The Line-Item Truth: Exactly What a Month at a Nomad Resort Cost Me (Down to the Laundry Quarters)
Everyone loves to say a workation is 'cheaper than you think.' Nobody ever shows you the spreadsheet.
So I did. For 30 days at a beachfront nomad resort, I tracked every single dollar — the unsexy stuff like laundry detergent and the fun stuff like sunset mojitos. What follows is the full ledger, plus how it stacks up against my normal month back in Denver. If you want to run your own numbers, I've included a plug-in-your-own-figures template at the end.
The Big Ticket: Rent, But Make It Oceanfront
My long-stay rate for a studio with a desk, a kitchenette, and a balcony view that made my Monday standups bearable: $1,850 for the month, booked at a 30-plus-night discount. Compare that to my Denver one-bedroom at $1,795 — before utilities — and we're already neck and neck.
The trick, as I covered when I ran the long-stay math last year, is that weekly and monthly rates drop fast. Walk-in nightly pricing at these places can run $150+; commit to a month and you're effectively paying $60 a night.
The Work Stuff
- Coworking desk / meeting room access: $0 — bundled into my stay. Some resorts charge $10–$15/day separately, so check before booking. This is the single biggest 'nomad-friendly' tell.
- Backup Wi-Fi eSIM: $28 for the month. My non-negotiable after one too many hotel networks that buckle under a Zoom call.
- Printer run at the front desk: $3. Don't ask.
The Life Stuff
- Groceries: $310. The kitchenette earned its keep. I ate resort breakfast twice a week as a treat ($54 total) and cooked the rest.
- Laundry: $22. Self-service machines on-site, roughly two loads a week. Back home my building's service runs me about $60.
- Gym: $0 — the resort fitness center was included. A boutique gym membership in a US city: $40–$60/month, so this one stings less than you'd expect.
- Phone: $12 for a local data plan on top of my US plan. I skipped the international add-on; it would've been $70.
Getting There and Around
- Round-trip flight (DEN to resort airport): $520, booked six weeks out.
- Airport transfer: $35 each way. Worth every penny after a red-eye. Taxis ran similar; shared shuttles were $15 but I'd already been traveling for 11 hours.
- Local transport (scooter rental + occasional rideshare): $85 for the month.
The Fun Stuff (Because That's the Point)
- Happy hours and sunset cocktails: $140. I gave myself a loose $35/week cap and mostly stuck to it.
- Two weekend excursions: $180 — a snorkeling trip and a day hike with transport.
- One genuinely nice dinner: $75. No regrets.
The Verdict, Line by Line
| Category | Resort Month | Typical US Month |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $1,850 | $1,795 + ~$180 utilities |
| Food | $364 | $520 (I eat out more at home) |
| Transport | $640 (incl. flight) | $340 (car payment, gas, insurance) |
| Fitness + laundry + misc | $53 | $130 |
| Fun | $395 | $300 |
| Total | ~$3,302 | ~$3,265 |
So: basically a wash. That's the honest answer. A workation month costs roughly what my regular month costs — except one of those months includes a beach, and the other includes shoveling the driveway in February.
Where it genuinely gets cheaper is if you're coming from a high-cost city. My Brooklyn friends pay $2,400 for a walk-up with no gym, no pool, and a desk crammed against a radiator. For them, the resort month is a discount.
Steal My Template
Build your own version with these five buckets:
- Stay — monthly rate + resort fees + taxes (ask about both; they add 10–18% in some destinations)
- Work — coworking (if not bundled), eSIM/backup internet, any gear shipping
- Life — groceries, laundry, gym, phone
- Logistics — flights, transfers, local transport
- Joy — budget it on purpose or you'll feel guilty about every mojito
Plug in your own city costs for comparison, and be honest about the fun bucket — that's where the spreadsheet optimism always dies. The point isn't that a workation is free. It's that when you see the whole ledger, it stops being a fantasy purchase and starts being a decision you can actually make.
