I think that would end up missing most of the counterfactual value… It kind of goes against most of the point of the project (like trying to save a scholarship by asking the recipients to pay).
There could be of significant value to some people to have subsidised much cheaper than usual rent (in a hotel with a ready-made dedicated EA community), even if it’s not free. Of course, it’s a further question whether there are enough such people to sustain the hotel in the short term, if the hotel transitions away from fully covering expenses.
I think it would be interesting to see how many current/potential guests could/would pay some small sum. Going forward, one could also have some kinds of honour-based system, where people indicate whether they would be able to pay some rent while staying at the hotel or whether they would require full coverage plus a stipend.
We already have an honour-based system where people with an income or >24 months runway in savings are asked to pay cost price. We could perhaps tighten this up, but don’t really want to end up with a system where people with very limited resources would feel obliged to pay and thus don’t apply.
There could be of significant value to some people to have subsidised much cheaper than usual rent (in a hotel with a ready-made dedicated EA community), even if it’s not free. Of course, it’s a further question whether there are enough such people to sustain the hotel in the short term, if the hotel transitions away from fully covering expenses.
I think it would be interesting to see how many current/potential guests could/would pay some small sum. Going forward, one could also have some kinds of honour-based system, where people indicate whether they would be able to pay some rent while staying at the hotel or whether they would require full coverage plus a stipend.
We already have an honour-based system where people with an income or >24 months runway in savings are asked to pay cost price. We could perhaps tighten this up, but don’t really want to end up with a system where people with very limited resources would feel obliged to pay and thus don’t apply.