Which is better: a hotel or an RV? Which is more affordable these days? If staying in campgrounds is so expensive, why not just stay in hotels? These are some of the questions that have come up in some of my recent weekly Crowded Campgrounds columns. Many commenters say they’re thinking about hanging up their RV’s keys for good and will travel by car instead. They mention that it would be easier to get a room at a hotel than it is a campsite, not to mention hotels are less expensive in the long run. Do you agree?
Forced to hotel it
As some of you may know, we were recently in Red Bay, Alabama, getting our motorhome repaired. We weren’t able to stay in it with the paint and fiberglass work being done, so my husband and I were hoteling it. One time we stayed at a cute boutique hotel in Red Bay. We were traveling in the area and stayed at an upscale hotel in downtown Tupelo, Mississippi, and then in a nice Holiday Inn.
They are easy to book but more expensive than campsite
We hadn’t stayed in a hotel in years and had the same kind of sticker shock that I got as campground fees began to rise. The prices for boutique, upscale and mid-range hotels run from three to five times more expensive than moderate RV sites. In one week we spent the equivalent of a month’s rental in an RV park!
Less crowding
One nice thing about booking hotels is that it’s just one easy click online and we’re done and booked. Only one hotel was running out of rooms, but that was okay—it was too expensive anyway. The time-consuming part was reading hotel reviews. We decided against the one that had bugs crawling up the walls and against the one with train noise. We can get train noise at a campground.
Gas is less
My tow car gets around 40 mpg, whereas the RV gets a “whopping” 9 mpg (11 mpg with a wind at our back). We have been traveling by car now and there is no contest on gas. The gas price round-trip from Red Bay, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, was about $40. If we had come down in the RV, as planned, it would have been at least $250.
When we factor in eating out and hotels, traveling is surprisingly less expensive in the RV, but that doesn’t count the cost of the RV, soaring interest rates, fuel, cost of a tow vehicle, maintenance or the huge repair bill we will face when we pick the RV back up in Red Bay. Travel might be less costly in an RV, but overall the expenses are more.
Hotel vs. RV: Which is better?
I sometimes consider not having an RV and making travel easier. Sometimes I think about just drastically downsizing. This trip was a good test for that.
There are pros and cons on both sides. But what I learned is that the RV pros, for us, outweigh the hotel pros.
RV pros
- Our own bed! Our own bathroom, towels, soap and couch
- No lugging stuff in and out of a hotel room
- Eating in RV is cheaper than eating out
- Excitement of pulling into a new campground, setting up and enjoying nature
- Meeting people—folks in a hotel just don’t talk
- No dubiously clean hotel rooms—thank goodness for Lysol spray and wipes!
- Walk more, sightsee more
Hotel pros
- Readily available
- Easy to book
- Gas in the car is cheaper
- Free breakfast (at some)
- Someone else cleans
- No RV investment, maintenance, insurance, storage
The hotels are fine, more than fine, and yet… there is no place like home, our RV home.
Everyone has their own preferences. What are yours and why?
##RVT1092
In my experience, RVers in the over 45 category, do not choose the RV vacation based on cost. It is a factor but not the primary. Things more important than cost are having your own pillow, your own floors if you are a bare footer, your own coffee maker, your own remote, your own pantry, your own toilet, a comfy chair or sofa, sweet treats on demand and much much more.
Last week’s $3mm Marathon is a good example of this. Even if one would/could stay in a $3,000.00/night hotel 150 nights per year, nothing can replace your pillow or your morning coffee routine or a bed that sends you into a restful state of recovery. There is no substitute for comfort. The feeling of a dirty floor in your bare feet in the middle if the night for a quick trip to the head….. etc.
Amen.
I agree, we are not full timers but i want my own bed, clean floors, toilet and kitchen. And not worry about who and what was there before me. RVing is easier when you travel with dogs. It is a convenience that i enjoy.
I tell people that the difference btw hotel and RVing vacations is that hotels cost $200/night but gas is $40/day, and with RVing overnight stays cost $40, but gas cost $200/day (that you travel). RVing saves money if don’t travel every day, which is usually the case.
That is my experience as well, in terms of cost.
Hahahaha! That’s pretty good, Jeff!
I started RVing in 1978, in all those years I never regretted the RV style of traveling. After 2 years under the present administration’s high gas prices we have given up on trying to travel with the TT, we traded the truck in for a hybrid car, dropped the TT off at the dealer we bought it from for a consignment sale and all our trips from FL back to TN(escaping 2 hurricanes, 1 to see a new great great grandson, plus a trip to IL for a family reunion have been in our new car at 47.9 mpg) all while staying in motels. So far no bugs, beds not as comfortable as our RV bed, but you can’t have everything. Just the hassle of carrying luggage to and from the car. I would love to go back to the RV way of traveling but I see no way in the future. We are octogenarians so the RV travel got to be difficult at times, but I still enjoyed it. Presently we are in the process of returning to TN permanently, we’ve had enough of FL’s high prices and extreme taxes, last Aprils $719.11 tags and drivers lic
enses soured our new life style. And everything else is adding up. Prices increase during snow bird season. No one forewarned us to stock up on supplies before the snow birds arrived. Everything has gone up 10-15% since December. Not that we’d have room to stock up anyway. Lol
Only fools believe gas prices are controlled by the president. They are controlled by the greedy corporations which received the LARGEEST TAX Giveaway ever in 2016. How is that working for you?
Actually, they are controlled by open market bidding and contracts influenced by supply and demand. Supply is impacted by many factors including the current administration’s anti fossil fuel policies. While I do agree that the POTUS does not “control” them, politically driven policies can and do have an influence.
“Big Oil” profits can vary significantly YTY, but over time they average around 6 to 7% Net. For integrated oil companies (from crude to pump) here are the stats from Forbes:
“At the gas tank integrated oil companies make about 7 cents per gallon. Meanwhile, the government extracts more than 48 cents, on average, per gallon. That’s right: Uncle Sam takes nearly seven times more out of drivers’ wallets via taxation than “Big Oil.”
How’s THAT working for you!
Thanks Spike. Economics is hard for many to comprehend. Next lesson is how stock ownership of these corporations works and how we are all invested one way or another.
Of course, without that gas tax, you wouldn’t have roads to drive on.
Are you of the opinion that your gas taxes are going to the roads? Kind of like your social security taxes were/are used for SS. Does the term “Lock box”, ring a bell?
Correct on diversions from both federal and state Highway funds.
https://www.cato.org/blog/highways-gas-tax-diversions#:~:text=Federal%20fuel%20taxes%20and%20vehicle,this%20Federal%20Highway%20Administration%20table.
Which is one reason we immediately need road taxes on all electric vehicles since the projection is that they will be the vast majority of vehicles in a decade or two. Either that or expect an explosion of Toll Roads as states grapple with declining revenues for road maintenance and construction.
You are correct…nothing is free even though many seem to think so.
Boom. 👍
If the gas taxes were used for road upkeep they would all be smooth as glass. The large part of gas taxes is used to supplement mass transit in cities to prevent the necessity of raising fares to the hundreds of thousands of voters in that city. Most highway users don’t live and vote in the city so the politicians spend the tax money keeping the inner city dwellers(voters) happy.
👍🏼
I guess someone should have told Biden he had no control on prices and perhaps he would not have released millions of barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve. Seems that fools follow fools. How’s that working for you?
If we get pulled into another war those emergency reserves of oil our fearless leader sold to china will be our nemesis while our idled refineries get back up to speed. The oil industry doesn’t operate on a yearly basis that the great leader offered them 1 year leases on drilling. They don’t go out looking for drilling sites on a 1 year lease, they have to know they can be there several years in case they drill and find nothing but mud. Quit watching CNN and MSNBC.
That one company that one year. On average, oil companies pay a tax rate significantly higher than the corporate rate. This is information that is easily found online.
But like all parrots and puppets, you just regurgitate what you’ve been spoon-fed without any actual clue what’s going on. How’s that working for you?? I guess it keeps you blissfully ignorant. Maybe that’s what you want…
If cost is such a factor we’d all be better off staying home and spending that money on a great TV, cable, streaming, etc. We went from travelling on 2 wheels and staying in motels to travelling on 6 and staying in our own RV. We always accept the expense and remain grateful that we can still enjoy being able to travel and explore. I have to admit I don’t miss riding through an unfamiliar urban area in the snow and rain. No fun on 6 wheels. Terrifying on 2 wheels.
I think you forgot an item that is very important to pet owners, the cost (and anxiety) of putting your pet(s) in a kennel. Many hotels will not allow pets and if they do there is often a charge involved. In our area of NC we spend about $80 a night to board our two Mini Aussies. Dropping them off the day before we leave on a trip, and picking them up the day after we return, turns a seven day trip into nine days of boarding, or about $720 in expense. That will pay for a lot of gas AND we get to keep the dogs with us, which is why we got them in the first place.
Since I have significant food allergies, eating at restaurants is not easy (or even possible most of the time). If you compare the cost of RVing vs. Hotel rooms with full kitchens, in or very near Banff and Jasper, RVing wins hands down for cost.
I find the argument about this topic can be easily skewed in favor of the opinion writer.
My opinion follows: Unless you full time in an RV the point in favor of hotel vs RV is moot. Tried as hard as I could I could NEVER fully convince either my wife or myself of economics proving the argument the author of this article made claim to. Most of our RVing was spent as work campers in state and federal parks so it was more of living and “working” a job. We did travel as sightseers a couple of times.
My final opinion of the matter is that we can travel, cruise, fly, rent cars, stay in **** hotels for at least two weeks a year for WAY less than doing the same in an RV. Our RV cost us at least $1,000 a month if just sitting and way more when traveling. $12,000 buys one heck of a vacation!
For those lugging along medical equipment like a CPAP, no contest: rv wins.
Hmm…RV , no contest. In last 10 years we did 2 cross country moves. We drove. Hotel prices are ridiculously high. We have used major chains and some of the drive in smaller chains. You know the ones that say 49.99 night only that is for only 2 rooms in the 100 room building. Most whether $100-$300 a night we experienced were filthy! Dust, mold coming out of and around AC vents ( freq in Southern states) , carpet I refuse to put bare feet on, rooms dont pass the smell test, bathrooms with body hair on around toilets and tubs, on & on. Customer service in most was non existent. Oh they will listen to your complaints but do nothing about it. In my rv I am not going to catch some disease. I can be barefoot, sleep comfortably. We travel for 3-4 months of the year. Bought an RV within our means, use state, fed, blm, coe sites. 3 years ago cost us $30/day Inc our grocery costs. More recent $50/day.
Cost and comfort makes it a no brainer for us!
Sorry, L Bosford. I just noticed this comment from you sitting in the Spam folder. I don’t know why our (sometimes overzealous) filter thought this was Spam. Have a great day! 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Not one mention yet of the money you SPENT purchasing your RV, the maintenance cost of owning your RV, the insurance cost of owning your RV, the DEPRECIATION cost of owning your RV ALL resulting in a HUGE EXPENDITURE just to own that RV that you use how many days a year?
Be honest now! That number of days of use of your RV is a lot less than you think it is!
A CPAP machine fits in a car, specific foods fit in a car, $200/night Hotels is NOT the norm in most areas of the country and all the other excuses listing below in other posts are just a way for “YOU TO JUSTIFY” your reasons why a RV is “Hands Down The Best Choice”!
Think about the things that make RVing so satisfying and rarely do they involve MONEY. The people you meet, the evenings at the campground, the open road, the sites you see and more. That’s what makes RVing “Hands Down The Best Choice”.
It truly is sad that so much today in our lives and discussions “Is All About The Money”!!!
Actually those costs were listed in the hotel pros. In no way did they remotely suggest “RV is “Hands Down The Best Choice”.
Notice how my use of quotes here is appropriate whereas you were basically telling a lie…
As full time RVers we rarely stay in a hotel. But policies have changed there also. Once upon a time you could cancel a reservation with no fees by 6PM on the arrival date. Now you will pay 1 night fee if canceled after 4PM on the DAY BEFORE ARRIVAL. LaQuinta claims to be pet friendly and we used them for years because they were. Now they charge a $25 to $50 PER NIGHT fee for a pet and a $250 fine if you dont tell them. This escalates the hotel charges and also makes you NOT make a reservation in advance…just show up when you’re SURE you will stay that night. Sound familiar?
LaQuinta USED to have a consistent policy across the chain regarding pets. After Wyndham bought the chain, ‘pet friendly’ policies can and often do vary from specific location to location. And I cannot just go online and book a string of LaQuinta hotels on a cross country trip when we have pets. I have to research each hotel’s policies before booking and typically the pet fee will be charged at the hotel rather than bundled into the web-booking price.
We don’t have a choice when we travel with pets in deep freeze conditions, but otherwise we use our 21 foot ‘rolling hotel room’ travel trailer with far less stress for both us and our pets. Given we use that TT for other reasons, the fixed expense is covered elsewhere. And when you only look at the marginal expense compared to a decent hotel room, the TT is overall much less expensive.
The best thing I like about RVing is packing and unpacking once. We spend 3 months living in our RV each winter (as well as many other weekly trips during the year), and the cost for a campsite and making our own meals for that length of time is far cheaper than 3 months in a hotel and eating out. But our primary motive for RVing is not cost but comfort. We love our little home on wheels.
Traveling in RV is kinda like traveling on a cruise ship. You board once with your stuff and leave once with your stuff. And we eat the food we choose and cook ourselves- important if you watch what you eat as opposed to restaurant food which may taste good but God only knows what is in it (like cruise food!) . RVing can be (is) a big PITA. And it’s NOT cheaper, when ALL costs are factored in. For us, its really about the schlepping of “stuff” and the food. We’ll continue to RV as long as we can…then we’ll digress to hotels, I suppose. And for us…RVing is a hobby…hotels are not. Both can be fun…and both can suck.
Agree with all your points…
Hotels, vrbo become expensive for longer stays, RV’s become less expensive for longer stays. While you may or may not find people with things you have in common in a hotel, RV stays you are sure to find people with things you have in common, an RV for starters. Hotels you have limited food choices, mostly eating out, with an RV you can fully enjoy either. Hotel you have your luggage and maybe a bike on a rack, RV you have all your stuff, all your cloths, your hobbies, your gadgets even if you don’t need it. RV you can live in nature aka trees river lake rural or urban, hotels are somewhat limited or a least a drive to see nature. Hotels you can travel worldwide, with your own RV you are somewhat limited to North America but its a big place. I love driving my RV, massive windshield, convenience of having everything on the road, lunch where and when you want it. In the car, driving is good, can’t say I love it, eating in restaurants or on picnic tables.
I’m sitting in a hotel as I write this. The first time in a hotel in at least 2 years. I paid $189.00 for the hotel plus $50.00 for dinner last night. All so I could attend an RV show LOL! The hotel is actually nice and clean and the free breakfast was pretty good. Instead of $200.00 in gas, it cost about $40.00 in my little car. So, the hotel route wasn’t that much more expensive. However, nothing beats sleeping in your own bed and enjoying a campsite in my opinion.
I love my RV, and no matter how often I think about giving it up…I can’t. However that said, we have done one switch – we no longer use it in So.Calif. It really IS cheaper to hotel it there than camp! We used to live there before we sold out and went f/t, so many of our friends and family are still there. We would go there for about 3-4 weeks to visit everyone, but the prices kept going up and up until it just priced us out! Now, if we go, we just go for a shorter time and hotel it. My husband hates to even step foot in the state, but I miss seeing my friends and family so we go from time to time, but not in the RV any longer.
I’m with your husband. I said for many years it’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. Now I wouldn’t even want to visit.
Too bad … Your political life is stopping you from enjoying a beautiful place .. and I don’t live there!
Bill, you do realize that the political life is Two Way. But I do get your point. We should also love those that we most disagree with. At least tolerate and show respect. It’s also mentioned in the bible, so I value those instructions seriously.
But in-regards to those comments on this thread, could it be the excessive cost as compared to other states that also influences where one chooses to spend one’s time and resources? There are also safety issues, rudeness, cleanliness, lack of proper civil – judicial oversite when needed, and the lack of ability to protect oneself if the matter arises. Those are big questions that I consider, when I choose where I travel with my wife, children and grandchildren.
I agree the lack of law enforcement of criminals makes it to dangerous as far as I’m concerned. I would go to Chicago either nor Mexico or any other place where crime is rampant.
You’re partially right, but the price of gas and their regulations and laws make it very unappealing to me.
My career saw my traveling 43 years and the money involved with hotels is as varied as the cost of an RV. One thing is certain, the cheaper the hotel the higher the risk of landing in a “dump.” Due to a heavy travel season and a late reservation, I wound up in a dump where I put on my shoes to walk to the bathroom. Give me an RV.
There are repairs (there’s never a cheap repair) and the hassle that goes along with it. I’ve thought about giving up the RV after the repair bill drained my bank account but it always passes. The cost of eating during “hoteling” can “eat you alive” and restaurant food gets old fairly quickly.
So, in one respect, it is financial decision. If you are ok paying either travel cost, keep the RV. If it’s not giving you enough RV positives, hit the hotels. I would rather RV less than hit the hotels. My traveling career has made me unashamedly biased.
We strongly prefer the RV. We agree with your list of pros completely. But we have to add that our furkids are family. We have them set up in the RV to be safe, warm, cozy, watered, fed, pottied, etc. so that if when we leave the RV they are content, sleep, and are quiet. Find all of that even in a “pet friendly” hotel? We never have.
For me it’s simple. There are no hotels/ motels where I like to go. It has nothing to do with cost.
YES!
Most of us are afraid to calculate the cost of buying, owning, and operating our RV’s vs staying in hotels or VRBO’s. That’s because we love our RV’s and the lifestyle they bring. It was never a financial decision to start with. I too, have been afraid to get serious about the math, but I suspect that only those of us who spend several months a year in our RV’s are breaking even. That guy who takes his RV down to the lake 3 weekends a year can’t save enough to pay for his license and insurance. But still, we buy them; and some of us keep them, because the intangibles are worth it to us.
I do not leave my dog anywhere. My trailer is so small, it causes no extra gas usage. I would not have seen many places without the trailer, and it goes where most others cannot. I do not care to eat out alone unless it’s a drive through. The last hotel I stayed at made me stand around and wait while they checked to see if I stole anything which took a half-hour for them to find someone to check. It was not a cheap place. I was amazed. It’s hard to find good camp spots, but I’m not doing motels or hotels with dirty rugs and bugs! Some campgrounds have cabins and yurts, but those are a bit spendy and dirty also. I’ll keep my dinky trailer.
Unless it magically avoids the laws of physics, your trailer decreases your gas mileage.
Not necessarily .. Ford e350 with 460ci got 10 mpg totally empty except 2 people and 180# of dogs. Added a 7800# 24′ toy hauler and got … 10mpg
Had a ‘93 GMC 454 4.10:1 rear axle got 12mpg by itself 10.5 mpg pulling a 10,000 lb 5th wheel. Gas was $.69 9/10 then.
My 460 ford gets 10mpg loaded or empty. The Chevrolet 454s were the same loaded or empty
Yep
We decided to do a long trip in the car w/o the MH 2 years ago. Cost-wise it was a wash. Some of the cheaper motels were dumps, and some towns gave us little choice. We missed sleeping in our comfy bed, hated moving stuff in and out of the room, hated “covid” breakfasts in some places, and, due to staff shortages, often small town restaurants were closing early (if not permanently closed) and the food was meh. But, we traversed some lovely roads we wouldn’t have taken in the RV, didn’t have to hitch and unhitch the TOWD, had more time to sightsee, and less driving fatigue. We are taking another long trip this year—and we will drive the MH! East—West, home is best.
Hotels are just “out” for me, for several reasons. I’m scared stiff of bedbugs. Unsanitary carpet, bedding and bathroom are intolerable. I really dislike restaurant/fast food and microwave food. I can’t stand the nagging paranoia of having my vehicle broken into out in the parking lot/garage. And I always feel hotels are confining and stuffy, and views are rarely enjoyable. Elevators and hallways just give me the willies… no thanks.
Talk about paranoia!
We prefer our RV overwhelmingly because we travel with our dog. However, we learned that leaving the RV at home makes sense some of the time. Last spring we took 4 days to drive to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and back. We got a nice shoulder-season rate at a campground for several days and only had to walk over a dune to reach the beach. Unfortunately, the wind typically was so strong that we had to keep our slides retracted. Had we driven our toad and rented a house (almost all accept dogs), then travel days would have been halved and we would have enjoyed the entire rental house — no slides to worry about. We thereby would have had two additional days at the beach.
We’ve preferred camping for years while we explore. My husband won’t retire for a few years, so most trips are 8-16 nights.
The bed is good for my creaky joints and bad back; the last time I stayed in lodgings, I was tempted to move to sleeping on the floor. (Next time, I’m taking my therm-a-rest camping mattress just in case.)
We much prefer to eat our own food. I hate hauling my bag in and out of a hotel.
In some of the places we go, hotels rooms aren’t exactly close, plentiful, and/or affordable.
Overall, counting extra gas, upkeep on the trailer, etc., we still save money and are happier in our own space.
Well, I’m very glad you wrote this article and I think you raised some great points.
I’d like to add that you can save a lot of time and money booking hotels through Priceline the morning of the day you want to stay and often within a few hours of your anticipated location. Plus, we’ve found that staying in smaller towns will definitely give you the lowest price. If you are traveling, you just need a hotel room for the night.
As far as the RV repairs….on average, unfortunately, I’ve found that maintenance, upgrades and repairs are $1 per mile….it might be a little less…. but, figure at least 75 cents per mile and you’ll be in the ballpark. That’s VERY expensive…..of course, I’m driving a diesel which costs more to maintain. Your costs will vary, but, breaking down on the road is never fun.
When you factor in all the cost, I don’t think you’re saving any money with the RV, especially if you have financing plus interest and depreciation costs.
We travel with 3 big dogs so rving just makes sense since boarding them is so costly these days, 2 take meds and 1 is an old boxer. We love to walk trails and cook our own food when traveling. But the BEST thing is that I can buy all the souvenirs that I can haul home lol.
It’s a lot cheaper for us to stay in our RV in Las Vegas than it is to stay in a room at a casino because of their resort fees. plus our dog gets to go also.
We travel with a dog and 2 cats and that would be next to impossible in hotels! We love having our tiny house with us, being able to cook our meals and sleep in our own bed. And, as someone said, not lugging your stuff in and out of a hotel room at every stop is the best! I think, if you kept track of all the expenses, it might come out cheaper with the car and hotel but having your “house” with you is golden!!
I figure my motorhome costs around $2.50 per mile, that’s the all-in cost including fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, taxes, interest on the loan, and depreciation based on the cost of the RV itself. My car is about $0.35 per mile. It’s getting hard to find hotels for less than $100 a night, but campgrounds are still a lot less, and we occasionally boondock or moochdock. The biggest savings is probably meals – even the government rates allow $60 a day or more per person for meals, and that doesn’t allow for alcohol. Bottom line rule of thumb for us is the motorhome is cheaper if the trip is less than 100 miles a day, i.e. if we go coast to coast and back, about 6,000 miles, the RV is cheaper if we are gone for more than 60 days.
Admittedly this is a biased group to weight in on this question. I have owned various RVs for 40 years. Before retirement I drive a RV to attend various horse, sheep and dog competitions year around. Of course my year long retirement trips still include my retired and competing dogs. It can be hard to find a RV park that will let me stay with my very well trained dogs, almost as hard as finding a motel. But I prefer to travel with the RV. Yes it is slower, less flexible and costly. Also a depreciating asset. But it is comfortable for me and easier for the dogs. It is my choice, because I like it.
My 40 year career required me to stay in motels an average of 70 nights a year. I have no qualms about staying in motels, but then I have a level of motel that I seek.
Overall, I do not think it is significantly cheaper to travel by RV. (Good economical meals can be found on the road, no cooking/no wash up) so you are preaching to the choir. This is a group of people who have already voted
We used to camp in Florida from January-March. This year we found a great condo right across from the beach for about $50.00 per night. The campgrounds here in Panama City Beach are on the average of $85.00 a night. That is just for the spot with full hook up. We have a class B and these places have very limited bathroom/shower facilities. We are already booked at a condo for next year right on the beach at only a slightly higher per day price. Campground pricing for the most part has gotten out of control
When reading the calculations of members on hotel vs. RV, one thing I did not see accounted for was opportunity cost. When my RV is sitting, I am still paying loan, insurance, storage, taxes, and that hidden depreciation figure! If I calculate those total ANNUAL expenses, divided by the number of days actually used, I get better picture of the cost of use. Then I can compare my hotel bills.
As children, we would go to the beach for a week. Rented a small cottage or hotel room with kitchenette. Somehow we managed not to starve or go out to expensive restaurants every night Some RVs have about as much kitchen space as that hotel room.
It is difficult to put a price tag on things like convenience, stress, safety, etc. Whichever way you calculate it, one thing seems to be consistent: we human creatures will usually find a way to justify those things that are important to us. Just different strokes for different folks.
Travel with two dogs…hotels are getting more friendly toward dogs but they are few and far between and sometimes not the nicest places! I had to travel by car to MT from NV and back twice last year and stayed at the same hotels that would take dogs around SLC, one nice one and one sketchy.
I love that I can pull over and take a break and/or nap. I can have food and drinks at my finger tips. I also travel with my baby, (dog), so I can run the generator and a/c if I need to go someplace he can’t go. And I always have a bathroom available! I often stay at Walmarts or truck stops with RV parking when I’m traveling between destinations, more for convenience than cost, I’m often not close to camping and dont want to travel miles out of my way to find a campground. Over the years I have gone from a diesel pusher with tow vehicle down to a 29 ft. Class B+, I no longer tow a vehicle, but I still have all the comforts. Hotels are great, but I prefer the RV life.
Apples and oranges. The big picture is that owning, operating and maintaining an rv is gonna cost more than staying in moderate priced hotels ($100-$200 nightly) we average $40-$80 a night for fhu so unless your boondocking every night.. Having and using an RV is a lifestyle choice. It’s like asking whether you’d rather go on a cruise or stay at a luxury resort? You can’t really compare the two. We average 10,000 miles a year traveling around this great country on several small and long trips a year. Sometimes we stay at a hotel for a night while doing that for various reasons, we also have to travel with our 18 year old mutt so hotels when we do stay are usually best western. I love the mobility and comfort of traveling with the rv. Hotels are for a different type of travel really.
We have a small toy hauler that we pull behind my F150 Ecoboost. Figuring the differences in gas when pulling the toy hauler, we have discovered that any trip less than 4 days duration is cheaper to stay in a motel/hotel and carry our motorcycles on our small 10ft trailer. Anything over four days the gasoline and RV spot pulling the trailer is cheaper.
Mike J.
In the past 30 years of dragging trailers and now with my Class B Roadtrek, the ability to never have to use those filthy and creepy Interstate rest area bathrooms is worth all the gas, maintenance, and insurance payments.
Agree with your pros and cons, our RV wins for us also. We travel with our dog and will be adding our cat this year. We spent a weekend at an upscale ($500/night) dog friendly resort hotel in MD last summer. Curtains had been torn/chewed, stained carpet, spiders in the bathroom along with hair that wasn’t any of ours. A quick look in the emergency stairwell found trash and cigarette butts everywhere. We did have an enjoyable weekend stay at a dog friendly ($250/night) hotel in ME last fall. My wife attended a convention in MA last month and again found hair in the bathroom that wasn’t hers. A bright spot is that we’ve never found bed bugs. Needless to say, we much prefer our home on wheels, cooking meals inside or outside, sleeping with the fur babies, and a clean, private bathroom steps away.
We boondock a lot but even staying in a campground, with or without hookups, is still my preference. It’s just more relaxing to be in your own environment.