The current series of Come Dine With Me is showing every Sunday evening on Channel 4, and there’s been controversy following the revelation that some celebrities in the recent Celebrity Come Dine With Me were not hosting dinner in their own homes.
Complaints from some viewers centered around the argument that the whole point of the programme was for celebrities to provide an evening of food, drink and entertainment in their own homes. However, producers of the show countered that the point of the format is for the host to entertain, and if it happened to be in a serviced apartment, that didn't detract from the central concept.
From SilverDoor’s perspective, we're delighted that so many serviced apartments are being showcased to an audience of millions, with viewing figures that range from 2 to 3 million per episode. SilverDoor has been promoting the many benefits that serviced apartments have to offer for almost 10 years now, becoming Europe’s leading serviced apartment agent in the process. While we're delighted that the industry continues to experience double-digit growth year on year, popular programmes such as Celebrity Come Dine With Me, which show off and promote this type of accommodation to a mass audience, are very welcome.
In a recent survey conducted by SilverDoor, 100% of respondents who had not previously heard of serviced apartments said that they completely understood the concept of 'holiday apartments', the majority of whom had said that they had in fact stayed in an apartment on holiday. While SilverDoor is completely focused on serviced apartments catering to business clients and in central business districts or business areas, rather than holiday destinations, the concept is very similar.
So thanks to programmes like Celebrity Come Dine With Me, awareness will continue to accelerate so that more and more people can enjoy the many benefits of serviced apartments. They provide more space, privacy and home comforts than hotels, yet cost much less and yield hardly any of the substantial per diem expenses.