Luxury Hotels: The New Home Sweet Home
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
With your money briefing, I'm J.R. Whalen at The Wall Street Journal in New York. Staying at a hotel can be relaxing, but how about living at a hotel? Or better yet, living at a luxury hotel that offers perks like free gourmet coffee beans or giving you the opportunity to try your hand at stand-up comedy. We have details on that coming up. First, these money and market stories you should know.
What housing and labor headlines set the stage for this episode?
The National Association of Realtors says the number of U.S. existing homes going under contract declined in August for the fourth time in five months, reflecting what appears to be a broader slowdown in the housing market. More widely, housing market inventory has been tight, driving up home prices and pricing some potential buyers out of the market. At the same time, skilled construction labor shortages along with higher input costs and rising mortgage rates are also making the overall cost of buying a home more expensive. Sales of previously owned homes stalled in August, highlighting a growing disconnect between the sluggish housing market and robust economic growth. And the Wall Street Journal Daily Shot column has details on which occupations saw the highest wage gains over the past 12 months.
At the top of the list, jobs involving transporting goods across the country. Jobs in those areas rose roughly 4%. Wages for sales jobs involving incentives or straight salary rose about 3.7%. Also on the list were a wide swath of construction jobs, most notably those involving natural resources and maintenance. Those positions saw an average 3.5% salary increase over the past year.
Staying in a hotel following a job relocation or during home renovation isn't unusual.
How common is staying in a hotel after relocation or renovation?
Calling a luxury hotel home, well, that's something fairly new. And Wall Street Journal reporter Katie McLaughlin joins us to explain. So Katie, this is a growing trend, the ultra-rich and powerful checking into high-end hotels, because for one thing, they're better designed than anything else they could live in.
Yeah, the extended stay hotel niche has long been associated with
Why are luxury hotels becoming long-term homes for the ultra-rich?
these kind of suburban office park hotels where the decor is sort of bland and mid-market. I don't know if you can get that into your mind. I've stayed in plenty of these places when I go to soccer tournaments with my kids. But the hotel industry realized that there was a market for a much more high-end product that would be in really cool neighborhoods in big cities like New York and or Los Angeles, and where people would stay in something akin to a luxury hotel, but with a kitchen and maybe two bathrooms and a dining table and the things that we associate with home. So they've combined these two concepts and created a new niche of what they call design-focused. That's the term that they use a lot, design-focused extended stay hotels.
And it alleviates numerous responsibilities like the upkeep of a house or a yard.
Absolutely. Yeah, that's what when I when I talked to the executives who are staying in these places, they all recognize that they were paying a premium, that they could do better if what they really cared about was the price.
What design-focused extended-stay hotel features attract affluent residents?
They could go rent a place nearby and probably it would cost less. But they these are people who weren't sure how long they were going to be in a place. And even though they knew they would probably be there for almost a year or a year or more, they just weren't totally sure. So they didn't want to have to deal with. getting a lease and then having to break the lease. They didn't want to have to deal with setting up things like the electricity and the cable. And they really liked the fact that while they're busy working on these jobs that they've come to do, somebody else would have to take care of any problems. They don't even have to go to the store and buy a light bulb if a light bulb burns out.
All of that combined to make them feel like this was a better deal than it might seem if you just looked at the price.
And just to be clear, this is not a cheap way to live.
No, there are kind of varying types of product.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:26
2
What housing and labor headlines set the stage for this episode?
0:26–1:48
3
How common is staying in a hotel after relocation or renovation?
1:48–2:12
4
Why are luxury hotels becoming long-term homes for the ultra-rich?
2:12–3:23
5
What design-focused extended-stay hotel features attract affluent residents?
3:23–5:24
6
How do costs compare between luxury hotel living and renting an apartment?
5:24–6:51
7
What tax, negotiation and flexibility benefits do long-stay hotel guests get?
6:51–9:30
8
Which unique amenities and lifestyle programs are hotels offering long-term guests?
9:30–10:16
Speakers
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