The divorce hotel is a new concept that allows you to check in married and check out “happily” divorced. If you’re planning to file for divorce and think things can stay civil long enough to pull off a luxury weekend that ends your marriage once and for all, then it’s something you may wish to consider. However, there are some huge caveats — big enough for you to not get your hopes up anyway.
The Concept
Huffington Post explains the concept of a divorce hotel in a recent article.
“Divorce Hotel” [is a] … rotating program that takes place at resorts and boutique hotels in which experts help couples mediate their divorce in one weekend. This month, the Netherlands-based company will team up with the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. to bring Divorce Hotel to the U.S.”
In all, six hotels in the Netherlands have already served as a venue for the company’s quick path through the divorce papers. (The idea was launched three years ago.)
“The package includes two separate rooms and a mediator to guide clients through finalizing the terms of their divorce agreement — all for roughly $5,000, depending on the season and the particulars of the divorce,” HuffPo explained, adding that if things “get contentious between the couple, more experts may have to be called in.”
The perks, of course, are that you get to enjoy the amenities of a luxury hotel resort, and you get to work with an impartial mediator, who can keep things on track, thus making it more likely your emotions don’t get the best of you.
The caveat: it’s $5,000, and it’s two days of your life that you will have to spend in close proximity to the person you probably want to be as far away from as possible.
A Better Alternative
If you and your spouse were to choose a completion service for your divorce forms instead of “divorce hotel,” then you would stand a much better chance of putting the divorce behind you and moving on with your life sooner rather than later. Best of all, you would save thousands of dollars in the process.
Are divorce hotels worth the huge sum of money?