Jez Lister

Apart Hotels, Apartment Hotels and Serviced Apartments

Here we look at the growing trend in Aparthotels or Hotel Apartments. But what are they and what can you expect? Read on to hear my take on this confusing area.

In this article I wish to highlight the growing trend away from the traditional city hotels  to serviced apartments and aparthotels. This is becoming confusing as operators struggle to differentiate themselves. Basically, we are looking at three areas:

• Hotels
• Serviced Apartments
• Hotel Apartments – also known as Aparthotels

Hotels

We are all probably very familiar with the concept of a hotel. Whilst there are many different types of hotels offering lots of different services, we all understand what they are. Put simply, you get your own bedroom with varying facilities within a complex of shared facilities such as restaurants, lounges, leisure etc

Serviced Apartments

In recent times we have seen the arrival of serviced apartments. Serviced apartments provide short term accommodation for travellers in a home from home environment. It is like hiring a self catering holiday home but in the city centre (usually). These consist of bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms, fully equipped kitchens, dining areas, TV, WiFi etc. The intention is to provide a fully home from home environment.

Hotel Apartments

Now we have the Aparthotel which are also confusingly referred to as Apartment Hotels or Hotel Apartments. In some cases it is pretty clear that these are simply self contained serviced apartments which have been added to hotels. The clients, therefore have the flexibility and benefits of the serviced apartment but also has access to the hotel facilities such as leisure, restaurants etc. In other words, they provide the best of both worlds.

The problem is that there is a large grey area between serviced apartments and true hotel apartments. Serviced apartment operators have started to call themselves aparthotels or similarly confusing names when really they are little more than a serviced apartment with a 24x7 concierge service and coffee and croissant. This differentiates them from the serviced apartments but adds very little in terms of facilities.

So, I think it is worth setting out a minimum criteria for terms such as Aparthotel, Hotel Apartment and Apartment Hotel. Here is my suggestions:

• Reception or Concierge service 24 hours a day
• Restaurant or canteen serving hot food during the day; particularly at breakfast
• Bar
• Lounge and TV areas
• Bell Boy
• Room Service

I am sure that in time when people become accustomed to new forms of accommodation, things will become clearer. Until then, I hope you have found this article useful.

Permission is granted to publish this article electronically in free-only publications like a website or ezine as long as the resource box is included without modifications. All links must be active.

Article Tags: Apartment Hotels, Serviced Apartments, Serviced Apartment

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR