An expat with reliable info confirmed last week to me that the visa and hotel for a 16 hour layover ARE paid for by ET Airlines. (I don't know, but assume, that the rule that this is provided only when there is no earlier connection available applies). The hotels, however, are usually quite inconvenient from the city center or the airport. But if your issue is the visa cost, I do believe that is still paid for by ET. You could call their call center to be sure. You could ditch their hotel and just grab a taxi into the city center to explore.