Hotel for day sleep for 3rd shifter?

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Oct 9, 2016

CALL hotels and speak with the manager. I know in our area, many people are M-F in a hotel for work purposes. When they check out it is EARLY morning. If you were to book predictably with the hotel, one room every Saturday morning at 8am or whatever- you'd likely find what you need.

elkpark · Oct 9, 2016

I tried doing that years ago. What I did was check in the previous afternoon and ask for a late check-out. But it really didn't work for me -- no matter how clear I tried to be with the desk personnel about not wanting to be disturbed during the day, housekeeping would invariably come knocking on the door, wanting to clean the room, or the afternoon desk person the following day would call to ask when I was checking out, or something. I gave up on that pretty quickly, started asking around the hospital, and was able to rent a room in a private home that worked out great for me.

NedRN · Oct 9, 2016

You will have to prorate your the per diems you receive from your agency, and report your housing stipend as income less actual costs as you describe your situation. I would come to an an arrangement with the private owner to rent your housing for the entire assignment, not limited to a couple days a week. Even if you pay more, you will come out ahead as you will not have to report the balance of your housing stipend. Silly and technical, but that is how you will avoid issues if you are audited. You will still have to prorate your per diem to only the days away from home.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Oct 9, 2016

Boston is big enough that you should be able to find a hotel that caters to business travellers or other extended stay workers that will allow you to book upfront for the entire weekend and note that you do not want housekeeping or other disturbances during the day. Candlewood suites is one chain that offers weekend [or longer] bookings with no daytime disturbances for a reasonable price. I've stayed at one in Minneapolis for weekends before and have been happy with the room and the rate.

gospa · Oct 10, 2016

Ned what do you mean "you will have to prorate your per diem to only the days away from home." My stipend does not show divisions such that this much is for food, this much is for gasoline, this much is lodging. How would I prorate to only the two days I am in Boston? I plan to keep all receipts for food, mileage logs, and of course rental agreements.

NedRN · Oct 10, 2016

If your contract combines housing and meals and per diems, the IRS guidance is that housing is 60% and per diems are 40% of the combined amount (if you look at the GSA stipends, they are generally very close to this ratio). Thus if you are only in Boston for two days, that would be five sevenths of 40% that you have to report to the IRS as income. Since you are not eligible for the full housing stipend, you must subtract your receipted housing costs from the 60% of your combined stipends and report the balance as income on your tax return.

No separate travel allowance? I would consult a tax specialist such as TravelTax on weekly mileage and how to deduct it on your tax return. Your agency would be limited to providing you with a single 140 mile roundtrip allowance at 54 cents a mile or $75. I doubt that they would have included such an amount in your housing/per diem stipend and without documentation of such inclusion, you wouldn't be able to offset your travel costs with that amount. $75 is trivial compared to your 13 week housing/per diem stipends anyway.

EKUGRAD, BSN, MSN, RN, CNS · Oct 13, 2016

If I had known you were going to spend the night, I would have changed the sheets.

Robin Eward · Nov 19, 2020

Download the "dayuse" hotel app!! It's a must have lifesaver!