Well that was a very specific Ibis Budget because it was built literally back to the railway, and as the whole reason why I was there was that there was a fault on the railtrack and all trains got cancelled, they worked on it all night! I have been in other Ibis Budget where I slept fine, but obviously, you would be more productive in a Sofitel with a desk, good internet connection, etc than in the Ibis Budget, which tends to be very bare.

That said, while I fully agree with the previous point on J travel not being a perk or a gift but an "inverstment" by the company to ensure the best travel quality upon arrival, and I would similarly fully agree that if your company paid for a room for you at the Sofitel and you choose to buy a room at the Ibis Budget across the street because you decided to bring your parents along and you decide to swap rooms it would be wrong, I don't agree with the per diem example. That is because reimbursing expenses on a per diem basis does not in any way imply that the person has to max out the budget for either accommodation or food or whatever. Indeed, conversely, I hate per diem because it can often mean you in fact pay out of pocket as they are fixed rates that don't take into account temporary variations (e.g. rate spikes during events etc) and they are also revised every few years which in some cities can be problematic. But that is besides the point, if expense reimbursement is based on per diem or any other fixed rate, this implies that the employee can decide what they get and either pay or pocket the difference. If companies want expenses to be based on actual spend, they know exactly how to do it.