Are Serviced Apartments the Best Choice for Travelling?

Travellers, for both business and leisure, find themselves staring down the barrel of a range of choices, accommodation being a major one. Each carries risk – how can you be sure you are getting it right? Now, alongside the traditional offerings of vastly differing hotels, self-catering, and bed and breakfasts, we have another choice: serviced apartments. Serviced apartments are springing up in cities around the world as another accommodation option for travellers. They offer something new and unique to the range of accommodation options. In this article we ask: Are Serviced Apartments the Best Choice for Travelling? The Issues of Accommodation Whether you’re travelling for business or pleasure, your accommodation always involves some degree of compromise. For example, if you choose a business-standard hotel you may sacrifice luxury for location. If you’re traveling with your family, and choose self-catering, you sacrifice creature comforts and the hotel service which makes for the ‘holiday feel’ for privacy and space. Travellers are always weighing up what is important to them, and what they will have to sacrifice on this trip. What is a Serviced Apartment? A serviced apartment differs considerably from both a hotel and self-catering. In essence, you can see them as the best of both worlds. From the hotel you take the service, the standards, and the comfort. From self-catering you take the privacy, space, and freedom. In many ways they are the Holy Grail of travel accommodation because you get the pros, without the cons. So you get services such as housekeeping and concierge, but you get the space and comfort of a well-appointed home. It’s home-from-home with the hotel services we love. Best Accommodation Choice for Travelling Serviced apartments provide the best choice for travelling. That applies whether you are a leisure or business traveller, visiting for three days or three months, travelling solo, or in a large family. Thanks to their increasing popularity, each type of traveller has a huge range of choice meaning they can choose a serviced apartment which suits them. Spacious Accommodation with Hotel Services Think about the main draw to a hotel stay: It’s likely to be convenience (with location playing a huge role); along with the hotel services you’re paying for – a concierge on hand to help with transport and arrangements in a strange city; housekeeping services which mean you’re not wasting valuable work or leisure time; and possibly knowing that you’ve got dining options on site. You choose a hotel for these reasons, but accept that the space will be tight, and you won’t have a huge amount of privacy if you want to wind down in the evening anywhere other than on your bed. With a serviced apartment you get both living space and sleeping space – to the same exemplary standard you’d expect of a same-range hotel. However, you’re not having to compromise on the service you receive. You can still have a concierge on hand to help you with transport and logistical arrangements for work and pleasure. You can still have housekeeping. You can have catering brought in, or you are within reach of a choice of dining options. You’ll also have 24-7 access to your own space, without feeling you need to be out by 10am, and stay out. If you’re travelling for more than a few days, this is hugely important. A serviced apartment allows you to have a leisurely breakfast whilst still in your pyjamas – you’d get a few odd looks for that in a hotel! What About the Aspects of a Hotel I Love? For many travellers, staying in a hotel still brings that excitement we felt as kids, opening the door on this new space, with a chance to have someone else meet our needs for a while. This is the aspect of hotel accommodation that we emulate with our serviced apartments. For example, not only can you have dining a few steps away from your bedroom, you can have exactly what you want, if you wish, by bringing in a private chef. Alternatively, if you don’t feel like a full restaurant meal night after night, you can also have the home-comfort of just whipping up a stir-fry, or French Toast. Even more so, if you get in from a meeting late at night you won’t be restricted by a limited room service menu, or struggle to feed your toddler when they are suddenly ravenous at 5.30am. Beyond this you also get some other key benefits. Some apartments welcome your dog, so you’re not juggling dog-sitters too. Some have gym access, and even membership included. Some have a business centre in the building. Some have a pool. Some have parking. This is the beauty of serviced apartments – they really are a pick and mix of what you need, and all the best bits of travel accommodation. Lastly, but importantly, let’s not forget the budget considerations. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a hotel which gives you the space and comfort of a serviced apartment for a similar cost. Space in cities, after all, usually comes with a hefty price tag.