Business travel has changed drastically over the last few years. Where once companies sent workers on day trips or one-week conferences, now extended projects, flex time, and temporary relocations challenge the days-of-old concept of temporary housing. When someone needs a place to stay, the answer was always “a hotel.” Not anymore.
Walk into business-heavy parts of cities these days and pay attention. The people checking in to these residential looking buildings aren’t all from out of town. They’re transplanted personnel, three-month project managers, executives overseeing new offices, consultants jumping from gig to gig, specialists brought in for months on end for certain contracts. They’re not tourists; they’re working professionals, and they need something a hotel can’t offer them.
Why Hotels Are Not Suitable for Long Stays
Hotels are set up for short stays. They have structures in place that make them comfortable – but only to a point. A night or two? Sure. A week? Perfectly fine. But three weeks? Four months? The seams start to show.
The average hotel guest gets bored of the minibar. They get tired of ordering room service and seeing the same three burger and salad combinations they’ve had for every meal since Sunday night. They appreciate the little coffee-maker in their room, but when that’s all they have to make their meals with, they start feeling cranky when they can’t even heat up their leftovers from last night’s room service. They love having their rooms cleaned every day until their team meetings happen to overlap in time with housekeeping, forcing workers to set aside their laptops and Packers’ Day trophies to pack their workspaces up for a week.
The reality is that hotels charge a la carte for just about everything. Laundry? You have to pay to do your own if there’s a facility there. Printing? You have to go into the business center and pay by page. Want to have an impromptu meeting? Good luck finding an available room that doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars to book. These start to add up when guests are spending more than just an overnight in their hotels.
What Serviced Apartments Offer Instead
Serviced apartments are furnished from top to bottom as homes but offer hotel-like amenities at the guests’ convenience. Right upon entering, someone can tell they’ve entered a serviced apartment instead of a hotel: they have access to a full kitchen stocked with a full fridge, a living space (instead of a combined living area and bedroom), and a home office, if they choose to set one up.
The kitchen is key. There’s no reason why someone should have to settle for the powdered creamer from the complimentary Starbucks down the hall when they could easily make their morning coffee from scratch. The reality is that people who stay in serviced apartments for however long they are can throw together breakfast sandwiches, meals after work, or even spontaneous themed dinners should they need a break from the corporate world for just a night.
For example, a short term stay Singapore offers just this type of convenience; serviced apartments are common for those with project-based roles with the ability to live somewhere like a local for an extended period but without the complications of leases or lack of kitchens.
Beyond this, people get terribly cramped living in hotels with less than 400 square feet. They often can’t unpack fully, live out of their suitcases as they’re either stuffed under beds or on luggage racks. Staying in a serviced apartment offers convenience for guests to unpack their work clothes and create space for living as if they’re actually living instead of just stopping over.
The Money Factor
Let’s get real about money, this is where the conversation gets interesting. When comparing serviced apartments to hotels, serviced apartments typically cost a lot more on a nightly basis, but that’s misleading.
When calculating utilities, wifi, and basic cable into the price of serviced apartments, which most do, guests are discouraged by hotel fees that don’t boast obvious prices. Guests want parking fees, resort fees, Wi-Fi access, upgrades, included in their hotel’s advertised pricing. But the longer they’re there, the more expensive it gets when things aren’t included.
Where the true savings come is with kitchens; eating out for every meal adds up quickly – not to mention it’s expensive and draining after only days at a time. Thus, there is a simple opportunity to buy groceries and keep it simple for meals so long as it’s not complicated breakfast lunches and dinners; saving at least $50 per day adds up quickly over time – with discounts determining $900-$1,500 back into guests’ pockets over the course of an extended service apartment stay. Suddenly, that nightly price doesn’t seem so strenuous.
Companies like it too; with budget measures in place, companies are starting to figure out that serviced apartments for longer periods tend to cost less than extending hotel stays, especially when meal allowances and other per diem options can be reduced since employees now have access to kitchens.
Flexibility Is Key
Another problem with traditional leases is that they’re not meant to be filled out halfway. Most traditional leases operate under nine-to-six month agreements since it makes sense for both tenants and property owners. Therefore, security deposits must be submitted, utilities must be set up, furniture must be acquired, and excess paperwork aplenty occurs, unless an employee is moving somewhere permanently.
However, serviced apartments can create flexible terms from several weeks’ stays since they – like hotels, accommodate personal growth potential in limited spaces; this works well if a project turns out to last longer than expected since multiple extensions are feasible without complications at this juncture.
An unwanted lease with a year-long timeframe doesn’t benefit anyone if a tenant realizes four months into their project that they no longer need accommodations for another nine months because they finished early.
This flexibility caters well to uncertain timelines; project-based work rarely goes according to plan; being able to extend by another month or close out early without complications relieves stress from what would otherwise be an already stressful situation.
Work-Life Balance
Finally, living out of a hotel for months is exhausting, and it tends to be hard to explain this until one does it. The psychology of existing where you sleep, and sleeping where you exist – is no way for someone to spend such an extended period; everything happens in the same 400 square feet.
A serviced apartment allows guests to occupy themselves at work in one space; however, at night, they can close the door on their workspace, and vice versa. Someone can grill lobsters for colleagues on their kitchen table without having to sit on their bed without a change of clothes, and take work calls without unmade beds in the background.
The mental health of it all cannot be discounted; professionals on extended projects already struggle being away from home with complicated realities imposed on them, and having a space that feels somewhat normal (to cook and relax in and separate work from sleep) is immensely helpful.
Other Practical Details
Serviced apartments often feature cleaning services once a week instead of daily, which works in favor of most long-term guests since they prefer privacy and provide weekly perks like towel changes without needing daily disruptors, but it’s nice not having to request room service every week.
They offer amenities like hotels, gyms and pools, but in more private residential styles; there’s even front desk help available for restaurant recommendations and transportation without worrying about busy hotels charging guests right away as they come inside.
Not to mention, serviced apartments are located more in residential areas than hotels, to allow access to grocery stores and local cafes away from tourist stops; it doesn’t make someone feel out of place or like they’re constantly away from home, not ever stepping foot into a Trader Joe’s ever again.
Conclusion
It’s clear that whoever stays in serviced apartments right now has it better than those who stubbornly cling onto hotels as permanent transitional housing because that’s how it’s always been done before.
Now that work is more project-based instead of short stints between branches and teams, flexible assignments bridge the gap between business travel and temporary moving for however long someone might be away from home.
Serviced apartments fill that void nicely, sometimes far easier than extensive hotel stays or random leases that make no sense otherwise until someone has moved into their permanent space.
For anyone who will be staying somewhere for an extensive amount of time, for whatever reason during relocation between two homes or while figuring out something more permanent, serviced apartments bridge that gap nicely between general hotels and basic leases without concern or red tape as needed elsewhere. A middle ground boasts far more convenience than either extreme amid what could already be stressful complications.
