Downtown Memphis · Where to Stay
Downtown Memphis Hotels vs. Apartments: Which Is Right for Your Stay?
When you're deciding where to stay downtown, the real question isn't just price — it's how long you're here, how much space you need, and how much you want to live like a local. This guide compares downtown Memphis hotels and apartments head to head, then points to the middle ground most travelers overlook. For longer or roomier stays, The Exchange Building offers furnished, walkable options right on Court Square Park.
A local where-to-stay guide from The Exchange Building · 9 N 2nd Street, Memphis, TN 38103
Cost comparison
The headline difference is how each one is priced. A hotel charges a nightly rate that holds steady or climbs with demand — and during conventions, festivals, and the St. Jude Marathon, downtown rates jump and rooms sell out. An apartment is priced by the week or month, so the effective nightly cost drops the longer you stay.
For context on the apartment side, downtown Memphis rentals generally run from about $1,100 for a studio to $2,500+ for larger units, with most one-bedrooms in the $1,200–$1,800 range per month. Spread across a multi-week stay, that monthly math often beats a hotel's nightly rate handily — and you're getting far more room. The other hidden cost is meals: a hotel usually means eating out three times a day, while an apartment kitchen lets you cook. For a deeper look at rental pricing, see our cost of renting in downtown Memphis guide.
Don't forget the line items that never show up in the headline rate. Nightly hotel stays add lodging taxes and often parking and service fees, and every meal becomes a restaurant meal. A furnished apartment tends to fold utilities and Wi-Fi into one predictable figure and hands you a kitchen, so a week of breakfasts and a few dinners made at home can offset a real share of the cost. When you're weighing two prices, compare the all-in totals over the length of your trip — not just the sticker number per night.
For one or two nights, a downtown hotel is simplest. For a week or more, a furnished apartment usually wins on cost, space, and a kitchen. The middle ground — furnished and extended-stay apartments — gives you hotel-style convenience with apartment-style room. The Exchange Building offers exactly that on Court Square, leased direct with no broker fees.
By trip length: weekend, a week, or a month-plus
The single best predictor of what you should book is how long you're staying. Match the lodging to the trip:
A weekend (1–3 nights)
Advantage: hotel. For a quick Grizzlies game, a concert on Beale Street, or a one-night layover, a hotel's nightly booking and daily housekeeping are hard to beat. Short-term rentals work too — weigh them in our downtown Memphis Airbnb & short-term rentals guide.
About a week (4–10 nights)
This is the toss-up zone, and it leans apartment. By the fourth or fifth night, the kitchen, laundry, and extra space start to matter — and the per-night cost of a furnished apartment often slips below a comparable hotel. Business travelers and project teams especially benefit here.
A month or more
Advantage: apartment, clearly. For relocations, contracts, travel assignments, or an extended visit, a furnished apartment or extended stay wins on every axis — cost, comfort, and feeling at home instead of living out of a suitcase.
Space, kitchen, and amenities
Beyond price, the lived experience of the two is very different. A hotel room is one room: a bed, a bath, maybe a mini-fridge, with housekeeping and a front desk. A furnished apartment is a home: a separate bedroom and living area, a full kitchen, in-unit or on-site laundry, and room to actually unpack.
- Kitchen — apartments let you cook and store groceries; hotels mean dining out or room service.
- Space — apartments offer distinct living, sleeping, and work areas; hotel rooms put it all in one box.
- Laundry — apartments typically include laundry; hotels charge for it or send it out.
- Service — hotels add daily housekeeping and a 24-hour desk, which some travelers value highly.
- Settling in — apartments suit anyone staying long enough to want a routine, a workspace, and a real kitchen.
If you're traveling for work and need turnkey, all-bills-included simplicity with apartment-level space, look specifically at corporate housing and furnished apartments downtown.
Location and walkability
Where you stay downtown matters as much as what you stay in. The whole appeal of downtown Memphis is that you can park the car and walk — to the riverfront, to ballgames at AutoZone Park, to FedExForum, to the Main Street trolley, and to the restaurants and music that make the city worth visiting. The closer you are to the Court Square and Main Street core, the more of that you get on foot.
This is where the hotel-versus-apartment question really turns on the specific address rather than the category. A hotel on the edge of downtown can leave you driving to everything; an apartment in the core can put it all at your doorstep — or the reverse. Aim for the center either way. For help planning the on-the-ground logistics, see getting around downtown Memphis, and for what to actually do once you arrive, our things to do downtown guide and the official Memphis Tourism site are good starting points.
Furnished apartments and extended stays: the middle ground
Most "hotel vs. apartment" debates miss the option that solves both: the furnished apartment and extended stay. These give you the move-in-ready convenience of a hotel — furniture, linens, kitchenware, utilities, and Wi-Fi already in place — with the space, kitchen, and value of an apartment. You don't sign a year lease or buy a couch; you arrive with a suitcase and live like a resident for as long as you need.
It's the natural fit for a long list of travelers: relocating employees, traveling nurses and medical staff, exhibitors and convention-goers, insurance and project teams, families between homes, and anyone visiting for more than a long weekend. Explore the format in our guides to extended stays and corporate housing.
The Exchange's options
The Exchange Building is the middle ground made real. It's a 1910 Beaux-Arts landmark standing at 9 North Second Street on Court Square Park — the most central address downtown, within an easy walk of Beale Street, the riverfront, AutoZone Park, FedExForum, the trolley, and the Renasant Convention Center. You get the room and the kitchen of a true residence with the walk-everywhere location travelers want from a hotel.
Just as important is how you book it: you lease direct from the on-site team — no broker fees, transparent pricing, and a quick, modern process. Submit a short inquiry, get a private portal, ask your questions, and lock in your dates. Whether you need a few weeks or are testing downtown before a longer move, it's a comfortable, central home base. Read more in our Exchange Building apartments guide.
Find your place in the heart of downtown
Tell us what you're looking for and we'll send you a private portal in minutes — tour, apply, and chat with the on-site leasing office. Leased direct on Court Square, no broker fees.
A simple decision guide
Still deciding? Run your trip through this quick checklist:
- Staying one to three nights? Book a hotel — simplest for a short trip.
- Staying about a week? Lean toward a furnished apartment for the kitchen, space, and per-night value.
- Staying a month or more? Choose a furnished apartment or extended stay — it wins on cost and comfort.
- Traveling for work with a budget? Look at corporate housing for turnkey, all-in monthly terms.
- Bringing family or a team? Pick the apartment for separate rooms and a shared kitchen.
- Want to walk everywhere? Whatever you choose, stay in the Court Square / Main Street core.
If your answer points to an apartment in the heart of downtown, you already know where to look — just submit a rent inquiry and the on-site team at The Exchange will help you find the right fit.