We hear it all the time from Folks with MHs and without, that it is cheaper to stay n Motels!Taint true McGheee!Friend from Church just back from Colorado hunting Elk.Nearly $3,000.00 for a week at one motel..plus tow staye each way at other motels.Roundcher Motels are well I don't know but I say 120,00 a night or less."Outwest" "Upnorth", Canada and Alaska a heck of a lot more, maybe 300.00 a night? or in the case of his stay to hunt Elk near $3,000.00 for 7 days.Or coach at 6mpg-7 mpg 3600 miles at least would be only $1200.00in fuel. RV parks $35.00-$50.00 a night? a total of 7 or probably 8 days there and back $1,600.00 possibly heck we can spend another $400.00 o on the trip and still have a $1,000.00 left for something. Staying longer and other variables.You can pay for the coach and sleep in your own bed eat your good food and not wear a mask, use your clean restroom and get better tv, meet other RVers have a heck of a lot more fun on the same dime. I expect. I am too something to crunch more realistic numbers but I think RVers can tell the Motel lobby to get a new calculator.

GDS-3950BH wrote:Add up the cost of ownership and maintenance, insurance and registration, and travel costs such as fuel/tolls and site fees, and no one can tell me it's cheaper than a hotel.Especially so now days with most business travel on hold, perhaps permanently. Most hotels sit next to empty and you're going to be seeing a lot of downsizing over the next couple of years. The hospitality industry is toast if you look into current events.For the cost of a 5th wheel and the truck required to pull it for 2 years we bought 40 secluded wooded acres on a mountainside in VA and built a cabin that would rival a lot of homes.It might be cheaper if full timing or using it a lot of nights, or you have a 20 yr old run down paid for MH and stay at cheap dumps, but I would doubt it.No way can it be cheaper for folks who work and get a few weekends or weeks use in a limited 6-7 month season, such as in the Northeast.

Insurance on a total of over two million including home and three vehicles and MH was only $3,600.00, I think.You forgot mortgage deduction for vacation home, as long as you use it two weeks per year. Maintenance is oil changes, and wipers etc. Forty acres and cabin is nice, but it is not quite the same as docking if you will where you want to fish or hunt or to sight see or family reunions and so on.Like I said I haven't tried to run a cost benefit spread sheet.Fire Insurance or Homeowners in an area that is remote and without municipal water and fire department can triple the cost of coverage or more and getting the construction/the cabin financed, welll a lot of banks and others wouldn't touch them. Those that do charge much higher interest rates especially if built of logs etc.Yes you might get by cheaper but you still want to travel don't you?Right now between coaches wife wants to go to Alaska. New Suburban 4x4 $76-80,000.00 and the bills will add up. I;m too old and broken to try to stay in a tent on hard ground in Grizzly Country and cook over a fire and jump in an ice cold sstrea3m to bathe.

Well In another place (Political) I often yammer about folks who never look at the OTHER SIDE of the Ledger. applies here too but not polically.When you travel by RV.. First Campgrounds range from around 30-40/night to OUCH. Hotels and motels... About the same price range only the OUCH is OUCH!!!!. And you still have a house you are paying for back "home" (the other side of the ledger)RV FUll time you don;t' have the house.With memberships I paid 90/month during most of the summer to park my RV (Full time) and around 200-250 per MONTH in the winter. That included Water, Sewer and Electric (Plus over the air TV)Since moving into an apartment my first Gas/Electrc bill is 120 bucks. They house ate over 200/month in Gas and electric.

As the cost of the RV goes up, the idea of saving money by RVing instead of a hotel goes away. We started with a pop up we bought barely used for $6k, and towed it with a vehicle we already had,so no added tow vehicle expense. We did 2 week long trips, and numerous long weekends every year, after 9 years, we sold it for $5k. A set of tires, and an anting were the only expenses we had. We saved tons of money staying in that little camper.Our current TT, we probably will break even over 5-10 years. It also depends on how many nights a year you use it. We still work full time, so our number of days are limited. When we retire, we’d like to spend a few months a year on the road, so that would bring the cost per night down.

Complaints about Cost of Mhs vs Motels | Good Sam Community

Heisenberg
Explorer
Dec 07, 2020
bedbugs
GDS-3950BH
Explorer
Dec 07, 2020
GDS-3950BH wrote:
Add up the cost of ownership and maintenance, insurance and registration, and travel costs such as fuel/tolls and site fees, and no one can tell me it's cheaper than a hotel.Especially so now days with most business travel on hold, perhaps permanently. Most hotels sit next to empty and you're going to be seeing a lot of downsizing over the next couple of years. The hospitality industry is toast if you look into current events.

For the cost of a 5th wheel and the truck required to pull it for 2 years we bought 40 secluded wooded acres on a mountainside in VA and built a cabin that would rival a lot of homes.

It might be cheaper if full timing or using it a lot of nights, or you have a 20 yr old run down paid for MH and stay at cheap dumps, but I would doubt it.

No way can it be cheaper for folks who work and get a few weekends or weeks use in a limited 6-7 month season, such as in the Northeast.
down_home
Explorer II
Dec 07, 2020
Insurance on a total of over two million including home and three vehicles and MH was only $3,600.00, I think.
You forgot mortgage deduction for vacation home, as long as you use it two weeks per year. Maintenance is oil changes, and wipers etc. Forty acres and cabin is nice, but it is not quite the same as docking if you will where you want to fish or hunt or to sight see or family reunions and so on.
Like I said I haven't tried to run a cost benefit spread sheet.
Fire Insurance or Homeowners in an area that is remote and without municipal water and fire department can triple the cost of coverage or more and getting the construction/the cabin financed, welll a lot of banks and others wouldn't touch them. Those that do charge much higher interest rates especially if built of logs etc.
Yes you might get by cheaper but you still want to travel don't you?
Right now between coaches wife wants to go to Alaska. New Suburban 4x4 $76-80,000.00 and the bills will add up. I;m too old and broken to try to stay in a tent on hard ground in Grizzly Country and cook over a fire and jump in an ice cold sstrea3m to bathe.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Dec 07, 2020
Well In another place (Political) I often yammer about folks who never look at the OTHER SIDE of the Ledger. applies here too but not polically.

When you travel by RV.. First Campgrounds range from around 30-40/night to OUCH. Hotels and motels... About the same price range only the OUCH is OUCH!!!!.

And you still have a house you are paying for back "home" (the other side of the ledger)

RV FUll time you don;t' have the house.

With memberships I paid 90/month during most of the summer to park my RV (Full time) and around 200-250 per MONTH in the winter.

That included Water, Sewer and Electric (Plus over the air TV)
Since moving into an apartment my first Gas/Electrc bill is 120 bucks.
They house ate over 200/month in Gas and electric.
wowens79
Explorer III
Dec 07, 2020
As the cost of the RV goes up, the idea of saving money by RVing instead of a hotel goes away. We started with a pop up we bought barely used for $6k, and towed it with a vehicle we already had,so no added tow vehicle expense. We did 2 week long trips, and numerous long weekends every year, after 9 years, we sold it for $5k. A set of tires, and an anting were the only expenses we had. We saved tons of money staying in that little camper.

Our current TT, we probably will break even over 5-10 years.

It also depends on how many nights a year you use it. We still work full time, so our number of days are limited. When we retire, we’d like to spend a few months a year on the road, so that would bring the cost per night down.
valhalla360
Navigator
Dec 07, 2020
down home wrote:
We hear it all the time from Folks with MHs and without, that it is cheaper to stay n Motels!
Taint true McGheee!
Friend from Church just back from Colorado hunting Elk.
Nearly $3,000.00 for a week at one motel..plus tow staye each way at other motels.
Roundcher Motels are well I don't know but I say 120,00 a night or less.
"Outwest" "Upnorth", Canada and Alaska a heck of a lot more, maybe 300.00 a night? or in the case of his stay to hunt Elk near $3,000.00 for 7 days.
Or coach at 6mpg-7 mpg 3600 miles at least would be only $1200.00in fuel. RV parks $35.00-$50.00 a night? a total of 7 or probably 8 days there and back $1,600.00 possibly heck we can spend another $400.00 o on the trip and still have a $1,000.00 left for something. Staying longer and other variables.You can pay for the coach and sleep in your own bed eat your good food and not wear a mask, use your clean restroom and get better tv, meet other RVers have a heck of a lot more fun on the same dime. I expect. I am too something to crunch more realistic numbers but I think RVers can tell the Motel lobby to get a new calculator.

Obviously, it depends greatly on how much you use your RV and what type of RV you have (and it's usually a more general RV as opposed to MH specific).

If your buddy was spending $425/n at a motel, he either got taken or it's not what would normally be considered a Motel.

$120/n will usually move you up to more of a midrange hotel. Right now, you can find stuff in the $60-70/n and "outwest" seemed to still be as cheap when we passed thru a month ago. Can't get "upnorth" to check but I have been looking at options if we take the Demster in a year and considering leaving the trailer back in Dawson, so we can move faster with just the truck...I was finding pricing in the $200/n in the remote artic. Not expecting the 4 Seasons by any stretch but your $300/n is upper end unless you hit a festival or other high demand event.

I'm assuming anyone staying at $425/n motels is likely buying high end diesel pushers...so how many nights to amortize that $500,000 initial outlay? How about maintenance? Insurance?

Full timing, you might get close to break even and there are other reasons to travel by RV but cost savings really isn't one of them.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Dec 07, 2020
valhalla360 wrote:
down home wrote:
We hear it all the time from Folks with MHs and without, that it is cheaper to stay n Motels!
Taint true McGheee!
Friend from Church just back from Colorado hunting Elk.
Nearly $3,000.00 for a week at one motel..plus tow staye each way at other motels.
Roundcher Motels are well I don't know but I say 120,00 a night or less.
"Outwest" "Upnorth", Canada and Alaska a heck of a lot more, maybe 300.00 a night? or in the case of his stay to hunt Elk near $3,000.00 for 7 days.
Or coach at 6mpg-7 mpg 3600 miles at least would be only $1200.00in fuel. RV parks $35.00-$50.00 a night? a total of 7 or probably 8 days there and back $1,600.00 possibly heck we can spend another $400.00 o on the trip and still have a $1,000.00 left for something. Staying longer and other variables.You can pay for the coach and sleep in your own bed eat your good food and not wear a mask, use your clean restroom and get better tv, meet other RVers have a heck of a lot more fun on the same dime. I expect. I am too something to crunch more realistic numbers but I think RVers can tell the Motel lobby to get a new calculator.

Obviously, it depends greatly on how much you use your RV and what type of RV you have (and it's usually a more general RV as opposed to MH specific).

If your buddy was spending $425/n at a motel, he either got taken or it's not what would normally be considered a Motel.

$120/n will usually move you up to more of a midrange hotel. Right now, you can find stuff in the $60-70/n and "outwest" seemed to still be as cheap when we passed thru a month ago. Can't get "upnorth" to check but I have been looking at options if we take the Demster in a year and considering leaving the trailer back in Dawson, so we can move faster with just the truck...I was finding pricing in the $200/n in the remote artic. Not expecting the 4 Seasons by any stretch but your $300/n is upper end unless you hit a festival or other high demand event.

I'm assuming anyone staying at $425/n motels is likely buying high end diesel pushers...so how many nights to amortize that $500,000 initial outlay? How about maintenance? Insurance?

Full timing, you might get close to break even and there are other reasons to travel by RV but cost savings really isn't one of them.

Well twenty four years ago we were driving across the US to take a car to my DD on the east coast. We had the alternator go out in Plankinton, SD. We stopped as there was a Super 8 motel there, OK $49 a night right? Not that week upland bird season rate doubled to $98!
I am sure that in other locations similar rate increased are in effect.
way2roll
Navigator II
Dec 07, 2020
I won't stay in a hotel for a myriad of reasons so there is no sense in even reviewing the math. It's a moot point for us. I like having my own everything and I know who slept in my bed. I also find all the febreeze and strong cleaning agents they use in hotels give me headaches and I have a lung issue that is aggravated by them as well. I consider myself fortunate to be able to take my "apartment" along wherever we go. That said I usually find campsites are about 1/3 to 1/4 the cost of a hotel in the same general areas we visit.
down_home
Explorer II
Dec 07, 2020
wa8yxm wrote:
Well In another place (Political) I often yammer about folks who never look at the OTHER SIDE of the Ledger. applies here too but not polically.

When you travel by RV.. First Campgrounds range from around 30-40/night to OUCH. Hotels and motels... About the same price range only the OUCH is OUCH!!!!.

And you still have a house you are paying for back "home" (the other side of the ledger)

RV FUll time you don;t' have the house.

With memberships I paid 90/month during most of the summer to park my RV (Full time) and around 200-250 per MONTH in the winter.

That included Water, Sewer and Electric (Plus over the air TV)
Since moving into an apartment my first Gas/Electrc bill is 120 bucks.
They house ate over 200/month in Gas and electric.

Our Electric Bill runs $400.00-$550.00 a month.
valhalla360
Navigator
Dec 07, 2020
rhagfo wrote:
Well twenty four years ago we were driving across the US to take a car to my DD on the east coast. We had the alternator go out in Plankinton, SD. We stopped as there was a Super 8 motel there, OK $49 a night right? Not that week upland bird season rate doubled to $98!
I am sure that in other locations similar rate increased are in effect.

Your point?

Hotel prices vary based on demand. Always have.

If you buy an inexpensive RV, travel full time, do your own maintenance and keep the miles traveled low...sure you can do it cheaper than staying at hotels.

If you are regularly staying at $425/n motels, you probably aren't keeping costs under control that way.