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Hotel vs. Vacation Rental: What's Your Tipping Point?

Posted by (Los Angeles) on

Hi all,

I'm curious about your decision-making process when choosing accommodations. Do you have a specific threshold (number of nights, group size, etc.) where you switch from booking hotels to vacation rentals?

I'm particularly interested in:

At what point does the extra space of an apartment outweigh hotel conveniences?
How do factors like kitchen access, laundry, and cost per night influence your choice?
Does your decision change based on destination type (city vs. village vs. countryside?
Does traveling during a holiday sway your decision?

For context, we typically stay somewhere for 3+ weeks and rent apartments. In this case, we are planning an 8-night trip to London over Christmas to visit our daughter and trying to decide between a few options.

I have Montague on the Garden booked, which seems like a home-away-from-home with the lobby areas, on-site restaurants and personal attention that I already have experience upon making my reservation. This seems Christmasy.

I also have a one-bedroom vacation apartment booked in Covent Garden through a rental agency. The space is nice; the apartment is a bit dated but in a great location on a beautiful street.

And, of course there are Radisson Blu hotels in the Covent Garden / Bloomsbury area, a Hoxton in Holborn -- all close to our daughter.

Would love to hear your experiences and any rules of thumb you follow!

Posted by
1473 posts

My tipping point is three nights - longer than that and I will choose an appartment. But it is more of a Rule-of-Thumb than a hard limit.

Important points are things like:

  • Washing machine - We never carry clothes for more than 6 days.
  • Kitchen/living room for breakfast - We like to sit several hours over breakfast (Reading news online and reading RS Travel Forum)
  • We have different "rythm"; My wife raises around 04:30 and makes a cup of coffee, while I sleep until around 07:00, so a living room with a closed door to the bed room is important.

We are currently staying in an appartment i Covent Garden area (side street to St Martins Lane) which is nice and central and - even on Friday and Saturday nights - not noisy. Two negative points:

  • there are 103 steps from street to door :-)
  • The shops around here are VERY touristy: more sandwiches than bread, more sweets than fruit

And it is still very hard to find non-alcoholic wine :-(

Posted by
3393 posts

I don’t have any set of requirements for either. Each trip is different. Like right now in Greenland we have had an apt most of the time but last night we were in a hotel as it was a one night stay and there are no rentals where we are. The town is only 800 people. We go back this evening and will have the apt for a few more days.

We like apts if we are doing a lot of activities so we can spread out a bit and then let gear dry etc.

We tend to cook easy meals in an apt, but mostly it’s nice to have a kitchen to make our own simple breakfasts.

It also depends on how much advice I think we will need. Hotels are better for that.

Posted by
1086 posts

Have you been in London over Christmas before? You might find cooking facilities useful, given the fact that a lot of restaurants close on Christmas Day. That would lean me towards an apartment - I’d go to M&S and buy a lot of delicious prepared Christmas food and do my own Christmas feast.

Although I’m sure the Montague’s restaurant will be in operation.

Posted by
612 posts

l.p.enersen- I recommend you check out Club Soda on Drury Lane- it has what you are looking for!

Posted by
17733 posts

I'm a little different. I always book hotels. However, for longer stays, I look for aparthotels/extended stay hotels. They offer apartment amenities but are actually hotels. There is a recepetion desk usually manned 24/7. No need to try to track down an owner. I get housekeeping and the basic supplies offered by hotels are restocked. If there are any noise issues or problems with neighboring rooms, the hotel will move me. Not so easily done in an apartment.

Since some are part of big chains, I may also get points towards future stays.

These type of hotels are one of the fastest growing segments in the hotel industry. It's a way to compete with AirBnb.

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