Business Travellers will spend significantly more to secure a seat in the First Class cabin of an aircraft and the reasons are beyond question: they can catch up on work or stretch out and relax - and besides, haven’t you heard of Economy Class Syndrome? Yet when they arrive at their destination, they will often stay for several nights, weeks or even months confined within the same four walls. “Let’s call it Hotel Accommodation Syndrome.”
When work takes you away from home for even longer periods - training courses, temporary or perhaps permanent relocation - the situation becomes almost grave. Individuals need a lot more than simply a pillow on which to lay their tired heads, although every little helps. They need to spread out, relax, just like in the aircraft. And with the restaurant and Room Service menus exhausted, they pine for the taste of home. Arguably worse still, work begins to suffer. More time and effort is spent escaping from the hotel room than on work, which has become disjointed and disorganised. Irritability sets in and relationships at work and at home both suffer.
The problem with hotels is that they are for sleeping in. The business traveller, especially with family, needs somewhere to sit and relax, make a snack or a meal, have a meeting or spread out the paperwork. Serviced apartments will always offer much better value-for-money compared with a hotel, if public areas are less important to the guest. It is upon this cost-saving, that this very model is based. And what is good for the individual is good for the company.