The inception of SilverDoor was built on the basis that, although the convenience, choice and consistency of hotels make them an ideal option for many travellers, serviced apartments offer a wealth of benefits for corporates travelling on business. While hotels remain a great choice for short stays and a hotel-inclined corporate traveller market is still prevalent, our advocacy of serviced apartments has only strengthened as the sector has grown. So as travel habits and traveller preferences continue to change, many major corporations are restructuring and expanding their travel programmes to include serviced accommodation solutions.
Comparing Serviced Apartments and Hotels
The pandemic offered a major turning point for the widespread transition from hotels to corporate housing, but the benefits of serviced accommodation that COVID promoted are nothing new. Providing complete privacy and autonomy, lifestyle flexibility, reduction in carbon emissions, and promotion of healthy routines, it is no surprise that increasing numbers of mobility professionals are turning to serviced apartments in the wake of a global pandemic and the dawn of a wellness- and sustainability-driven society.
Are you a mobility manager keen to reshape your travel programme to maximise business output? You might even be planning to relocate overseas with your family and keen to ensure a smooth move. Serviced apartments offer benefits for all types of global travellers, read on for our ultimate guide on what is the difference between a hotel and a serviced apartment?
As sector leaders, SilverDoor is actively and continuously driving the shift towards serviced apartments, implementing a four-pronged strategy dubbed the ‘4Ss’ – Safety, Sustainability, Savings and Service. These core principles have always been at the epicentre of our business practices, but this strategy underpins the superiority of corporate housing over hotel options across all aspects of business travel.
Guest experience is the primary focus, but the urgency to focus on corporate well-being is not simply a question of ensuring clients have a stress-free business trip, but an overall adjustment of attitudes towards how wellness affects business on a universal scale. The service and product we provide at SilverDoor mitigate adverse effects of business travel – namely travel fatigue, disruption to routines, excessive carbon emissions, to name a few – before they impact the traveller, in turn maximising the productivity of any given business trip.
What is included in a serviced apartment?
Space, Freedom, Autonomy
On average, corporate wellness programmes reduce sick leave and absenteeism by 25%. Corporate wellness starts with limiting stress so, with recent studies proving that travel stress has a significant impact on the success of a given business trip, it is more vital than ever to ensure such stress doesn’t have a knock-on effect on traveller health, well-being and productivity.
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So compelling is the urgency to focus on business traveller well-being that it could have significant impact on the proceedings of the entire business. |
Living space: On average, a serviced apartment has 30% more space than a hotel room. A lot of the time, a one bedroom apartment is the same rate or less than the cost of a hotel room. That means that as well as more space, you actually have separate rooms to sleep, eat and live. The additional space serviced apartments provide is ideal for exercising, working and entertaining friends or colleagues away from sleeping areas. This separation promotes the retention of healthy routines and habits while away on business – fostering a healthy work-life balance anywhere your work takes you.
Kitchen: Every serviced apartment features a fully equipped kitchen that allows guests to cook in complete comfort and convenience. Aside from the cost savings of opting for home cooking opposed to room service or takeaway, having your own kitchen means you can cook whenever you please – a busy or irregular work schedule shouldn’t limit your ability to eat what you want, when you want.
In-house amenities: While serviced apartments are great for short stays, the convenience they offer lends itself even more suitably to extended trips. Often providing in-house amenities such as laundry facilities, desk space and generous wardrobes, serviced apartments are designed to deliver a home-from-home experience while still retaining a host of lifestyle benefits. Feel like you really live in your new city instead of just visiting, and continue to operate as you did before you arrived.
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Flexible room configurations: Hotels rarely capably accommodate group bookings or family stays, while the various apartment types and flexible room configurations of corporate housing are ideal for travelling with colleagues and family members. With a serviced apartment, corporates needn’t worry about disruption to their children’s routines, or the costs involved with booking multiple rooms that are not even guaranteed to be next door.
On-site amenities: So, what makes serviced accommodation different to a regular apartment? Serviced apartments offer the level of privacy, autonomy and freedom of your own abode, alongside the service and facilities typically associated with hotels. Housekeeping (on your terms), regular maintenance, and comprehensive safety measures create the secure environment of serviced apartments without compromising your independent lifestyle. Many serviced apartment properties, most frequently apart-hotels, also feature additional communal benefits such as an on-site gym, swimming pool, or meeting rooms.
What are the benefits of a serviced apartment?
With hotel satisfaction scores plunging a record 5% since 2018, the numbers of corporates opting for serviced accommodation over their historic hotel-based preferences are soaring. Don’t just take our word for it, the evidence speaks for itself…
Cost Savings
Serviced accommodation provides a higher quality of product and service but doesn’t come with a higher price tag. Like for like, serviced apartments cost close to 25% less than a hotel equivalent, so corporate housing offers far more value for money. The cost is further reduced on extended stays as the VAT rate decreases as the length of stay increases – the longer the stay, the bigger the saving. These cost reductions are compounded by the innate savings of dining out less and avoiding inflated hotel rates for laundry services, as well as reducing spend on separate room bookings for families or groups.
| Significantly more value for money, serviced apartments cost close to 25% less than hotel rooms. |
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For more information on the cost differences between a hotel and a serviced apartment, read our cost guide here.
Sustainability
At SilverDoor we are not only committed to reducing our own carbon footprint, but to making serviced apartments the most sustainable and environmentally viable form of business accommodation on the market. Our partners Trees4Travel reports that corporate housing produces, on average, 50% less carbon emissions per night than a hotel room. (15kg in a serviced apartment compared to 31kg in a hotel).
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Serviced apartments are not only the most spacious and cost efficient accommodation option on the market, but the most sustainable. |
Hotels typically have expansive communal areas that will be lit and air conditioned around the clock, not to mention the excessive daily laundry that takes place as standard. A self-sufficient, self-contained serviced apartment limits carbon emissions associated with hotel operation, without limiting your lifestyle.
With recent studies showing a change in length and nature of business trips – 39% of business trips in 2021 were 8 nights or longer, and 43% of business trips in the U.S. now incorporate additional leisure time – serviced accommodation is accelerating to the forefront of client demands. Longer and less frequent business trips promote sustainable and responsible travel, and serviced apartments are the best choice for accommodating this changing industry landscape.
| The length and frequency of business trips are changing to reflect the market shift in sustainability and bleisure. Longer and less frequent business trips, that often combine business and leisure, result in a reduction in flight frequency. |
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Want to know more about how serviced apartments are leading the way in sustainable travel? We have listed 5 reasons on our blog.
Choice
With a huge portfolio of apartment options across the globe, corporates are not limited to big, resort-style hotels in city centres. Choose an apartment type to suit your specific requirements and tailor your choices to within walking distance to your office or conference centre. Even choose from our thousands of pet friendly apartments to accommodate every member of the family. Serviced accommodation provides a level of customisation to ensure temporary housing suits any traveller on any type of trip - pick your accommodation to suit your preference, don’t adapt your preferences to suit limited accommodation.
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With so many pet-friendly apartments to choose from, no member of the family needs to be left behind. |
A convincing shift within the business travel market is continuing to emerge. Significant emphasis is being placed on the impact traveller satisfaction has on day-to-day proceedings and employee morale, and the compelling need to reshape outdated travel programmes. As recent studies report, 23% of corporates now have agreements with serviced accommodation brands. Indeed, those who have converted entirely to corporate housing over hotels, and those who are gradually converting, have reported their business travellers are healthier, more productive and suffer from less travel stress and fatigue.
Whether you’re planning a business trip, relocating abroad or organising your global workforce, get to know the A-Z of serviced apartments before browsing our extensive global portfolio of serviced apartments, or get in touch with a member of our dedicated team today.
