If Raul, had legal residence elsewhere and his employer needed his presence in the D.C. area on a consistent basis, providing him with a place to stay would be the employer's expense and taxable to the employer, not the employee.
If Raul, had legal residence elsewhere and his employer needed his presence in the D.C. area on a consistent basis, providing him with a place to stay would be the employer’s expense and taxable to the employer, not the employee.
That would be true if (like a nanny or caretaker) he had to live in that particular place in order to perform the work. But simply providing him a place to live is a taxable benefit, same as meals. It’s a close case as you phrase it, and it he had been reimbursed for hotel costs, the reimbursement would be non-taxable.