[brailsafe]

It's also not a good comparison because if you're truly an employee, you pay tax on that money, whereas the company saves tax on that company expense. The answer of your previous hypothetical would totally depend on _all_ the circumstances. Do I personally control the reward system for having gone to the conference? Do I need day to day consistency? What are my available options in the area and how do those help or hinder my ability to succeed? How much does the company, employed or otherwise, stand to make from my performing this task?

The only situation in which it'd actually be obviously excessive is when the choice would be considered truly opulent and wildly expensive given all of the circumstances.

A 3 star to a 4 or 5 star is probably not so clear if all options are available.

If I was tasked with going somewhere on behalf of a company that I don't control, then I'd pick a place that would likely start at a cost of around $3-400 USD per night with no exceptional circumstances prevailing. All hotels basically suck, that range would let me not be concerned about where I'm staying, and do well the next day if I needed to.