The commuter hotels are as described. You pay, submit a receipt, and get paid back. If you only need 1 hotel in a month, stay at the Ritz or somewhere nice and get $250 back. If you need 5 rooms that month, stay at one of the "commuter" hotels that give us deals of ~$50 a night, and get $250 back. Either way, you get $250 a month.

The commuter policy itself is pretty good. You must list on 2 flights that would get you to work on time, and the flights must have space available the day before. If you don't make it on either flight, you just call scheduling and tell them. They may ask you what flights and check, but not always. You just rejoin your trip when you can get to work.