Connecticut mom moves to hotel room due to high rent prices: ‘Exactly what I prayed for’

A Connecticut mom moved into a hotel with her two children as a cheaper alternative after she was forced out of the home she had rented month-to-month.

Suzanne Hayes was caught off guard in February when her landlord broke the news that the house she had been living in for the past six years was put on the market and she would need to move out before March 1. 

“I loved my house. It had a charm of its own and was within walking distance to both my ex’s house and the kids’ schools, and my landlord never increased the rent,” Hayes wrote in an essay to Business Insider.

Although she loved her home of six years, Hayes — a single mother —  says she was also filled with unease living on a month-to-month lease while still needing to focus on the “infinite” yard work, the constant malfunctions of the furnace and oil tanks and the mice problem.

“I am not sure what I am asking for exactly, but I need some sense of ease” Hayes said she prayed as she “walked into my bedroom and confronted the piles of clothes on the floor.”

“I was drowning and needed to find a way out, though I didn’t know what that was, so I prayed,” Hayes said before being given her 30-day eviction notice.

Hayes, a writer, found a two-bedroom, 1,000 square-feet home for $2,700 per month as she searched for her next residence on the real estate marketplace Zillow.

A three-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot home was demanding $3,000 a month.

“The prices were outrageous and well beyond my budget,” she said. “When I finally found a place that left me feeling positive, my application was denied because my credit was subpar.”

Connecticut was ranked the worst state for renters based on the “high costs and low availability,” according to a July study from Consumer Affairs.

The median rent for an average two-bedroom apartment is $1,441.

Taking to rental sites Airbnb and VRBO, the slim, long-term options in her area were already booked leading Hayes to reach out to hotels inquiring about long-term rates.

Hayes says she felt like she won the jackpot when Avon Old Farms Hotel in Avon, CT. offered a two-bedroom apartment onsite.

The rent was $2,200 a month and included utilities and hotel amenities — roughly $600 cheaper than the town’s median, according to Zillow. 

“Sure, this was only a temporary solution — the apartment was on the small side, and the location was not perfect. But it was a place my kids and I could call our own, even if only for a few months,” Hayes said.

Hayes says she was nervous about telling her kids about the solution she found to their living arrangements but they “found the adventure in our setup right away.”

“Their eyes lit up when I showed them the pool, the game room, the sauna, and the gym,” she said.

Hayes says her family has been enjoying the trivia nights every Thursday at the hotel’s restaurant, swimming on hot days, making s’mores by the campfire and the continental breakfast served every morning.

“This is not an apartment I would’ve ever looked for, and I would not have known to look at a hotel for my housing needs,” she said. “On paper, it is not a great fit for me and my kids. But the amenities are the answer to my prayers. They have offered me the gift of ease, and that, after all, is exactly what I prayed for.”

With Post wires