If the situation is such that there is no local accomodation then a decent temporary set up is justified but surely the local hotels are not going to be booked up by any but BBC reporters and other hangers on. This situation is now arising sufficiently often to justify a permanent team who go out and haggle with the hotel managers for very special rates which undoubtably would be available.
Perhaps the problem is that aircrew have left, or have been forced to leave, bean counting and administration to other branches and there is no greater praise than to an administrator than he who can say "Look how much I have saved ".
The argument that you should put up with it because I had to in ******* is as much sense as washing your smalls in the river with a stone rather than using a washing machine, the world has moved on from the Crimea.