Living in hotels: it’s still a thing

The Focus Kuramae hostel in Tokyo - https://focus-kuramae.business.site/

A lot of people used to live in hotels back in the day including the Panhellenic in New York which was designed for women graduates and opened in 1928. It was designed a bit like a sorority house with women residents only and gentlemen callers were entertained in the sunlit solar on the top floor. I would have loved to have lived in a place like this in my twenties. Social space on the ground and/or the top floor and a private room you can call your own. ://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/design/art-deco-architecture-new-york-feminism-ophelia-beekman-tower-a8364976.html

Living in hotels is still a thing though in the West it has become more common to go flatting. In Tokyo there are a number of very cool hostels for short term and long term guests (with preferential rates), often with a communal kitchen and hang out upstairs and a cafe/bar on the ground floor open to all - sometimes with live bands, sometimes offering board game nights, sometimes a vodka special . . . Japan has been grappling with very low levels of economic growth for many years but there has been an explosion in creativity including exploring different ways of living together. I am no expert on modern Japanese history but I do know that there is a focus on education, community and keeping people in jobs. The country remains the second largest economy in Asia and there is lots of affordable housing in Tokyo.

There are the aparthotels in central Auckland. The Metropole being the groundbreaker just by Freyberg Place but lots have popped up since. My friend who lives in a hotel has a suite essentially with private bedroom, living/dining/kitchen and a bathroom she shares with her husband. There is a bar on the ground floor and a gym. It is central and affordable. They seemed new but then it occurred to me that in historical dramas people quite often take rooms. Back in 1840s Auckland new arrivals would have lived in the great quantity of hotels that popped up on Shortland Street and around. There were no houses to buy, at least until you could pay for assistance to build a raupo hut, or get a wooden one sent over, like Ikea flatpack furniture, from Australia, to be assembled onsite. The Northern Club continues to provide a home away from home for members as did the YMCA building opposite the Art Gallery, now the St James Apartments.

There has been a need in the last few years to get people into accommodation quickly and a number of motels have pivoted to provide it. With Covid-19 this is setting to continue. Cheri Birch, who is co-founder of Homes for People is supporting an increasing number of families in transitional housing but is hoping that what is currently “transitional” will become permanent. She notes that motel accommodation provides singles and couples most of what they need. Since being on the local board I have discovered that most social housing is earmarked not for families but for people who are on their own and are grappling with a number of issues and need extra support. The buildings they are moving into are apartment blocks with shared spaces on the ground floor for services and activities. Industrial kitchens are being built there to provide food and the opportunity to develop cooking skills. Hotels are already designed that way. Some adaptation would be needed but is there an opportunity here for some sort of real life Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or is that just completely mad?

Covid-19 has revealed how much we need to value essential workers and has also revealed how much they are taken for granted.. Could the government look at buying hotels and motels, and adapting them for social housing, pensioner housing etc? Would housing agencies, iwi and housing associations look at buying up half-finished developments and turning them in to funky co-housing and rent to buy for young people, young families, essential workers, artists and all those other hardworking people doing valuable work that is paid under average? How can we get out of this reset with New Zealand a better place?