So you’ve booked the flights for your latest trip. What’s the next thing you turn your attention to? Invariably, finding a suitable hotel in the right location. But how often do you cast your net wider and consider booking a serviced apartment?
Such apartments can be found in city centres all over the world and, while they are often seen chiefly as an option for longer stays, many are available for short visits. What’s more, a large number come with facilities associated with traditional hotels – such as 24-hour manned receptions and public lounges – alongside in-room extras including kitchens and living rooms.
In which case, are serviced apartments a viable alternative to hotels? To find out, we held an editor’s lunch in February on the topic, which was attended by a cross-section of our readers as well as readers of Business Traveller’s sister magazine, Buying Business Travel. The event took place at London’s Oriental Club (orientalclub.org.uk) – its library providing an elegant setting for the discussion – and was kindly sponsored by Silverdoor (silverdoor.co.uk), one of Europe’s largest independent serviced apartment agents, which represents more than 50,000 apartments in over 200 locations worldwide.
Several readers with first-hand experience of staying in serviced apartments said they provided the kind of comfort and flexibility that they couldn’t get in hotels. “I like the space, I like the freedom,” one said. “It gives you lots of scope to do your own thing – whether you use it as an office or a place to crash out or to have a party. It’s multi-functional.” Being able to hold meetings in them was also seen as an advantage.
Another reader cited their convenience for extended stays. “I prefer serviced apartments, especially if I’m there for a longer time,” they said. “My main market is India, so I use an apartment [and have] all the amenities I need in a developing country to get by. If I need to get a SIM card or to get my laundry done, it’s much easier. In a hotel I feel claustrophobic.”
The reader added that having a kitchen was welcome: “Very often I just want to eat broccoli and rice – I don’t want to have curried poached eggs.” Another participant said this was especially pertinent if you have special dietary requirements: “As a vegetarian [it can be] difficult. In China, for example, everything has pork in it. It’s just so much easier [to cook for yourself].”
Several people cited the value for money apartments could offer as a plus. One said: “I used to go to Brussels a lot two or three years ago, so I stayed in many places. I tended increasingly to stay in Citadines [apartment properties] – there are two in Brussels – because I got more for my money. Both are in quite nice locations, and you could stay for about E100 a night in decent accommodation, perhaps with a separate lounge and bedroom, and a kitchen. Brussels has a lot of mediocre hotels that cost about that, but the experience isn’t very pleasant.”
Marcus Angell, managing director of Silverdoor, pointed out that in tougher economic times, staying in an apartment rather than a hotel – where extra services can incur charges – could save money. “When the recession started biting three or four years ago, one of the slashes of costs we noticed was in incidentals,” he said. “[Companies would] say to staff, you can still stay in Claridges but you no longer have an incidentals budget. You can’t do your dry cleaning anymore. You can take that budget and stay in a serviced apartment – it’s the same quality and you’re better off.”
Still, despite these advantages, it remains that some people treat apartments with caution. Quite often, it’s simply a case of not wanting to book something you have no experience of. “It’s the unknown, isn’t it?” as one reader put it. For others, the idea of fending for oneself can be off-putting: “If you go somewhere for two nights and you’re working 12 hours [a day], you can’t really be bothered,” one said.
Security can also be a worry, with some people not always sure they can expect the same levels of safety as at a hotel. “Is there a person always on the door?” one asked. “Especially if the person is vulnerable. Do all serviced apartments have them?”
Angell replied: “There are those that are manned, like apart-hotels, and those that are effectively residential blocks. You have to supply the right apartment for the guest.”
One reader reported that information on a property should be more readily available. “I’m going to Doha [shortly] and the office there has organised an apartment. They have forwarded a one-page PDF [of the booking], and there are no details. Is there a concierge that speaks English, as I’m going to a country where I don’t speak the language? Is there a gym or pool? There’s the communication element of it.”
They added: “At the beginning I got sent an apologetic email saying: ‘We’re really sorry, we’re not going to put you into the Ritz-Carlton, we’re going to put you in an apartment. I’m going with two of my friends and colleagues, so actually the apartment is great for us. They could have sold it to me as a good thing.”
Perceptions need to change, then. “A [hotel] suite with several rooms is like a serviced apartment and the concept of staying in a suite in a hotel is exclusive,” a reader said. “And yet these apartments are in many respects similar. I think there’s a marketing issue – maybe it’s around the terminology.”
One thing that could provide more clarity, it was suggested, was to introduce a star rating system similar to that used in the hotel industry. “It’s what’s lacking for me – when I’m booking I want to know what quality to expect,” one person said.
As Angell pointed out, one of the reasons why such a system doesn’t yet exist in the sector is its relative youth. “The serviced apartment sector is 20 to 25 years behind the hotel sector and even that has its issues in terms of star rating,” he said. “You need enough collective will, the top 20 per cent of volume, to agree on what constitutes a ratings system. Hence the reason some do their own.” Silverdoor operates its own system to ensure customers know what they are getting. “We have a person whose job is to travel around the world inspecting them,” said Stuart Winstone, Silverdoor’s head of business partnerships. Angell said he thought a universal system would “happen eventually”.
So are serviced apartments a real alternative to hotels? From our discussion, certainly – though by adopting a few more hotel practices, the sector could get the message out still further.
