The serviced apartment sector continues to boom. Business Traveller reviews properties around the country
Serviced apartments have gained ground in recent years, with many giving hotels a good run for their money. According to research by the Institute of Travel and Meetings, 57 per cent of travel managers are now booking serviced apartments as an alternative to traditional hotels for stays of five days or less.
Staying in a serviced apartment is now a lifestyle choice, says Trevor Elswood, managing director of online booking agency BSI. “I use them – they give me a lot more space, plus I don’t like fuss and nonsense when I’m at a hotel. You can kick your shoes off, make your own food and get on with some work in the evening.” Even more important, they offer good value, as generally the longer you stay, the cheaper it is.
While the market is reaching maturity, it still has room to grow. “I don’t think the market is anywhere near saturation in terms of demand,” Elswood says. “And there are more suppliers as well. I’ve seen our apartment database probably double in the past six years.”
Upcoming openings in the capital include a Clarendon property in Spitalfields, due to open by May. The one-bed apartments will “offer all the comforts of a modern-day home,” says Peter Morgan, Clarendon’s head of marketing and market development. Citadines’ South Kensington property will also complete renovations this spring.
The UK serviced apartment sector has also gained its own independent trade body. The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers, previously part of the Association of Relocation Professionals, is now a stand-alone organisation representing 30 operators and 5,000 apartments.
Problems with classification and quality assessment remain, however. Charles McCrow, managing director of booking agency the Apartment Service, says: “Existing grading schemes were designed for hotels to evaluate facilities and services such as restaurants, concierge and meeting rooms, which are not available in many serviced apartment blocks.”
As you’ll see in the following reviews of new properties across the country, facilities vary widely – some are single apartments in residential blocks, while others are purpose-built properties with 100 units. This is where using a booking agency can help. Marcus Angell, managing director of Silverdoor, says: “One of the benefits of using an independent serviced apartment agent is that apartments are inspected and presented in an unbiased fashion so that accurate comparisons can be made.”
Sara Turner
LONDON | Clarendon
Landmark, Canary Wharf
Clarendon has properties in a number of London locations, including the City and Covent Garden. In February it launched ten one-bedroom apartments in the brand-new, 28-storey Landmark West Tower, about five minutes’ walk from Canary Wharf tube. South Quay and Heron Quays DLR stations are slightly closer. When I visited, as building work wasn’t quite finished, I entered via a cordoned walkway but the entrance was due to be completed by late March.
The apartments are on floors 13 and above – the rest of the building is mainly private residences. You collect your keys from the 24-hour concierge (not employed by Clarendon – for queries contact Clarendon’s office during work hours or there is a 24-hour emergency number). There is a mail room on the ground floor and a gym is due to open soon, which will be free for guests.
Apartments are serviced weekly. All have the same modern facilities and décor, and are 50 sqm – the pale walls and wooden floors add to the feeling of space. I stayed in a north-facing one on the 19th floor. You enter via a double-lock front door to a wide corridor, leading off from which is the bathroom, bedroom and living room/kitchen. The latter two rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows with great Thames views, while south-facing apartments face the Crystal Palace tower.
The living area has a sofa, armchair and coffee table, a dining table and chairs, a flatscreen TV, DVD player, stereo and phone. It was a pleasure to relax here in the evening. The windows have blinds and vents but are not soundproofed – despite being so high up, the sounds of the streets below were audible. Wifi is free.
The smart kitchen had a fridge-freezer, dishwasher, washer-dryer, combined oven/microwave and all the crockery you could need. Provided on arrival are two mini bottles of both red and white wine, orange juice, UHT milk, chocolate biscuits, pasta and sauce – a lovely touch. Tea and coffee is also supplied but you would need to pick up other essentials – there are branches of Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s nearby.
The carpeted bedroom had a king-size bed, wardrobe and chest of drawers, but the air conditioning in here didn’t work. The bathroom had a combined bath and shower, Bee Kind toiletries and a heated towel rail. A hairdryer, iron/ironing board, and vacuum cleaner are also provided.
VERDICT An excellent base if you are working in Canary Wharf. Well decked-out with lots of space and superb views.
MINIMUM STAY Three nights
PRICE Rates for a three-night stay in May started from £147 per night.
CONTACT Clarendon, the Landmark West Tower, 22 Marsh Wall; tel +44 (0)1784 489 200; clarendonuk.com
Michelle Mannion
LIVERPOOL | Bridgestreet at Liverpool One
Bridgestreet opened its first Merseyside property last May in the huge Liverpool One development that has transformed the city centre, with its array of shops, restaurants and bars. The group also has apartments in London, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, and it is due to open a 182-apartment property in Dubai in April.
The apartments are housed in a ten-storey new-build on a pedestrianised street. Lime Street rail station is ten minutes’ walk away. The ground floor is a Waterstone’s outlet, with the Bridgestreet reception on the first floor and apartments on the rest of the floors. There is no parking on-site but Liverpool One has three car parks with preferential rates of £8 per 24 hours. The property has 77 apartments, of which 46 are one-beds, 27 are two-beds, and four are three-beds.
My top-floor, two-bed apartment was stylish and modern, and provided fantastic views over Liverpool, taking in the Radio City Tower and both cathedrals. The open-plan living room/kitchen had a dining table, sofa, chairs, coffee table, flatscreen TV, radio/iPod dock, and wifi/wired internet access (£9.99 for 24 hours/28 per week). The glossy white cooking area had a dishwasher, washing machine, microwave, large fridge and freezer, oven and hobs, and plenty of utensils and crockery.
One of the bedrooms had an en suite bathroom (shower only), and there was a further stand-alone bathroom with combined bath and shower. Both bedrooms were simply decorated and featured a double bed, flatscreen TV, and an iron/ironing board.
Guests receive a welcome pack with a few essentials including tea/coffee sachets, soft drinks and a few snacks. The reception stocks a limited selection of toiletries and food. Entrance to the apartment building is via a key fob, with traditional locks on the apartment door itself.
VERDICT Modern and stylish, with a great city-centre location and superb views from the higher floors.
MINIMUM STAY None
PRICE Internet rates for a midweek one-night stay in May started from £80 for a one-bed apartment.
CONTACT Bridgestreet at Liverpool One, Pool Bridge House, 39 Paradise Street; tel +44 (0)151 232 2200; bridgestreet.co.uk
Mark Caswell
NEWCASTLE | Staybridge Suites
Staybridge Suites, part of Intercontinental Hotels Group, has 182 properties globally, mostly in the US. It opened its second UK offering in Newcastle, in April last year. The new-build is a five-minute cab ride from Newcastle station, while the popular Quayside area is a few minutes’ stroll away.
The property has a 24-hour entrance – guests walk through a lounge area to reach reception at the back, where the car park is also located (this costs £8 per day or £16 per week). There is a small shop selling essentials, along with “the Den”, a guest area that can be hired out for meetings of up to 16 people theatre-style.
There are 128 suites – 33 one-beds and 96 studios. They all have a bathroom and kitchen area, free wifi, a safe and an iron/ironing board. Each features floor-to-ceiling windows, some overlooking Millennium bridge and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Apartments are cleaned every other day, except weekends.
My one-bed suite was a good size and had a separate living and kitchen area (in the studios, the kitchen is in the same room as the bed). The bedroom was carpeted and had a wardrobe, flatscreen TV and double bed, while the bathroom had a combined bath and shower. Toiletries are by the Washing Line and come in full-size bottles.
The kitchen table could be used for working at and had a decent chair, and the cooking area had a dishwasher, an electric hob, a microwave cooker awkwardly placed too high up, and a good array of crockery. No food was supplied, and the nearest grocery store didn’t have a wide selection.
Breakfast is included in the rate and is served in the lounge. On offer are bread and bagels, cereals, yoghurts and pastries, along with milk and juice. Guests staying Monday-Thursday are also invited to a reception from 6pm to 8pm, at which free wine, beer, cheese and biscuits are served. A small gym, laundry and long-term storage lockers can all be found on the ground floor.
VERDICT The storage lockers are useful for frequent visitors, and the gym, free wifi and breakfast are a bonus. But I was disappointed by the kitchen facilities and it is a little out of the city centre.
MINIMUM STAY None
PRICE Internet rates for a midweek one-night stay in May started from £93 for a studio suite.
CONTACT Buxton Street; tel +44 (0)191 238 7000; staybridge.com
Sara Turner
MANCHESTER | SACO
Saco owns and operates apartments in 15 towns and cities across the UK, as well as running a worldwide network of Saco-approved properties, providing travellers with access to more than 11,000 apartments in 35 countries.
Saco Manchester opened last August in a smart new-build called the Hub. It is three minutes’ walk from Piccadilly station, and the building is accessed with a key fob. Reception is open 7am-11pm (10am-7pm Sundays) – at all other times you can call security.
Saco occupies the top three floors, and there’s a boardroom and mailboxes on the ground floor and a small roof garden. Underground parking costs £10.40 per 24 hours. Saco has a deal with the nearby Gym in City Tower (£15 per month), and Bannatyne’s Health Club (£10 per visit, with a pool). There are 35 apartments at the moment but an extra 13 are expected by July. Eight are studios, 19 are one-beds and eight are two-beds. All have a bathroom, living room and kitchen, as well as a laundry area with a washing machine and iron/ironing board.
The two-beds have a larger living area and two bathrooms, while studios are 55 sqm with the kitchen around the corner so you are not sleeping opposite a cooker. All have floor-to-ceiling windows and are serviced weekly. Make sure you lock your door when you leave rather than just pull it shut.
Kitchens have Smeg appliances, crockery, a coffee maker, microwave, oven, dishwasher and fridge/freezer. There is a Sainsbury’s in the station for picking up basics. A breakfast kit containing cereals, a chocolate bar, jam and Marmite, bread, milk and orange juice is £11.75. Tea and coffee are provided.
My one-bed had a double bedroom and large bathroom with a combined bath/shower and Molton Brown toiletries. The bathroom steamed up as ventilation was poor. The living room was cosy with a sofa, armchair and DVD/CD players. Wifi is £17.60 a week. Apartments have a terrace with a table and chairs, or a small “Juliet” balcony.
VERDICT The location is excellent, the staff helpful, and the apartment comfortable and spacious. It also felt very secure.
MINIMUM STAY Two nights at the weekend, no minimum during the week.
PRICE Internet rates for a midweek one-night stay in May started from £130 for a studio apartment.
CONTACT 5 Piccadilly Place; tel +44 (0)161 870 1909; sacoapartments.co.uk
Felicity Cousins
EDINBURGH | Fraser Suites
Singapore-based Frasers Hospitality has eight hotels in London and one in Glasgow, and plans to have 10,000 apartments in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe by the end of next year. Next up are openings in Budapest, Doha, Dubai, Bangalore, Chengdu, Guangzhou, New Delhi and Osaka.
Fraser Suites Edinburgh officially opened in November last year just off the Royal Mile, a few minutes’ uphill walk from Edinburgh Waverley station. The seven-floor, 19th-century stone building, with high ceilings and ornate cornicing, has been fitted out with classic furniture and original works from the Edinburgh College of Art. It has a 24-hour reception, room service (during restaurant opening hours – 7am-11pm weekdays, from 8am weekends), a gym and the Glasshouse off the Mile eatery.
The 75 units fall under ten categories, ranging from Classic rooms to one-bedroom suites. Rooms vary widely, especially as the building is so old, with different colour schemes and views of Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh Castle or Calton Hill.
I stayed in a fifth-floor Executive suite. By the entrance was the kitchen – it had a kettle and good-sized fridge. The microwave was positioned above the sink, and was a little too high for me. Tea and coffee facilities were provided. As there was no hob, the only option was a microwave meal, and there were only pairs of cups, glasses, bowls, and sets of cutlery.
There are few grocery stores in walking distance. The bathroom had a combined bath/rainshower and L’Occitane toiletries. Opposite the entrance was the sleeping area with a comfy double bed and flatscreen TV. There was a good-sized desk, and internet costs from £3 for an hour to £20 for a week. The room also had a sofa, coffee table safe, hairdryer, and an iron/ironing board.
VERDICT A boutique-style property with stylish décor. It’s great for a few days but not sufficient for long-staying guests. The larger apartments do have decent kitchens though.
MINIMUM STAY None
PRICE Internet rates for a midweek one-night stay in May started from £90 for a Classic room.
CONTACT 12-26 St Giles Street; tel +44 (0)131 221 7200; frasershospitality.com
Sara Turner
