We have stayed with nuns in Paris and in another convent closer to us. Many religious houses offer accommodation at a reasonable rate to tourists. There is no obligation to participate in the life of the monastery, in fact we helped ourselves to breakfast and saw no one except for the nun who showed us our room. Pilgrims can stay in various religious houses on the Via Francigena between Canterbury and Rome. In the UK people may stay in a few monasteries in order to take a retreat but you eat with the monks and are expected to be staying there for religious reasons.