As a travel nurse, where you live during your assignments is important. In fact, according to healthcare professional networking site BluePipes, travel nurses name housing as the most important part of their pay package. Understandably, you would like a nice, safe place that you can make home (at least temporarily), located not too far from the hospital where you are working. And, especially if you are securing your housing on your own, you want it to be affordable.
One of the top housing options for travel nurses is Extended Stay hotels. These properties offer studio or one-bedroom accommodations with most of the comforts of home, usually including a fully-equipped kitchen, wi-fi, fitness center, pool, and other amenities, along with standard hotel services like daily or weekly housekeeping and often complimentary breakfasts.
When you receive the housing options from your agency, there will probably be an Extended Stay hotel or two on the list. But Kyle Schmidt at BluePipes recommends that if you are planning to stay in an Extended Stay hotel, “then you should most definitely consider securing it on your own.” As he points out, many travel nurses think that their agency is getting a great deal on Extended Stay accommodations, when the truth is that you can often find better rates on your own, which means more money in your pocket at the end of the day.
The best news is that you don’t have to look too far to find a great rate. Hotel Engine offers some of the lowest Extended Stay America rates available anywhere on the Internet, and they are likely lower than the option offered by your travel nursing agency. For example, I recently searched Hotel Engine for a three-week stay in Austin, Texas, during April and found the highly rated (7.3/10) Extended Stay America – Austin, Northwest available for $53/night. The hotel offers free breakfast, wi-fi, and other standard amenities. The same room on Kayak: $60/night. And Expedia? Well, they reported that the hotel was sold out for my dates, but room rates on other nights started at $95! Fifty-three dollars a night isn’t bad for the city that earned the top spot on TravelNursing.com’s 12 Great Cities for Travel Nurses in 2012, and it is likely considerably less than the agency stipend for this area.
Not all travel nurses like to secure their own housing—some feel that it is just one more thing to worry about when you’d rather focus on preparing for your assignment. But those that choose to take this step find that they save money and often end up with better accommodations that are more suited to their needs. With Hotel Engine, you can have the best of both worlds: worry-free hotel booking where you know you are getting the best price available and the extra money you save by securing your own accommodations.
Sign up for Hotel Engine today and get a rewards bonus to start. You can use your bonus toward booking a hotel for your next assignment, or save it for a well-deserved vacation.