An employee who swapped his UK apartment for a five-star all-inclusive hotel in Turkey for a month – because he discovered it would be cheaper than his home life in the UK – said he had been ‘living a dream’ and could happily move there full-time.
Josh Kerr, 24, spent 28 days at the Port River Hotel and Spa in Antalya on a trip that cost £944 compared to the £950 per month he pays for rent and bills at his Manchester pad.
Returning home on Saturday, he said he would trade his flat for permanent hotel living if he could work abroad full-time, despite missing bacon and Irn-Bru in Turkey.
During his stay, the creative strategist worked remotely from the hotel, logging into his laptop in the ‘blazing sunshine’ and spending his lunchbreaks dipping in the pool, playing table tennis or stopping by the beach for a quick game of football.
‘The first few days, it didn’t even feel real,’ he told MailOnline Travel.
Josh Kerr spent one month living and working from a five-star all-inclusive resort in Antalya, Turkey, which he said was cheaper than rent and bills at his flat in Manchester. Here, he is pictured exploring the coastline
Josh checked into the Port River Hotel and Spa, pictured, in February and stayed for 28 days
‘It’s a premium way of living, for such a cheap cost. The fact I didn’t have to cook a thing in the past month was amazing. My apartment also doesn’t have five pools for me to take a lunchtime dip in. Thinking about it, I need to get myself back to Turkey ASAP.’
Josh said it ‘was a sad one’ packing for his flight home on Saturday and he didn’t want to leave the 20C weather after hearing the rain forecast in Manchester.
The first thing he did when he got home was ‘whip up a full English brekkie’ as he said ‘pork isn’t served in Turkey so I was absolutely craving a bit of bacon by the end’.
Josh worked remotely from the hotel, logging into his laptop in the ‘blazing sunshine’
However, he was anything but lacking in food at the resort where breakfast, lunch and dinner were included in his stay.
‘The all-inclusive was amazing, you’d just be able to get anything you want, anytime you wanted it,’ Josh said.
‘There were so many options that I just kept changing up what I had to eat every day.
However, the best thing was definitely the rotisserie chicken and gravy – made me feel right at home.’
He also adopted a local tradition that he hopes to continue back at home.
‘Anywhere I go I always try and embrace the local culture, and in Turkey it’s culture to have a Turkish tea after every single meal,’ he said.
‘By the end of our trip we were drinking that stuff more than the locals, it became part of our routine too. I’ve already started looking at Turkish tea pots now.’
Josh was invited on the trip by On the Beach after he shared the price of a one-month hotel stay on TikTok and pointed out that it was cheaper than his rent.
Bosses at the online travel agent got in touch and challenged Josh to do it after his clip went viral, racking up more than a million views in 24 hours.
He checked in on February 17 and spent the weekend exploring the area before continuing his normal work routine from the hotel on weekdays.
LEFT: Josh relaxing by the hotel pool shortly after checking into the hotel in February. RIGHT: He got to experience the water slides and take dips in the pool during his lunch breaks
Describing a typical day of hotel living, he said: ‘Every day kicked off with breakfast, a glass of orange juice and then some eggs on toast was my usual.
‘But with Turkey being three hours ahead of the UK, I had so many options as to how I’d go about our day.
‘I had to work UK hours and flexi-time allowed me to start anytime between 7am and 9.30am, which meant the latest we could start work would be 12.30pm. So some days we’d get up early and go out and explore the local towns and some of their markets. Other days we’d just dive straight into work.
‘I’d always be logging into work in the sun, and staying there until my laptop died. It’s safe to say anyone on a Teams call with me hated me for the past month as they saw me sitting in the blazing sunshine.’
The only downsides for Josh were paying to use the hotel’s laundry service and braving the cold water of the outdoor swimming pool, above, during his winter stay
During the evenings, Josh enjoyed exploring the nearby town of Side, relaxing with a cocktail at the hotel bar and the occasional visit to the hotel’s nightclub.
His highlights were having access to ‘any food you want any time’ – favouring Turkish mezze, bread and dips in particular – and never having to clean his room, thanks to the hotel’s daily housekeeping service.
And he was pleasantly surprised by the amount of culture and history in the area, with ‘ancient ruins more than 2,000 years old just a 10-minute walk away’.
The only downsides were paying for the hotel’s laundry service to wash his clothes and braving the cold water of the swimming pool.
LEFT: Josh pictured at a Turkish football match during his hotel stay. RIGHT: He embraced local customs and enjoyed a glass of Turkish tea after every meal
‘Because it’s wintertime, the outside pools were like an ice bath, so I had to channel my inner Wim Hof,’ Josh said.
‘But even that wasn’t an issue as they had a heated indoor pool if I wanted a quick dip. Another minor problem was that the juices weren’t freshly squeezed and were more like cordials – but as I say, very minor.’
The advantage of visiting off-season was that the hotel was ‘not too crowded’ but ‘a nice level of busy’.
Summing up the experience, Josh said it was ‘incredible’ and that he is already planning his next one-month hotel stay in Vegas.
Josh said it ‘was a sad one’ packing for his flight home on Saturday and he didn’t want to leave the 20C weather after hearing the rain forecast in Manchester. Pictured: The hotel lounge area
What’s more, he said it’s ‘fairly accessible to anyone who has the ability to work from anywhere’.
He added: ‘You could put your flat or home on a rental site and, given the prices city centre flats go for in the UK, for a weekend stay, you could use this money to pay for your travel.
‘If you would keep switching countries every month, it would be amazing. Going country hopping, experiencing different five-star hotels.
‘There would obviously be home comforts that you’d miss but you’d make up for it with new cultures to dive right into.’
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