If a hotel is a home-away-from-home for you, you might be in the market for a condo hotel room, the latest firecracker in the housing boom.

I can see the convenience factor for frequent travelers. But is it worthwhile as an investment?

Owners typically get 30 percent to 60 percent of proceeds from room rentals. At Hotel Telluride, a $279,000 unit might cost an owner $16,570 in annual mortgage payments if he or she put down 20 percent on a 30-year loan at 6.3 percent interest. But that owner could realize $24,000 in rental income if he or she received a 40 percent share on a room that rents for $300 a night 200 days a year. That income must be reported for tax purposes. Any day an owner stays, there is one less day that rental income can be collected.

What owners may gain in convenience in a condo hotel, however, they can give up in control. Individuals own the room, but the hotels typically wield most of the power. While some developers sell all the units to individuals, who as a group can then hire and fire management, a number of hotels do not give owners much say in operations, whether the concerns are poor food, shoddy service or ugly drapes. Nor do they always provide access to the resort’s finances and overall occupancy rates.

Sounds like an upscale version of the timeshare, really. With a good bit of prestige factor driving it, too: Who wouldn’t want to brag about “owning” a suite? Plus, it’s reminiscent of the high-roller habit of keeping a hotel room in perpetual rent in cities like New York or Los Angeles.

Ultimately, it’s the hotels who are making a killing on this. They get the lump sum infusion, then pretty much do what they want with the rooms, regardless of the agreement.