendow]

maybe consider a house rental, month to month instead. Perhaps even someone that is vacationing/working/traveling abroad, etc...Not sure how to snag a cheaper long term hotel rental, but think certain brands....have more opportunities...is it LaQuinta? Marriott extended stay and from a while back, extended stay america??
Hope this helped a bit...
Atleast you are voluntarily moving on versus what so many others are going thru...ie foreclosure etc..
Always looking for the + side

Good Luck!!

We've not been able to locate a house rental willing to go month to month. And homes on VRBO in our area have many of the nights we need booked up already so we'd be moving in and out, back and forth.

In our area, there are only two extended stays...a Marriott Townplace and a Homewood Suites. About 25-30 mins, there are several others and we may have to head that direction for competitive pricing but I was trying to avoid having to drive so much. My kids are involved in lots of activities on our current side of town.

And I am definitely thankful that this is all voluntary. We are not in a foreclosure situation or any other bad situation.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[wendow]

We did extended stay hotel when our house sold in May and our new one wasn't ready until July.

In our area, you can't rent a apartment that short. There is also the added expense of utilities, etc... Marriott was too expensive.

Your biggest problem is your family size. You will have to get 2 units most likely. We are a family of 5 and intown suites flat out said no. We went to an off brand one. It was in our neighborhood so we knew we were in a safe part of town. We paid $225/week in 07.

In June the kids and I went to my parents house for 3 weeks, and my husband couch surfed with an old friend. This helped with expenses as well as kept us sane.

It was stressful at the hotel. We were lucky we were in a familiar area, and had our stuff in a storage unit nearby... So we didn't have to pack much. Meals were the worst. We had a 2 burner stove, micro, fridge. But it was a different world shopping nearly every day. You can't buy anything big, so it was amazing how much our grocery bill shot up. We did eat out to the point of being sick of eating out.

It was summer, so we spent nearly everyday at the YMCA. It was an adventure. Having done it, I would do it over again. It was the most economical way to make this move happen.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was wondering if doing 2 smaller rooms would be less than the 2-bed prices. I think that would be fine also. I'll look into the pricing on that.

I am still trying to figure out how we'll grocery shop too during that time. We have food allergies with our kids so eating out much is hard. And we are typically Costco shoppers with a family this size. It's gonna be interesting!

 

[wendow]

If you try googling "Furnished executive housing your city name" or "furnished corporate housing your city name" you'll find companies that rent out apartments and homes in nice nieghborhoods, fully furnished, for extended stays for folks either in your set of circumstances (although they mainly work with businesses, they're available to anyone) or folks who are living and working in a place for a month or two and don't want to stay in a hotel. We've stayed in such places on moves before.

Thanks! I'll try this. A furnished home would be awesome!

 

[wendow]

Not sure where you are in CO-the for sale signs in my area along with people i work with having homes on the market for months to a year and the number of short sales says the market is still pretty buyer friendly here. But-perhaps you would be better served by taking a six month lease on an appartment and then just paying to break the lease when (if) you move back to Texas. That will take the pressure of the huge rent off and if you are there even 60 days save you a huge amount of money. It will also give you time to consider your housing options where you are if it should turn out that you are not able to return to TX. Again-not sure where you are and in some areas the soft sales market has pushed rents quiet high so this wont be the best option in all areas.

We are in southwest Littleton and homes are selling in a day or two and for way more than they would have 6 months ago. It's really quite nuts. Definitely seller's market on this side of town. We aren't looking anywhere else since this is where our 'life' is so I'm not sure what is going on in other CO areas. And yes, you are right on the rentals. They are high also and not very many vacancies. I don't think we want a 6mo lease. We had to pay one out years ago when we moved here to CO from TX and it cost us almost 2k

 

[kaytieeldr]

I found a sublet site that looked promising, except most of the rates are in the extended stay range. There was no picture of this one http://m.sublet.com/supplydetails.aspx?supplyid=2200933&supplierid=140354 but the price is fantastic.

 

[wendow]

I found a sublet site that looked promising, except most of the rates are in the extended stay range. There was no picture of this one http://m.sublet.com/supplydetails.aspx?supplyid=2200933&supplierid=140354 but the price is fantastic.

Thanks, I will check it out!!

 

[swilshire]

How about camping? It might sound a little crazy, but might be fun for a couple of months. Buy a trailer or motor home (probably cheap because of high gas prices) and find a nice long term campground. If you move to TX, you can take your new "mobile" home along with you to stay in while you search for a new house. If it isn't big enough to sleep six, you can put a tent or two next to it for sleeping. You can probably get most of your money back by selling it if you no longer want it in a few months.

We knew people who did this while one of the children worked (performed) in a city 200 miles from home. I've known a couple of other people who did this when they worked far from home and only went home on weekends. I have stayed in some terrific campgrounds in our limited experience with camping. The kids will make new friends and learn a lot from the experience.

Sheila

 

[wendow]

How about camping? It might sound a little crazy, but might be fun for a couple of months. Buy a trailer or motor home (probably cheap because of high gas prices) and find a nice long term campground. If you move to TX, you can take your new "mobile" home along with you to stay in while you search for a new house. If it isn't big enough to sleep six, you can put a tent or two next to it for sleeping. You can probably get most of your money back by selling it if you no longer want it in a few months.

We knew people who did this while one of the children worked (performed) in a city 200 miles from home. I've known a couple of other people who did this when they worked far from home and only went home on weekends. I have stayed in some terrific campgrounds in our limited experience with camping. The kids will make new friends and learn a lot from the experience.

Sheila

That is definitely thinking outside the box! It would probably be a last resort option for us but one I will keep in mind should we need it. Thanks

 

[jsmith]

Im in Colorado Springs-and had kind of assumed you were also and husband had just gotten out of the military-thats what you get for assuming. The housing market there has clearly picked up-we had a house in Westminster on the market for 8 months in 07/08.
To the poster who suggested camping-its a great idea but probably not practical for the OP-shes in a very urban area for one-and its really not feasible in Colorado this time of year-unless you are in a large well heated trailer or RV-we can still get very heavy snow until late april. My in-laws attempted living in a 5th wheel in Denver in the spring a few years ago-they lasted a week then found and extended stay hotel-in my basement.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Somewhere or other I dredged up a memory of a consultant who said he looks through the Craigslist sublets whenever he's on a contract in a city for a while.

http://denver.craigslist.org/search/sub?zoomToPosting=&altView=&query=littleton&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=

I went to the Denver Craigslist, then went to the sublet/short term rental page then did a search on Littleton. It looks like there are things in your price range that are fully furnished - with plenty of pictures and prices so you can browse at your leisure.

Good Luck!

 

[wendow]

Im in Colorado Springs-and had kind of assumed you were also and husband had just gotten out of the military-thats what you get for assuming. The housing market there has clearly picked up-we had a house in Westminster on the market for 8 months in 07/08.
To the poster who suggested camping-its a great idea but probably not practical for the OP-shes in a very urban area for one-and its really not feasible in Colorado this time of year-unless you are in a large well heated trailer or RV-we can still get very heavy snow until late april. My in-laws attempted living in a 5th wheel in Denver in the spring a few years ago-they lasted a week then found and extended stay hotel-in my basement.

Well, I'm not sure what is going on up in Westminster but definitely nothing sitting on the market more than a few days down here unless it's overpriced or undesirable. And prices have shot up so everything is pretty much overpriced imo.

I didn't even think about it being too cold to camp. You are definitely right about that! Brr, would be pretty miserable!

 

[wendow]

Somewhere or other I dredged up a memory of a consultant who said he looks through the Craigslist sublets whenever he's on a contract in a city for a while.

http://denver.craigslist.org/search/sub?zoomToPosting=&altView=&query=littleton&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=&bedrooms=

I went to the Denver Craigslist, then went to the sublet/short term rental page then did a search on Littleton. It looks like there are things in your price range that are fully furnished - with plenty of pictures and prices so you can browse at your leisure.

Good Luck!

Oh thanks! I tried to find my way area the rentals on CL but I guess I didn't know what I was doing. I'll check out your link