Planning your next extended vacation but not sure if a short-term rental or extended stay hotel would be a better fit for your needs? There are plenty of factors to consider when deciding where to stay when traveling.
Short-term home rentals are a great option and certainly have their place; however, they lack some of the meaningful advantages afforded by extended stay hotels, especially when you plan to stay for a week or more. For example, most short-term rentals don’t offer the ability to extend your stay without a prior commitment.
This guide will break down the pros and cons of vacation rentals and extended stay hotels to help you make the right choice when looking for long-term lodging.
Key Takeaways
- A short-term rental or vacation rental is a furnished property available to travelers who need temporary lodging, often booked through a third-party website.
- Extended stay hotels combine apartment-style amenities with hotel-like convenience and customer service.
- Extended stay hotels often provide guests with more amenities than short-term rentals, such as fully equipped kitchens, on-site staff, laundry and housekeeping services.
- Guests opting for vacation rentals often have to deal with extra costs like service and cleaning fees (usually up to nearly 17% of the booking cost).
- Extended stay hotels often offer discounted weekly and monthly rates. At Extended Stay America, guests staying 30+ days can save up to 45%.*
- Extended stay hotels tend to offer more flexibility than short-term rentals, as guests can usually extend their stay on short notice if needed.
What Is a Short-Term Rental?
A short-term rental, also known as a vacation rental, is a furnished property that a person or company chooses to rent out temporarily, usually for 30 days or less. Typically, these are booked through third-party platforms.
The length of stay available on these rentals can vary widely, depending on the stipulations of the property owner and county zoning laws. Some allow vacationers to book one night at a time, while others require a week or longer.
Because these properties are individually owned, there is often no on-site management or guaranteed standard of service. Guests will likely have to file complaints or dispute charges through the third-party platform if the property host is unresponsive or unaccommodating.
What Is an Extended Stay Hotel?
An extended stay hotel is designed for guests staying a week or longer. They typically offer a more competitive nightly rate than a standard hotel, making longer stays more affordable.
Extended stay hotels often combine hotel-style convenience with apartment-like amenities. For example, Extended Stay America’s hotels offer:
- Full kitchens in every spacious suite
- Free wi-fi and premium cable
- Free breakfast (at participating locations)
- On-site guest laundry
- Housekeeping services
- Pet-friendly accommodations
- Weekly and monthly rates
- Help from on-site staff
Unlike vacation rentals, there are no surprise cleaning or service fees, and some extended stay hotels may even let you pay in cash.
Vacation Rentals vs. Extended Stay Hotels: A Side-by-Side Look
The difference between vacation rentals and extended stay hotels may feel minor on short stays; however, if you stay a week or longer, the differences become increasingly glaring.
Let’s examine the similarities and differences between staying at a vacation rental vs. an extended stay hotel.
|
Extended Stay America Hotels |
Vacation Rental |
|
|
Flexible length of stay? |
Yes |
No |
|
Cleaning fees? |
No |
Yes |
|
Incidental deposit? |
Up to $250 (refundable) |
At the host’s discretion |
|
Fully equipped kitchen? |
Yes |
Depends on the listing |
|
On-site staff |
Yes |
No |
|
Pets allowed? |
Yes |
Depends on the listing |
|
Free wi-fi? |
Yes |
Depends on the listing |
|
Pricing structure |
Discounted rates for weekly and monthly stays. Save up to 45%* on stays of 30 nights or more |
At the host’s and booking service’s discretion |
|
Able to extend your stay last-minute? |
Typically, yes |
At host’s discretion |
Why Extended Stay Hotels Can Be Better than Vacation Rentals for Longer Stays
Now that we’ve established the key differences between extended stay hotels and vacation rentals, here are some of the reasons an extended stay hotel could be the better option for longer trips.
The Flexibility to Extend When Plans Change
One of the crucial advantages extended stay hotels have over vacation rentals is the ability to extend your stay past the scheduled check-out date.
Plans change all the time: your work assignment gets extended, renovations end up taking a month instead of a week, you’re still waiting on approval to move into your new home. Whatever the reason, if you’re staying at an Extended Stay America hotel, you won’t have to worry about scrambling to find new lodging.
Typically, you can extend your stay simply by speaking with the front desk to confirm availability.
When timelines are uncertain, it helps to have that flexibility. Even when comparing extended stay hotels to apartments, it may seem nice to have the stability and long-term housing of a rental unit, but that also means being locked into a lease and potentially having to wait for the landlord to approve your application.
During life’s in-between moments, where you need a temporary home away from home, extended stay hotels provide a balance of comfort and flexibility.
Predictable Pricing Without Hidden Fees
Booking a vacation rental seems to always cost way more than the listed ticket price. Somehow a cheap listing becomes expensive, and you can’t seem to figure out where all the fees are coming from.
For example, most vacation rentals charge a service fee. This usually results in guests paying up to nearly 17% of the booking subtotal in fees.
Extended Stay America offers transparent, consistent room rates, clearly stating any additional costs such as an incidental deposit or pet fees up front. The price you see is the price you pay, and savings increase the longer you stay.
No Surprise Fees or End-of-Stay Requirements
If you’ve stayed at a long-term vacation rental, you know all about the silly rules and cleaning requirements.
Sometimes vacation rentals require you to:
- Strip the beds and put the used sheets in a pile on the bed.
- Remove food (even if it’s years from expiring).
- Put all the towels in the corner of the rooms or wash and fold them.
Failure to complete these tasks may incur additional fees on top of a base cleaning fee charged to all guests.
According to a 2025 reporting from NerdWallet, the median cleaning fee represented roughly 25% of the listing price on rentals that charge them. In some cases, the cleaning fee may even exceed the nightly rate.
Unlike many vacation rentals, Extended Stay America will never make you jump through hoops upon checkout and won’t surprise you with additional fees.
Fully Equipped, In-Room Kitchens and Useful Amenities
When you’re staying at a long-term vacation rental, you don’t know what amenities to expect.
Will you have any access to kitchen appliances? What about a washer and dryer? With extended stay hotels, you can count on having access to amenities that make your life easier.
Extended Stay America provides:
- Full Kitchens (full-size refrigerator, stovetop and microwave in every suite)
- Dishware and cooking supplies (available for free at Suites and Premier Suites)
- Free wi-fi
- On-site guest laundry
- Premium cable channels
- Free breakfast at participating locations
Pet-Friendly Rooms Available
It’s hard to feel at home without your furry family members. Not to mention the cost of boarding a pet for an extended time period and the constant worry about how well they’re doing can add an extra layer of financial and emotional stress.
At vacation rentals, you never know what to expect:
- Will they allow animals? Only a fraction of vacation rentals are pet-friendly.
- Will they leave you a bad review or charge you with an exorbitant cleaning fee for bringing your pet?
When you stay at an extended stay hotel for your vacation, make sure it’s one that allows your pets. Extended Stay America has pet-friendly rooms at all hotels.
Consistent Standards You Can Count On
With a vacation rental property, you never know what you’re going to walk into at the time of your booking. You could be dealing with an inexperienced host, or walking into a situation where the home is not fully prepared for guests.
Extended Stay America has over 30 years of experience and maintains consistent standards across all properties. In other words, you’ll know what you’re booking, and you can rely on them meeting your expectations.
On-Site Support When You Need It
Vacation rentals are often owned by individuals and are often managed remotely. This means getting help during your stay may prove difficult, and issues can take some time to get resolved.
At an extended stay hotel, there is usually staff on-site to help when you need it. If you have issues during your stay, you can usually get assistance at the front desk.
At Extended Stay America, on-site staff are available to address all questions or concerns. Front desk staff operating hours may vary by hotel location.
More Ways to Save the Longer You Stay
Extended stay hotels also come out on top when you compare vacation rentals to extended stay housing value.
At Extended Stay America, you get access to discounted weekly and monthly rates the longer you stay. The discounts add up when you stay for a week or longer, with savings of up to 45%* when you stay 30 nights or more.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a vacation rental platform that offers this kind of progressive discount structure.
You can also unlock additional savings and instant rewards by joining the Extended Perks rewards program. When you join, you get a registration discount to use on your next reservation, and you save on every future booking with an exclusive member rate.
Plan Your Extended Stay
Extended stay hotels have the clear advantage over vacation rentals for most lengthy trips in terms of comfort and cost.
To recap, some of the benefits of staying at an extended stay hotel include:
- On-site staff available to help during front desk hours
- Transparent pricing so there are no surprise fees
- Pet-friendly accommodations
- The Extended Perks program to save even more and unlock additional features, free of charge
- Amenities like fully equipped kitchens and on-site guest laundry
- The ability to adjust your length of stay without a long-term commitment
- Discounted weekly and monthly rates
Book today to experience the difference at one of Extended Stay America’s 650+ locations.
