Condo vs. Hotel

Out of habit, the majority of travelers still think "hotel" when visiting a new city, even though there are so many other options available to them. Admittedly, there are advantages to any particular choice in lodging, but let’s have a look at why one might choose a condo over a hotel, or vice versa...

The average hotel room boasts 270-375 square feet of total space, while the average 1 bedroom condo has over 1000 square feet.

Some hotels have a kitchenette, while condos have a full kitchen, complete with cooking utensils, cookware, flatware, and dining-ware.

On the flipside, a hotel has room service, while a condo has delivery service. Typically, either one is going to take half an hour or more anyway.

A hotel typically has one restaurant in-house, while a condo has over a hundred options just out the front door. Staying in a condo urges the traveler to seek new dining opportunities outside the hotel.

One feels like a tourist staying in a hotel, versus feeling like a part of the community and culture while staying in a locally owned condo.

One of the biggest reasons to choose a condo instead of a hotel is money. Let’s face it. Hotel rates have shot through the roof over the past 5 years while they have lowered service levels, cleanliness, and quality. If you are a traveling family of 4, you can either get a room with 2 beds and pair up the kids – sharing the space with them, or you can get 2 to 3 connecting hotel rooms, thereby multiplying your room rate. The alternative to that would be a 2 bedroom condo, with full kitchen, 2 completely separate bedrooms, 2 separate bathrooms, a full sized living room, and a plasma flat screen television – all for less than the average hotel room rate!

The only time that staying in a hotel can be cheaper, typically, is when the traveler can only visit for 1 or 2 nights. In addition to any nightly rate at a condo, there is always a 1-time cleaning fee. Now, if you are staying for a week or two, the cleaning fee is averaged over that stay pretty easily, but if you stay for only a night or 2, the cleaning fee can seem hefty. This brings us to our next point: cleanliness.

A hotel has in-house-staff that clean the rooms. They clean to the standard set by their corporate management. Our condos are "deep-cleaned" by professional contract cleaners after each and every guest. This means that every bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and living space is cleaned top to bottom. Hotels rarely live up to this level of cleanliness.

In all fairness, there are some things you give up by staying in a condo instead of a hotel. You don’t have a check-in desk, a concierge, room service, or someone to call and bring you more towels to your room in a privately owned condo. It’s true. The "service end" just isn’t there as it would be at a hotel. You also do not have to go through the paperwork that you have to when renting a condo. Hotels accept credit cards, and privately owned condos do not. So, the experience is different, primarily on the "service end" and in ease of booking your stay.

On the flipside, all of this can be a positive for a condo stay as well – no opportunity for "bad service".

In review, each experience has its own positives and negatives. The condo offers a lot more space, real living quarters, and typically at a fraction of the cost. The hotel offers more services and ease.

We, at MSRP hope you make the right choice for you and your family. We hope you will choose on of our properties for your next visit to Charleston.

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