LONDON APARTMENT RENTAL
London Apartment - Everything you need to know before you choose a
serviced London Aparment by Binh Zientek
A few weeks ago a secretary telephoned me in absolute desperation.
She was desperately searching for accommodation in central London
for some VIPs from abroad. She stumbled onto my website, not really
understading what the service was about. I think the words 'free
service', 'apartments' just helped her to figure out that Quality London
Apartments had something to do with accommodation. Apologies for
my long opening, but it is a prime example of how little travellers in the
UK and Europe know about the serviced apartment industry. After
explaining the concept of serviced apartments and helping her find an
apartment, I realised that I needed to share this knowledge further
afield. Thus, this article is my contribution to open up this elusive
industry and offer tips to travellers.
What is a serviced apartment?
A serviced apartment is a flat in a block, which has a separate
bedroom, sitting room/lounge, fully equipped kitchen, your own private
keys to own door. Serviced apartments can be in the form of a studio
flat (all in one room with a kitchenette), one, two or three bedrooms.
All apartments enjoy maid service, utilities and a management team
to help....just like a hotel. Guests only pay for a nightly rate and can live
in a flat with everything they would have in their own home.
Pros: Serviced London Apartment vs Hotels
- More value for money and cheaper. In a hotel, no matter which star
rating, you pay per night for one room which will have a TV, bathroom,
sofa and a bed. This is similar to a studio apartment! In an apartment
there is a separate bedroom, kitchen, sitting room, bathroom and
dining table (exception is studio)
- Pay per apartment and not per person. An example would be paying
£250 per night for a two bedroom apartment, which could
accommodate up to 4 people, that works out at £62.50 per person.
- Freedom and privacy. An apartment is like being in your own home
and there is plenty of space. You have your own keys to your own
door. - Booking is easy, just like hotels. The majority of apartments
require a credit card to guarantee, pre-payment before you arrive and
that's it. No deposits, no tenants' contracts.
Cons: Serviced London Apartment vs Hotels
- Apartments lacks the buzz and services of a hotel such as
restaurants and Room Service. Albeit some apartments are owned by
hotels and offer you the use of their restaurants and other services.
- No 24-hour service around the clock. The apartments are ran by a
small team who work Monday to Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm, so you are
on your own during the weekend. There are emergency numbers to
call should you suffer an electric cut, but no 24-hours hotel Duty
Manager to run to your room.
- No pool, massages, saunas like hotels
What to look out for when booking a serviced London apartment?
1. Quality of the apartment - make sure you find out if they are clean,
well furnished and well maintained. How? Check the photos, and ask
if you can book an appointment to view the apartment. This is very
important if you are staying over a long period of time.
2. Do they have a friendly and efficient management team? If you need
the comfort of a welcoming face to greet you on arrival, then ask for an
apartment with a reception. Some apartments provide key boxes, so
you can arrive any time, but there is no-one to meet you. A friendly and
small team will be able to give you a very personal touch.
3. Opening time of the apartments office - doesn't sound important?
Well it is because the majority of apartments' operations team open
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm. If you arrive at your apartment
during office open hours, then fine, but any other time and weekends
will mean that you will need to pick up the keys from a different
location.
4. Key delivery by car at the airport? - If you are flying from abroad to
London, and do not fancy traipsing throughout London at night to pick
up keys, the majority of apartments will hire a taxi to deliver your keys
to the airport upon your arrival. Convenient for a small charge.
5. Payment procedure and cancellation policy - every apartment vary in
their guest terms and conditions. All will accept a credit card as a
guarantee of reservation, some will ask for 100% pre-payment at
least 7 days prior to arrival and cancellation can range from 12:00pm
on the day of arrival to 28 days. So, before you confirm the reservation,
be very clear about the terms and conditions. Ask your apartment
agents to explain the procedure to you and read the terms and
conditions on your confirmation emails. It will save you a great deal of
trouble and headache later.
6. Apartments are always allocated on arrival. This policy is the same
as any hotel, so unless you are a regular guest to a specific
apartment, apartments are on allocations. In the same breath, some
apartments only have a small number of flats, so if you are reserving
the only 3 bedrooms penthouse in their collection, then you are
guaranteed that specific apartment.
7. Rates become more competitive the longer you stay. In this, we
mean you have more bargaining power if you are staying for one
month or longer. This is when your apartment agent can really help
you by negotiating with a variety of apartments to get you the best deal.
8. Using an apartment agent will also save you time searching, but
most importantly they will work with your budget and negotiate a great
deal for you. Of course, you also need to be realistic about what you
can book, don't expect to spend £80 per night for a luxury apartment.
For example, one of our clients had £300 budget per night for a two
bedroom apartment and he wanted something luxury. For those
readers who know London well, also understands that this budget is
actually very small. Despite that, we booked him and 3 friends into the
Victoria Park Plaza luxury apartment (£150 per night less than the
usual price) for £300 per night with free breakfast, gym and access to
the executive lounge. Any apartment agent worth their salt can and will
move mountains to help you.
What if I don't like the apartment when I get there?
If you really feel that you have been hard done by, tell the apartment
management team and ask to be moved to another apartment. All of
the apartments that we work with are very customer focussed and try
to help guests enjoy their stay. If this does not work, talk to your
apartment agent, if that is how you booked. Best advice though, is to
ask all the right questions before you book an apartment.
Your appetite for apartments is now whetted - how do you find London
apartments?
1. As already explained, you can choose a free search and book
service of an apartment agent or go direct to a specific apartment that
you know. Both methods are absolutely fine, dependent of your
knowledge of London apartments. Using an agent will mean that they
will search far across their portfolio and present you with a variety of
choices...all within 10-15 minutes. Agents are impartial and will only
(good agents anyway) recommend the quality apartments for your
needs.
2. You can use search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN to find
apartments. Type in keywords like 'London serviced apartments' or
'quality London apartments' and so on.
3. Stating the obvious but, ask for a recommendation from friends and
acquaintances.
4. Check on Tripadvisor and other customer review websites.
Summary If you have read this far, then thank you for your time. I have
tried to make this article clear and as helpful as possible, but I
welcome your comments and any further information that you feel is
very important.
Binh Zientek Apartment Specialist Tel / Fax: +44 (0)20 7476 8963
Email: sales@qualitylondonapartments.co.uk
Official Website http://www.qualitylondonapartments.co.uk
Company blog http://www.qualitylondonapartments.blogspot.com
http://www.qualitypragueapartments.co.uk
Helpful websites http://www.visitlondon.co.uk
http://www.tripadvisor.com http://www.tfl.org.uk
About the Author
Director of Quality London Apartments, an online company offering
free search and book service for guests seeking apartments in
London. Contact Tel/Fax: +44 (0)207 476 8963
http://www.qualitylondonapartments.co.uk
http://www.qualitylondonapartments.blogspot.com
London Apartment - Everything you need to know before you choose a
serviced London Aparment by Binh Zientek
A few weeks ago a secretary telephoned me in absolute desperation.
She was desperately searching for accommodation in central London
for some VIPs from abroad. She stumbled onto my website, not really
understading what the service was about. I think the words 'free
service', 'apartments' just helped her to figure out that Quality London
Apartments had something to do with accommodation. Apologies for
my long opening, but it is a prime example of how little travellers in the
UK and Europe know about the serviced apartment industry. After
explaining the concept of serviced apartments and helping her find an
apartment, I realised that I needed to share this knowledge further
afield. Thus, this article is my contribution to open up this elusive
industry and offer tips to travellers.
What is a serviced apartment?
A serviced apartment is a flat in a block, which has a separate
bedroom, sitting room/lounge, fully equipped kitchen, your own private
keys to own door. Serviced apartments can be in the form of a studio
flat (all in one room with a kitchenette), one, two or three bedrooms.
All apartments enjoy maid service, utilities and a management team
to help....just like a hotel. Guests only pay for a nightly rate and can live
in a flat with everything they would have in their own home.
Pros: Serviced London Apartment vs Hotels
- More value for money and cheaper. In a hotel, no matter which star
rating, you pay per night for one room which will have a TV, bathroom,
sofa and a bed. This is similar to a studio apartment! In an apartment
there is a separate bedroom, kitchen, sitting room, bathroom and
dining table (exception is studio)
- Pay per apartment and not per person. An example would be paying
£250 per night for a two bedroom apartment, which could
accommodate up to 4 people, that works out at £62.50 per person.
- Freedom and privacy. An apartment is like being in your own home
and there is plenty of space. You have your own keys to your own
door. - Booking is easy, just like hotels. The majority of apartments
require a credit card to guarantee, pre-payment before you arrive and
that's it. No deposits, no tenants' contracts.
Cons: Serviced London Apartment vs Hotels
- Apartments lacks the buzz and services of a hotel such as
restaurants and Room Service. Albeit some apartments are owned by
hotels and offer you the use of their restaurants and other services.
- No 24-hour service around the clock. The apartments are ran by a
small team who work Monday to Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm, so you are
on your own during the weekend. There are emergency numbers to
call should you suffer an electric cut, but no 24-hours hotel Duty
Manager to run to your room.
- No pool, massages, saunas like hotels
What to look out for when booking a serviced London apartment?
1. Quality of the apartment - make sure you find out if they are clean,
well furnished and well maintained. How? Check the photos, and ask
if you can book an appointment to view the apartment. This is very
important if you are staying over a long period of time.
2. Do they have a friendly and efficient management team? If you need
the comfort of a welcoming face to greet you on arrival, then ask for an
apartment with a reception. Some apartments provide key boxes, so
you can arrive any time, but there is no-one to meet you. A friendly and
small team will be able to give you a very personal touch.
3. Opening time of the apartments office - doesn't sound important?
Well it is because the majority of apartments' operations team open
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm. If you arrive at your apartment
during office open hours, then fine, but any other time and weekends
will mean that you will need to pick up the keys from a different
location.
4. Key delivery by car at the airport? - If you are flying from abroad to
London, and do not fancy traipsing throughout London at night to pick
up keys, the majority of apartments will hire a taxi to deliver your keys
to the airport upon your arrival. Convenient for a small charge.
5. Payment procedure and cancellation policy - every apartment vary in
their guest terms and conditions. All will accept a credit card as a
guarantee of reservation, some will ask for 100% pre-payment at
least 7 days prior to arrival and cancellation can range from 12:00pm
on the day of arrival to 28 days. So, before you confirm the reservation,
be very clear about the terms and conditions. Ask your apartment
agents to explain the procedure to you and read the terms and
conditions on your confirmation emails. It will save you a great deal of
trouble and headache later.
6. Apartments are always allocated on arrival. This policy is the same
as any hotel, so unless you are a regular guest to a specific
apartment, apartments are on allocations. In the same breath, some
apartments only have a small number of flats, so if you are reserving
the only 3 bedrooms penthouse in their collection, then you are
guaranteed that specific apartment.
7. Rates become more competitive the longer you stay. In this, we
mean you have more bargaining power if you are staying for one
month or longer. This is when your apartment agent can really help
you by negotiating with a variety of apartments to get you the best deal.
8. Using an apartment agent will also save you time searching, but
most importantly they will work with your budget and negotiate a great
deal for you. Of course, you also need to be realistic about what you
can book, don't expect to spend £80 per night for a luxury apartment.
For example, one of our clients had £300 budget per night for a two
bedroom apartment and he wanted something luxury. For those
readers who know London well, also understands that this budget is
actually very small. Despite that, we booked him and 3 friends into the
Victoria Park Plaza luxury apartment (£150 per night less than the
usual price) for £300 per night with free breakfast, gym and access to
the executive lounge. Any apartment agent worth their salt can and will
move mountains to help you.
What if I don't like the apartment when I get there?
If you really feel that you have been hard done by, tell the apartment
management team and ask to be moved to another apartment. All of
the apartments that we work with are very customer focussed and try
to help guests enjoy their stay. If this does not work, talk to your
apartment agent, if that is how you booked. Best advice though, is to
ask all the right questions before you book an apartment.
Your appetite for apartments is now whetted - how do you find London
apartments?
1. As already explained, you can choose a free search and book
service of an apartment agent or go direct to a specific apartment that
you know. Both methods are absolutely fine, dependent of your
knowledge of London apartments. Using an agent will mean that they
will search far across their portfolio and present you with a variety of
choices...all within 10-15 minutes. Agents are impartial and will only
(good agents anyway) recommend the quality apartments for your
needs.
2. You can use search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN to find
apartments. Type in keywords like 'London serviced apartments' or
'quality London apartments' and so on.
3. Stating the obvious but, ask for a recommendation from friends and
acquaintances.
4. Check on Tripadvisor and other customer review websites.
Summary If you have read this far, then thank you for your time. I have
tried to make this article clear and as helpful as possible, but I
welcome your comments and any further information that you feel is
very important.
Binh Zientek Apartment Specialist Tel / Fax: +44 (0)20 7476 8963
Email: sales@qualitylondonapartments.co.uk
Official Website http://www.qualitylondonapartments.co.uk
Company blog http://www.qualitylondonapartments.blogspot.com
http://www.qualitypragueapartments.co.uk
Helpful websites http://www.visitlondon.co.uk
http://www.tripadvisor.com http://www.tfl.org.uk
About the Author
Director of Quality London Apartments, an online company offering
free search and book service for guests seeking apartments in
London. Contact Tel/Fax: +44 (0)207 476 8963
http://www.qualitylondonapartments.co.uk
http://www.qualitylondonapartments.blogspot.com
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