Rubicus Maximus
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 559
If you try comparing a travel trailer to hotel rooms strictly from a financial standpoint you’ll never make the trailer work.
We did a 6,000 mile round trip across Canada a few years ago and thought about hotels vs our trailer a lot and ended up taking the trailer. The increase in fuel cost was less than a cheap motel each night (we stayed at truck stops for free). While that particular trip worked out in our favour financially it would have been a wash at best if we were paying campground fees along the way.
However, having our own bed, bathroom, kitchen and not hauling suitcases in and out of hotel rooms along the was more than enough to convince us to take the trailer again next year when we repeat the trip.
Now if you take the total cost of ownership, you will have to spend an awful lot of nights in hotel rooms to justify the cost of the trailer. Insurance, storage fees (if needed) depreciation, maintenance, repairs etc really adds up.
But, I’ll take a weekend of back country camping with a nice campfire over a hotel room every time.