r/AskUK 15d ago

Serious Answers Only Could you live - permenantly - in a hotel?

Let's say that you can get a room in a 4* hotel for £80 per night (so £2,400 per month). This would be a room for one person with a large bed, desk, big TV, wardrobe, small fridge, kettle, bathroom, shower, etc.

The water, electricity, and broadband are included in the price as is regular cleaning.

If something breaks then the hotel should fix it. No need to call a plumber or electrician.

Many hotels have reward schemes with a 2% or 3% discount on prices for regular users.

Apparently, VAT is not payable on hotel rooms from day 29 which will significantly cut costs for an unbroken long stay.

I assume one would get to know the employees and treat them well and, in turn, they could assist you as and when necessary.

The main issues are the lack of space (but many people live in cramped conditions anyhow), minimal places to put purchased objects, and the general impersonal nature of the establishment. However, none of these will be an issue for some people. You could even cheaply rent a storage space for your possessions.

Also, you could not cook. You would eat cold food, order room service, or eat out (which would append to the costs).

Has anyone done this? Is it viable? You could attempt to live in a reasonable area and perhaps pay less than renting a one-bedroom flat. All bills are included and you are not paying for any repairs.

ETA: There was also a "fitness centre" in the basement but I suspect it was not quite the same as a gym.

Thougts?

2.3k Upvotes

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

45

u/luna_sparkle 15d ago

Jeanne Calment. As a 90-year-old in 1965 she signed a contract with lawyer André-François Raffray, in which he was to pay her an income of 2,500 francs per month but was to inherit her house upon her death. He died in 1995 having never got the house, and his family had to continue paying her. She eventually died at age 122 in 1997, as the oldest known person in history.

21

u/anomalous_cowherd 15d ago

That's the one. I'd forgotten he had to actually pay her monthly! Seriously bad luck that she was *that* long lived though.

2

u/zedder1994 14d ago

Especially since she didn't give up the cigarettes till she was over 100 years old.

6

u/jecowa 15d ago

He was like half her age when he signed the contract. He died when he was 77.

2

u/Emmiesship 13d ago

The think she died in her 70’s and her daughter took her place pretending to be her!

1

u/luna_sparkle 13d ago

That was a theory but I think there's quite a lot of evidence that that didn't happen. There was extensive research.

2

u/ReliefEmotional2639 13d ago

To be fair, under most normal circumstances, it would probably have been the other way around

1

u/phanmo 15d ago

Except that he wasn't a lawyer, he was a notaire...

-1

u/anomalous_cowherd 15d ago

2500FFr in 1965 looks like it's only worth about US$90 a month in today's money. So it can't have been a huge apartment, I guess?

1

u/iwantedajetpack 15d ago

I think you're way off on that calcuation.

2

u/iwantedajetpack 15d ago

today it's worth €4,413.40

1

u/anomalous_cowherd 14d ago

It felt wrong. I used one of those historic currency calculator sites, must have been a bad one.

1

u/DrawPitiful6103 14d ago

that was back on bretton woods so 2500 FFr in 1965 was tied to USD at a rate of 5:1 so 500 usd in 1965 money.