Are Serviced Apartments Better Than A Hotel? Which are the main differences?
The hospitality industry is surely evolving very fast. So fast, that as a renter you have too many options to choose from: serviced apartments, hotels, apart-hotels, hostels. So comes the question of which accommodation type to choose from all these options.
In this particular piece, we’ll narrow down the main differences between 2 of the most popular types of accommodation: serviced apartments and hotels.
Table of contents:
What are serviced apartments?
Are serviced apartments different from hotels?
- Stay period
- Pricing
- Amenities/facilities
The benefits of serviced apartments
- Ease of booking
- More space
- Cheaper
- Easier way to find accommodation for relocating employees
Where to find the best serviced apartments?
What are serviced apartments?
Also known as an extended stay apartment, a serviced apartment is a fully furnished and equipped apartment available for short-term (1-2 months) or long-term (3-6 months) stay. Most frequently, corporations and big companies use this type of accommodation to host professionals who may be on a work assignment, either local or international. It is common for company executives to live in serviced apartments for a short period of time while searching for a permanent house or until the relocation process is finished.
Although serviced apartments are primarily an option for businesses, they are also available to those who are moving to a new city, traveling for a longer period of time, or who are temporarily relocating within the same city.
Are serviced apartments different from hotels?
The short answer is yes. The long answer is that serviced apartments offer more facilities than a hotel in order to make the stay more home-like. Serviced apartments usually have private cooking facilities, either a kitchenette or a full-size kitchen, large living and sleeping areas, and hotel room services like reception, room cleaning, towel replacements, toilette changes, and so on.
A serviced apartment mirrors the culture of the specific area and neighborhood. It offers insights into what a day-by-day life would look like, the pulse of a day in the city, giving an exhaustive image of the culture and values which isn’t happening when living in a hotel room for a short period of time.
Here are the 3 main differentiators between serviced apartments and hotels:
Stay period
A good reason why people choose serviced apartments over hotels is that serviced apartments are far more economical, for long-term stays. One situation in which you can seize this difference would be cooking vs eating out. In a hotel room, you do not have the facilities to cook, and eating out might be the option you go for when it comes to meals. It does offer a wide range of meals but eating out also entails spending a lot of money.
Whereas serviced apartments come with a fully equipped kitchen such as a microwave, gas stove, plates and utensils, and dishwashing machine.
Serviced apartments and hotels pricing
There’s a saying that living in a hotel gets as expensive as you make it. The reason is that everything you want extra adds to your final bill. If we’re comparing a hotel stay vs an apartment stay, it can be less expensive or more expensive than renting an apartment, depending on your standard of living and how you are able to deduct expenses.
While hotel prices are looking up to industry standards, prices of serviced apartments are based on the quality of the offering, amenities, location, and the neighborhood. For example, a centrally-located serviced apartment will cost more than one in an upcoming area. On average, serviced apartment rates are 30-50% less than typical hotels.
More amenities, more comfort
As we mentioned before, business travelers are often choosing serviced apartments over hotel rooms. From their perspective, this kind of alternative solution fits better their need for a comfortable location that feels like a home away from home. The feeling of living in between cities and suitcases all the time gets overwhelming at least.
Serviced apartments have a lot of features and amenities that give the possibility to feel more comfortable and cozy. This equals more privacy and comfort in your own surrounding. Also, you have the freedom to keep your routine as you would do at home like reading in the living room, cooking dinner, having some friends over, lying down and watching Netflix in the bedroom, and whatnot.
The benefits of serviced apartments
Whenever traveling for business purposes or with family, serviced apartments offer a lot of other benefits which add to the ones we’ve mentioned above.
Ease of booking
With platforms like LuxFlat, booking a serviced apartment is easier than booking a hotel. You can simply send an inquiry and we’ll pick the best apartment for you to have a great stay.
Unlike renting an apartment, booking serviced apartments only request the visitor to pay for their accommodation. No lengthy procedures or external parties are involved. Also, no large deposits are required.
More space
Space is the ultimate luxury and there’s a lot of it in any serviced apartment. Just imagine doing all the things you love as you normally do. Serviced apartments’ size usually varies between 60m² and 120m² which is almost x2 bigger than a hotel room.
You save money
The price you pay for serviced accommodation is usually 20% less than the amount you pay for a hotel. And there are no hidden extras for which you’ll need to pay at the end of the stay.
An easier way to find accommodation for relocating employees
We’ve tackled the benefits of serviced accommodation for those who are moving to a new city, but there are a lot of advantages if you’re a relocation agency.
Partnering with a serviced apartments platform will offer you the chance to build an accommodation database so each time you’re working on a relocation case, you can easily manage and find accommodation. No more long hours of research and phone calls. Just one platform to check.
Where to find the best serviced apartments?
Now that you know what serviced apartments are and how they’re different from hotel rooms, let’s see where to find the best serviced apartments. We narrowed down a shortlist of the best platforms that offer serviced accommodation and corporate housing.
- LuxFlat
LuxFLat is a corporate housing platform offering high-end serviced apartments for corporate customers in Luxembourg. It’s both a platform for serviced apartments providers and travelers/business people who are looking to relocate to Luxembourg.
Some of the services offered by LuxFlat are:
- Easy self-check-in on both desktop and mobile
- Weekly cleaning
- 24/7 customer support
- Dedicated mailbox
- In-house laundry.
- Booking.com
Booking is an online travel platform for lodging reservations & other travel products. Also, it’s a subsidiary of Booking Holdings. You can use Booking to plan your travels worldwide as the platform included not only apartment rental, but other facilities as well.
- Airbnb
Airbnb is a vacation rental company that began in 2008. The platform operates with listed spaces for rental all over the world. The experience share that Airbnb offers to its hosts and guest is perhaps one of the most valuable benefits of the platform. You get to experience the local culture and have a unique connection with the locals.
Wrapping up
We’ve compared the serviced apartments and their benefits to a regular hotel room. Now that you have the whole picture, it’s crucial to remember that there always can be pros and cons to either option. The final decision of choosing the best type of accommodation that fits your needs is always up to you.