A month in Houston

Texas exempts permanent residents, guests who occupy a room for at least 30 consecutive days, from the state and local hotel taxes, 17% in all in Houston. Any interruption in the stay voids the exemption. Because a hotel is liable for the tax if a guest leaves before 30 days, some hotels collect it and give a refund or credit once the 30 days are complete, even after a guest has given written notice of a long stay.

Homes follow the same line: the state tax covers condominiums, apartments and houses rented for less than 30 consecutive days, not those leased for longer. Platforms that collect the Texas tax work with the state's definition of a short-term rental, a rental for 29 days or less.

Houston's ordinance defines a short-term rental as a home or part of one let for less than 30 consecutive days. A month of 30 days or more falls outside it and outside the registration rule. A shorter stay needs a host with a City certificate, whose number appears in the listing with the maximum occupancy.

In Galveston, every short-term rental listing carries a GVR number, and the City keeps a map of neighbourhoods where short-term rentals are restricted.

The Heights suits a month in a rental house about 8 km (5 miles) from Downtown, the Museum District a month near the Texas Medical Center, and Uptown a business posting near the Galleria. Downtown works for a month in a hotel or apartment with a garage, given the posted limits on street parking. Galveston suits a month by the Gulf, better outside the hurricane season from 1 June to 30 November when the dates allow. These choices are editorial.

Visitors from the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries, among them the UK and 24 of the 27 EU countries (not Bulgaria, Cyprus or Romania), can stay up to 90 days for tourism or business without a visa, with an approved ESTA applied for before travel. The stay cannot be extended. ESTA costs USD 40.27 (USD 10.27 if refused) and is valid for two years, or until the passport expires if that is sooner. The application now asks for a selfie.

A side trip to Canada, Mexico or a Caribbean island does not restart the 90 days: the visitor comes back for the rest of the original admission period. US Customs and Border Protection records the arrival electronically as a Form I-94, with an admit-until date that can be checked on its website.

Airbnb calls 28 nights or more a monthly stay. The first month is charged up front and released to the host 24 hours after check-in, later months are charged 10 days before each period, and a long-term cancellation policy applies that generally needs 30 days' notice of changes. The tax follows its own line: Texas stops taxing at 30 consecutive days, so a booking of 28 nights is still taxed.

ParkHouston caps street parking at the limit posted on each pay station, 2 to 10 hours, and the time cannot run past it on the same block, so a month needs a garage, a driveway or a lot. The City itself points long-term parkers to surface lots and garages. Ask the host or the hotel before booking.

Breaking the 30 days. Any interruption in the stay voids the permanent-resident exemption.

Booking a rental home whose listing shows no certificate number. From 1 January 2027 the City will ask platforms to remove such listings.

Relying on Seawall Boulevard for a month of parking in Galveston. It is charged from 10 am to 6 pm every day, up to USD 16 a day.

Counting on an ESTA extension. The Visa Waiver Program allows none.