I’m writing this from a hotel room on Long Island.
These days, when Beth and I work away from home, we either book a hotel. stay with friends, or look for an Airbnb.
At the start of our career, though, this was not the case. Beth and I rarely spent a night away from home because A) we were poor and B) we had two small children.
Thanks to my mom, we were able to do early morning shows by sleeping over at her place with our children or she bunked at our place and got the kids to school. Sometimes, neighbors would have to grab our kids off the bus. Thank God we had a lot of support because we could not have built our career without these angels.
Eventually, the children became young adults and left the nest. We moved west, further away from our clientele (especially those on Long Island), and reevaluated our approach to early morning starts. Nowadays, we are inclined to secure lodging the night before a gig in the town where we are working. Energetically, it’s a lot better, though money is still a substantial consideration. I don’t have to tell you – dining out is expensive and the days of the $79 hotel are long gone.
When I started writing this post, I wondered to myself, “what do my friends think is a fair price for a hotel night?” Is it $150? $250? More?
As prices soared ever upwards in the last two years, a $119 stay at a Holiday Inn on Long Island increased to $179 or more. Last time I checked, a Marriott was a minimum of $100 more and there were fewer of them. But that may have changed.
If I’m honest, we used to spend most hotel nights at inexpensive Comfort Inns until we hit a string of them that were uncomfortable or, in one case, kind of grungy. For us, deciding to stay at Holiday Inns was a trade up.
This week and once per month from now until May, we have a two-day gig on Long Island that’s not close to a Holiday Inn. We decided to try an Econo Lodge (part of the Comfort Inn family) again to see if we could bear it. So far, I’m happy because we have a large, recently renovated room that’s clean and relatively quiet. Will we stay here, again? Can I request this room in advance?
For some folks, the Airbnb experience is much preferable. You can cook there (if the owner has a well-stocked kitchen) and the feel is more homey. Oftentimes, an Airbnb is in a residential area, so you can walk in the neighborhood. Where we are is close to gas stations, shopping centers and highways. It’s far from bucolic.
What’s your preferred lodging? Are you willing to pay more to get more? I’m curious!
