If you have been following my site you know that about two years ago we planned to live in hotels long term. I then decided this wasn’t for us and I missed the homey feeling.
Well as a true female that changes her mind more often than my handbag, we decided to go back to full-time hotel living and after six months I am happy to report – I am loving it!
But let me backtrack and give you the full story.
I had written a post of my experience and the reasons why I love living in hotels and then I kind of thought well I think I had enough and I want my normal bed and house things.
So we moved to the amazing Pearl in Qatar which we were very lucky to call home for a year and a half. It is amazing and if you ever visit Qatar I think you will love the experience of this place. It is quiet, clean, full of expats, amazing restaurants, fun activities great charity projects and so much more.
We moved to a massive one-bedroom apartment and I did the whole thing of furnishing it with new things. – Thank God for IKEA
As there are always people coming and going to Qatar I knew it wouldn’t be hard for me to sell if I ever decided to.
Fast forward to a year and our contract was coming to an end. Since the blockade, prices of the hotels and the apartments all over Doha had gone down and our landlord who was living abroad decided he didn’t want to lower his rent!
So we had a choice.
We either stayed and paid rent or we moved to another flat cheaper somewhere on the Pearl… or we moved completely away and tried full-time hotel living once again.
Thankfully my husband is as crazy as me and pretty flexible so he said why not. 😎
Once again I sold our possessions (second time in a year and a half) and I think the only person who was tired and anxious about our decision was my mum, who kept feeling bad about me having to move again in a short space of time.
She shouldn’t!
Six months on full-time hotel living and we are loving it. We have no intention of going back to a flat (inshaAllah ) and we love our hotel room.
We decided that we didn’t want to live in The Pearl, although an amazing place it is not reflective of what true Qatar hs to offer.
It is an artificial island that is great for families with kids who can walk out and run but it’s not the true feel of experience a Middle Eastern life.
We wanted the true (or half ) option of Qatari life.
The other good thing with Qatar is that there are so many apartment hotels that you can pick and choose and you are spoilt for choice. Plus with the Qatar 2022, World Cup coming up the options get better and better.
As someone who loves new experiences and checking out new places, this was a perfect option.
Here is what we did with our full-time hotel living and why this time it worked for us
We did opt-in for a hotel with a studio option so we do have a washing machine and kitchen. I think one of the things I really knew I wanted was a washing machine I can wash and not have to go to the dry cleaners every day.
A small kitchen was another thing. I’m not a Michelin chef (though my husband would love it) but having the option to actually have a kitchen and just boil a kettle or make a salad is important to us.
Modern living. I wanted to feel like I’m in a hotel and enjoy some of the luxuries as well. There are many great hotels but their style doesn’t match mine I opted for a hotel with modern design and furniture so I feel the luxury every day. Yay!
We don’t have a contract. Although we have been in our place for over six months now, we don’t have a contract as we renew on a monthly basis. I find this a great option here as an expat. We can try a new hotel with only a month notice plus there are no deposits. Double Yay!
A hotel chain is the best option for me as the one thing I love more than my family is my points. Every month not only do I save money living in hotels long term but I also rank up thousands of loyalty points per month.
The goal is to spend them on a super expensive trip which I’m planning already. Truly loyalty points have transformed the way I travel.
Free breakfast with my top tier status is also amazing. Not only did I qualify for top-tier status with the largest hotel chain in the world but I also receive free lounge and breakfast.
Not saying this to brag but if you have the option to live in a hotel and have pretty much breakfast and snacks for free every day go for it.
All our bills and maintenance are included so we don’t have to worry about paying them or fixing a leaking toilet. When we were in our flat we had some issues sorting out the bills and settling the end of our rent.
Since we are in a different country I just prefer not having to deal with these things. Living in a hotel comes with bills and maintenance included.
Living in hotels long term also helps us save money and enjoy more things. Let’s be honest we came here to save cash and enjoy life so it makes sense to want to spend on cool things and Doha is one of the most expensive cities in the world.
I always try to maximise our spending and never spend unless I can get points that I can spend on something else, even if it means getting out of my way.
I call this, making my money work harder!
Last week I was in New York which is notorious for expensive hotels, but my points paid for a $400 dollar a night room because I earned them through my daily life here. This is in my book is an awesome money-saving tip!
So, in reality, I get to live and still be able to afford things I would have struggled to afford otherwise.
How Do you deal with Clutter?
We are minimalist focused or we try to be because when we were moving I realised my husband was way more minimalist than me. His toiletries fit in a tray while mine fit in an IKEA shopper bag. 😯
But by an average standard, we and our belongings fit in a studio hotel room, so I do consider us a minimalist couple.
Plus it forces us to maintain this lifestyle otherwise it’s easy when you have a large space to overfill it.
Full-Time Hotel Living is Not for Everyone
Now full-time hotel living is not for everyone of course and I believe that we failed the first time because where we were living is not what I enjoyed. It was an older property, a little dark for me and didn’t have some of the boxes I wanted to be ticked.
We enjoy the fact that we are not tied down to one place and although we like routine and I hate moving often it balances the fact we have the option.
We don’t plan on moving soon unless something happens and we are not happy, so it’s not like we hotel hop every month.
This was my initial long-term plan to hotel hop every month in Doha but it wasn’t viable. We do have too many things and little time. So we stay put for at least six months at a time.
Long-term hotel living in Doha is much easier than let’s say in the UK because there are many people doing this here. We are by far not unique in this regard.
With expat life and many hotel residences, it is easier for people to live this way and experience something they wouldn’t elsewhere.
For now, we are happy and we are staying put and if you are considering it I say go for it.
If you have any questions about living in hotels full time please drop them below. 🙂
