When you’re away on some kind of trip, being accommodated over a shorter period of time naturally has you conceding to some compromises you’ll have to make. This is true even if you’re paying a premium for your accommodation. Places designed to host guests are never really meant to be as comfortable as your regular, domestic living space, but they should be comfortable enough.
If you’re staying a lot longer though, what can be dismissed as some minor irritations start to bubble right up to the surface and can make for a severely compromised daily existence. So there are some considerations for longer-term accommodation which should never be overlooked if you don’t want to find out too late that you have a noisy neighbour, unruly housemates, or even something like a creepy landlord.
The location
These are in no order of importance, but rather bear equal importance and are interlinked, so mentioning the location first doesn’t mean it takes precedence over all the others. That said, the location is very important to consider when taking up long-term accommodation because it has a direct bearing on the quality of what will essentially be your new daily reality.
If you need to regularly access a city such as Bristol, the natural instinct would be to want to rent right in the city center, whereas moving a little distance outside the city would have you in for better deals. Clifton would offer a much quieter area to live in because you might very quickly get tired of the city noise.
There are perhaps many other ways in which the location needs to be considered as it affects factors that can become a real annoyance if you have to deal with them every day of your life.
Room rental options
There should be different types of rooms available, just so that you can change if needs be. Property owners and managers who let rooms out to tenants develop some kind of relationship with their longer-term renters, so if you discover that something like your deluxe room doesn’t afford you enough natural light, for instance, you could always arrange to be moved at no extra cost. On the other hand, if you’re looking for short-term housing, it’s best to opt for vacation rentals or corporate housing provided by companies such as Urbanests.
Cost
Costs for longer-term rentals can add up to a significant sum if you don’t enquire about the longer-term rental options. Another way to factor in the costs is to consider what the peripheral costs are as these can shed some light on whether your room, apartment, unit, etc, really is as affordable as it is, or if it’s as expensive as you might have first made it out to be.
You don’t want to be caught in a cycle such as that which would have you scrimping on the last two days of every week, having peanut butter sandwiches and milk for your dinner, all in the name of living it up in a swanky neighborhood.
Comfort
Ultimately, it comes down to comfort. Take the room or unit on a bit of short-term test run and try to imagine how it’d be like renting long-term in that space, before committing to any longer-term rental leases.