stevie

I feel sorry for you.

Edit I see you do this at your leisure, if that is your thing, all the best.

Zurich

I don't equal you in numbers of stays and nights, I am just making it for Diamond for six+ years now. But I pay all my travels out of my own pocket, because there is hardly any work-related travel in my job profile.
Having read your post I eventually learnt that I am not the only one around here on FlyerTalk! Great to know, thank you!

craigthemif

Now a more interesting thread topic could be "I live in hotels for leisure. Why where and how..."

Or the OP could take things in whatever direction he desires...

escape4

Actually, I have been thinking about starting a thread like this for a while, but I was not exactly sure in which forum / subforum to do so, and whether it would have any interest to others or not. I have been living in hotels for now more than 2 years and I thought I could share what I have learned during this period, but I would not bother if the thread would only get a handful of readers and responses rather than a worthwhile and informative discussion.

craigthemif

It's definitely something that would attract more internet trolls than usual. I say this out of personal experience...

But I certainly think it could be interesting to share ideas and experiences. I know there must be lots of us out there... A private group on Facebook might do it, but it would require somebody to admin...

Dazzie

No base. I have been home/apartment free for a few years. But I do spend a lot of time in LA, Denver, Miami/FLL, Berlin and Madrid.

This, actually, is one thing that annoys the crap out of me, having "earned" mine the hard way. I feel slightly pretentious saying that but I feel that Hilton did "cheapen" they loyalty program in my view by allowing people to buy it.

Sounds like there are quite a few of us perma-travelers on here. Must be, if people on here are getting to 200+ nights.

I have thought about that because I am an excellent candidate and people always ask me questions. But, I'm sure that ground has been covered many times before on here.

InkUnderNails

I liked it, but that is just me.

donjo

Just curious, Dazzie, where did you stay the other nights when not at a Hilton property? Friend's house, other hotel chain? Sounds like fun to me. Also curious (if you're willing to say) what you do to pay the bills?

Dazzie

Other hotel chains, a couple of Airbnb's (in Europe), or Hilton properties booked indirectly e.g. via priceline (the 70/215 number is just for ones booked directly this year but I do have more total Hilton nights than that). Also have Marriott Gold.

To pay the bills... I have founded and sold a few of (small) companies in the IT/software sector. I still work while I travel (from the hotel rooms mostly)... I took a series of photos of my laptop against the backdrop of the views from hotel windows and I like to joke with friends that this is my way of changing my PC desktop background.

escape4

Attracting trolls does not exactly sound like fun so I will take your advice and stay under the radar. Do you mind sharing which old thread there was discussing about living in hotels where trolls took over and derailed the discussion? If you can remember or find it... might be old. Anyway, I would find it informative.

I like the idea of a private FB group for people that live in hotels. If someone wants to take the lead, I am in.

escape4

If there have been discussions here about permanent travellers I have not seen it. But I have not looked very hard either.

Regarding earning Hilton status, I would seriously advise you to consider whether it would make sense for you to diversify beyond Hilton. I started off with >80% Hilton a few years ago, and for calendar year 2018 my projections are that I will end up at a bit above 20% for Hilton out of 300+ nights. As you said, they have devalued the top tier to the point where it is no longer the best program to reap the benefits of top tier. Let alone the fact that in several cities Hilton is weak or non-existent.

It's not that I do not like Hilton, in fact I do like Hilton. If they introduce a new tier above Diamond, for example with qualification at 100 nights with improved perks, I might more than double my nights with Hilton.

craigthemif

It wasn't FT. It was when I was doing a bunch of press interviews for a Spanish language book about travelling for a year using miles and points. I learned pretty quickly to ignore the comments section...

escape4

Perhaps the experience would not be as bad on FT as there are more folks here used to quite out of the box travel situations around here.

Richmond_Surrey

There's a thread about person who lived permanently in Hilton for 12 years but that was company founded: 10 years (and counting) continuous residence at the same Hilton property
Also read a post today on Loyaly Lobby about blogger living mostly from hotels: https://loyaltylobby.com/2018/10/10/...t/?omhide=true

I couldn't do this myself, I like to have home base, place where I have my cars registered and can keep them and drive. Being "homeless" would be too tricky.

escape4

Holy cow, 15 years! I like living in hotels but I don't think I will ever get to 15. Also he's checking in and checking out so often, which is less beneficial nowadays with more perks being aligned with nights rather than stays. I wish John O's post was talking more about his experiences regarding life in hotels.

I was aware of @Phil the Flyer living in Hilton Cairo for 12 years. That is not the same as living in hotels on own dime and moving from one property to another like a permanent traveller. Impressive for sure and noteworthy, but Hilton Cairo was effectively his residence and he was not homeless.