SERVICED APARTMENTS THE HOLY GRAIL OF ONLINE BOOKING
The serviced apartment sector is booming but live online booking is still a rarity. Jo Layton of CAP Worldwide explains why
When I ask a buyer what they think utopia looks like in the extended stay sector, the answer is often the same: “it’s when a traveller can view and book their serviced apartment online, without the intervention of an agent or consultant”.
However, the desire of the buying community to book apartments just as they book hotels is yet to be fully achieved by any platforms currently available on the market.
I often compare booking apartments online to booking a meeting or event online. Both are complex transactions that require lots of research. Bookers need to understand the options available, the location, transport, parking, terms and conditions and more.
And there’s even more to it for apartments: how to access the unit on arrival, the room sizes, the particular facilities, views, the local community, proximity to schools, transport and more. For a guest staying in a serviced apartment for several weeks – or months – the minutiae really matters. The details are all paramount to achieving a successful stay for the guest, and that’s before you include a review of the lease and the (sometimes very confusing) terms and conditions.
If you are booking a hotel room for a couple of nights and the room doesn’t quite meet your standards or your needs, it’s annoying, but if you’ve booked a stay for 28 nights or more and there is no option to change it on arrival it is a different story.
On the other side of the booking, meanwhile, the operator is looking to achieve the optimum length of stay for their units. For the majority of providers, this would be over seven nights and ideally a minimum of 30 nights-plus. The small gaps in between are then plugged by loading this distressed inventory online – but this kind of business is more expensive to manage for operators in terms of both administration and servicing.
Add in the fact that online distribution costs for apartment operators can be high – and without any guarantee of securing business – and it becomes clear why online booking options are currently limited, perhaps in the best interests of both guests and operators.
Bridging the gap between hotels and longstay apartments is the growing aparthotel sector. These properties offer online booking and amenities such as staffed front desks, cafés and communal areas, plus, in the units themselves, basic kitchen facilities and more living space than a hotel. They are usually found in city centre locations and guests also have the option to cancel or change a reservation at late notice.
In contrast, most serviced apartment providers have built their models in primary and secondary residential areas, provide more living space, weekly housekeeping, limited facilities and more stringent terms and conditions for cancellations or changes.
They are very different business models and, for travel managers and guests alike, require different approaches. It is difficult to build a comprehensive global extended stay programme that satisfies all stakeholders, with just aparthotels.
The expectations of bookers must be managed as the reservation experience is often traded off, wrongly, against suitability and value. Travellers need to be protected from the pitfalls of instant gratification, but operators nonetheless need to make their apartments as accessible as possible.
Travel programmes that incorporate both options can of course be built, and that is when you will benefit from working with an informed agent (like us!) who can help corporates build a solid programme.
If you book a hotel for a night and it doesn't meet your standards it's annoying, but if you've booked an apartment stay for 28 nights it's a different story”