I think that it's an uncanny valley effect. A hotel room looks somewhat like a home, but it's definitely not a home. It's great not having to do your own cleani

I think that it's an uncanny valley effect. A hotel room looks somewhat like a home, but it's definitely not a home. It's great not having to do your own cleaning, but the space feels over-cleaned and sterile. Also, hotel rooms, during the day, tend to be where one is when travel isn't going well. I used to think five-star hotels were a waste of money; why would someone pay $300+ more per night just to have a fountain in the lobby? But now that many of my friends are having children, I understand it. If you're traveling with kids (increasing your likelihood that someone gets sick, or just exhausted) then you need the 4- or 5-star accommodations that you don't need if you're a young person who'll use it as a crash pad only. Hotel rooms, then, are places associated with misfortune: travel ruined by someone getting sick, an unexpected layover due to travel delays, or landing in a city where one feels unsafe due to local conditions like crime or dangerous weather. If your travel goes well, you're only in one to sleep. If it goes poorly, you spend an order of magnitude more waking time in it.