We all love staying in hotels and escaping away from home for a night, but often, serviced apartments can give you the best of both worlds
Let’s face it, with the revolution and modern popularity of Airbnb, the ease of the internet and the rise in flexi-working, escapes from home have never looked so good. Travel trends are constantly changing and the way in which we travel has completely shifted over the last decade. Now, there are unbelievable choices at our fingertips (quite literally, as we constantly tap away at our phones and on social media), and we are no longer limited to simply staying in standard hotels or traditional bed and breakfast style accommodation. One thing that has really been on the up since Airbnb burst onto the scene is the use of serviced apartments, with The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers reporting that, in 2018, serviced accommodation in the UK achieved an 81.7% occupancy rate – above that of the occupancy rate for hotels. So, what is it about them that make them so popular?
We can hear you asking, so firstly, what exactly is a serviced apartment? Essentially, it’s what it says on the tin – it’s generally a furnished apartment, complete with all amenities, that is available for both short and long-term stays. Ever wanted to have that hotel experience but for a more reasonable price and with more flexibility? Well, your luck might just be in with serviced accommodation.
When looking for a certain standard and something that really gives you that boutique, design-led element, hotels in Stockport may be quite limited, but serviced accommodation (in particular, of course, Stockport Serviced Apartments!) often fills this void. There are a lot of benefits to using a serviced apartment, but the main ones are value for money, space and the intrinsic freedom that they offer.
A lot of people want to know exactly how serviced apartments work as well, and the answer is really quite simple. For ours, you book online, just as you would for a hotel, either directly or via a booking provider such as Airbnb, and then there is 24/7 secure keyless access so that you can arrive at the property whenever it suits you best. Often, you’ll find that serviced apartments have a lot more flexibility than the traditional hotel model of reception desk check-in.
But, now for the million-dollar question, why would you really choose a serviced apartment over a hotel?
The Convenience Factor
The room itself feels like a pretty expensive outgoing when you’re booking a single hotel room, but once you’ve arrived, staying in a hotel often becomes even more costly due to the lack of convenient amenities inside the room too. Sure, you often choose to book a hotel escape because you want an indulgent weekend away and are happy to splurge on eating out and treating yourself, but this isn’t always the case – particularly not for business travellers or those using it as a base to visit family. Serviced apartments allow you to have the best of both worlds and give you the option to splurge on eating out or save on eating in – the escape away can be entirely tailored to what you want. The addition of kitchen facilities means that you have the convenient option to cook your own meals from the comfort of your accommodation.
Home from Home
Serviced apartments can offer you that real home away from home feeling, with privacy, space, and home comforts as soon as you arrive. Our Stockport apartments are design-led and thoughtfully renovated, so the interiors ooze both a homely feel, as well as a luxury one. You can sometimes find that hotels feel a bit too stylised and the interior design is impressive, but a little too much. You can get the best of both worlds in a serviced apartment like ours, as it still has the sense of luxury that a hotel gives off, but it’s comfortable and cosy as well. Plus, you’ll get super fast Wi-Fi and private laundry facilities too.
The location of our Stockport Serviced Apartments is right at the heart of the popular Heatons area of Greater Manchester (an easy 10-minute train into central Manchester though). The Four Heatons is an area that bridges the gap between Stockport and Manchester and each one of the neighbourhoods has its own village centre with a growing selection of restaurants, bars and delis. You can really live like a local here and get right into the heart of the community vibe, visiting all the neighbourhood eateries such as Feed General Store and La Cantina. There’s definitely a perk to getting to know an area for a longer period of time than a hotel would allow too.
More Freedom
Although, granted, you can technically have all the freedom you want when staying in a hotel too, there’s something about staying in independent apartments that feels less restrictive. There’s no reception or check-in desk to sneak past when you’re arriving home late, and the independent living on offer means you have the freedom to do exactly what you want when you want – you’re not tied to hotel breakfast times or evening meal sittings, and you can settle in and use the amenities on offer instead of having to go down to the bar or restaurant (or crack into the expensive mini-bar!) every time you want a snack or a drink.
You have the freedom to stay for longer too. Business travellers, in particular, are really cottoning onto this as it is a much more comfortable way to spend a long period of time away from home. You don’t have to worry about working from a desk stuck in the corner of a hotel room, and you don’t have to worry about eating out every night, which believe it or not, can get very tiring and too indulgent after a while. While we’re on the topic of those travelling for business, it can get a bit depressing working from small hotel rooms all the time, so it’s a real treat to find somewhere that feels as though it’s your own space.
A big positive that really sets Stockport Serviced Apartments apart from the crowd is that we are also pet-friendly – with an enclosed garden, there is plenty of space to hang out with your pup. If there even is one that could offer you a pet-friendly stay, a hotel in Stockport just isn’t going to give you that same option for a reasonable price.
And More Space
Did you know that opting for serviced accommodation often means that you can get 30% more space for your money than in an equivalent hotel room? Serviced apartments give you the luxury of staying in spacious and well-designed surroundings for a longer period of time than a hotel.
Certainly, when it comes to hotels in Stockport or Manchester, the space you get to experience at our properties far outweigh the space at the same standard of hotel accommodation. For the equivalent money, you just wouldn’t be able to get the same standard of hotel room, therefore serviced apartments tend to be more cost-effective. In addition to the more space element, the design of serviced apartments is often approached in a more everyday manner too. It means that, often, there is more space for items such as luggage, the spill-out items that you can never find space for in a standard hotel room and troublesome things such as children’s paraphernalia.
Speaking of children, if you’re thinking of travelling with a larger family, kids or a group of friends, it’s a great option and will mean you won’t be tripping over each other. Similarly, if you’re travelling with family, apartments give you the opportunity to seek out your own space, instead of being crammed together in one room. You don’t have to spend all your time on holiday with each other!
Perfect for Families
Speaking of which, there are so many reasons why serviced apartments are perfect for families, but one of the glaring reasons is that you can have more of your own separate spaces and rooms. Generally, a family room in a hotel is just one large space with lots of beds – at best, you may be lucky to get rooms with adjoining doors. There’s often little room left over for chilling out, for the children to play in or for someone to have their own time. With serviced apartments, you can live more as you would at home, with designated areas for cooking, eating, chilling and relaxing, playing, and sleeping. What’s best is that, obviously, you are charged per apartment as opposed to per person. It really is the winner for a more relaxed holiday experience for families.
Host Your Loved Ones
A lot of people use serviced apartments when they are looking for a bolthole to stay in for visiting family or friends. If you’re thinking about travelling to stay with loved ones but you know you can’t fit in their house, a hotel can often seem like a large expense and is often not convenient for a longer trip or for how you want to live when you’re visiting. By opting for serviced accommodation, you can settle in and then host your loved ones in your own apartment, instead of always going round to the person you’re visiting’s home or eating out. It’s such a lovely option to be able to cook for a group of your nearest and dearest, from within the four walls of a super trendy and comfortable apartment. Entertaining your family and friends from somewhere that feels as luxurious as a hotel is something of a dream!
Work from Home
One of the really great things about serviced accommodation is that, although it still has the indulgent feeling and stylised elements of a hotel room, the layout and set-up of the space means that it’s much more contusive to scenarios such as working from home – plus, the aforementioned strong Wi-Fi connection makes it stress-free too. It might not be for working from home that you want the different zones and separation of space for though, it may simply be that when you’re on holiday you like to spend some time chilling out in a different area to your bed? The options are endless, especially compared to the one-room vibe of a hotel. Essentially, you can get the penthouse suite version of a hotel, but for less, with a serviced apartment. Have we convinced you yet?
