All quiet, and busy, on the apartment front

TRAVELLERS not keen on staying overnight in a large hotel on a major street in the current travel climate have an alternative: serviced apartment accommodation. Serviced apartments tend to be in quieter roads, in discreet buildings, have more home comforts and, what is more, they can save the traveller substantial sums.

For years minimum-stay requirements and insufficient rooms in the right places prevented a big switch to this type of accommodation. Executives relocating and holidaymakers have been filling them in the main.

David Witham, vice president hotel and car relations worldwide at global business travel agent Carlson Wagonlit Travel, said he is inundated by a range of clients wanting to send the likes of auditors, salespeople and maintenance staff to long-stay apartments, the average stay being three weeks.

Arguably Europe's largest operator is the Citadine group. It has four apartment hotels in London and more than 60 across continental Europe, all equivalent to a three-star hotel. There is no pool, fitness centre, bar or restaurant and rooms are a little stark but there is a breakfast service, voicemail telephones, business facilities available through the front desk and meeting space.

Prices for a one-bedroom studio in London, for example, start at £105 per night, and for a one-bedroom apartment (which sleeps four) from £157 per night. Stays over one week tak ethe nightly rate down to £94 and £141 respectively.

Secondary cities have not missed out on the trend. Central Apartments, for example, operates a smart-looking apartment block in Manchester, just by the nightlife area of Canal Street, and a one-bed unit there costs £94 per night (including VAT) until mid November, reducing to £88 per night for stays over 30 days. The company also runs three apartment blocks in London. All their properties are equivalent to four-star hotels and each apartment has internet access, a DVD player, fax line, CD player, plus daily maid service.

One notch up again is Circus Apartments, an upmarket, five star equivalent complex in Canary Riverside in London, with the same owner as the chic Metropolitan and Halkin hotels in London. Each one or two-bedroom apartment is fitted with kitchen, separate guest bathroom, CD and DVD players, Sony widescreen TV, phone and fax lines, voicemail and modem point. There is a business centre, 24-hour concierge and, it is hoped in the long run, to offer a takeaway service from Ubon, the sister Japanese restaurant to Nobu, which is inside the Metropolitan Hotel.

Daily rates are £225 for a one-bed apartment, at least a third less than the equivalent one-bed suite in a five-star hotel. These come down to £214 per night for stays of more than seven days, £180 for more than 30 days and £150 for more than 90 days.

In normally-expensive New York, for example, there are 13 apartments operated by Manhattan East Suite Hotels, all equivalent to a five-star hotel. A one-bed suite at any of these would be £226 per night.

Marriott's Executive Residences, in Hong Kong, Budapest, Brussels and in Tokyo by the year-end, are at the top end of the market and each is located next door to a Marriott Hotel so you can also enjoy the hotel's facilities. A one-bedroom apartment in Budapest starts at £126 per night and goes down to £68 per night for stays of more than eight days.

'Apartments are better value even on one-night stays,' said Charles McCrow, managing director of The Apartment Service, a booking service for travellers. 'We're always getting converts from hotel stayers and we could do with more players.'

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