Business travelers have specific requirements for their accommodation. This highly depends on the length of their business trip and the company budget. They can either choose to stay in a hotel or in a serviced apartment.
However, unlike hotels, most serviced apartments require a minimum length of stay, especially during busy times of the year, which is typically 7 days. This means, of course, that business travelers cannot opt to choose serviced apartments if their planned length of stay is shorter than the minimum required by the landlord.
When the apartment owner’s minimum stay is shorter than the length of stay of the business traveler. The whole aspect of his or her business accommodation may change. The changes depend on the preference of the traveler. He/she can choose to stay in a serviced apartment rather than a hotel. This illustrates the basic difference between traveling on business for a couple of days and traveling for extended periods of time.
In the business world, anything longer than five nights of travel away from home is an acceptable trip. It is also true to say that anything beyond one or two nights is longer than the usual business trip. After all, the purpose of business travel is usually to attend meetings or participate in a trade show, and then go home.
When the stay becomes significantly longer, it is for a different purpose. It can be for an ongoing secondment or participation in a dedicated project. In either case, the demands of the business as well as the demand of the business traveler in terms of accommodation are significantly different compared to short-term trips.
The key difference between business travel on normal-length trips and on long-term trips when it comes to accommodation is that travelers need to have a place to relax and unwind. Certainly, a hotel room cannot give them those benefits because a room has very limited space. Normally, just a bed, a small TV with limited channels, and a comfort room, no kitchen, and no living room.
This is why choosing a serviced apartment over a hotel is the best option for long-term business trips. The reason is that serviced apartments come with complete amenities such as a kitchen, cookware, spacious living room, huge bedroom, washing area, and entertainment area.
On the other hand, on a short business trip, a traveler never expects to get any real rest. Rather, devote most of their time to the purpose of their work. This is true even at mealtimes when he or she entertains clients on behalf of his or her company or vice versa. Even a conversation over coffee or an evening meal with clients and co-workers is still part of the business. Hence choosing a hotel for the purpose of just laying in bed to get a few hours of sleep is better. Clearly, this is fine for a short-haul trip – but over a long period, it is psychologically and financially untenable.
So for longer-term secondments and projects, business travelers need to come to a place that they can call a “home” away from home. It is highly suggested that it is a domestic environment entirely separate from where he or she works, and as far as possible from his or her colleagues and clients.
Often some long-term accommodation arrangements put up a number of colleagues in a single apartment to save on cost. However, the environment itself is designed and works as a home rather than as an extension of the office. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that colleagues will unwind and show their personal as well as their corporate sides to each other even at home.
Bottom line: you can’t work 24 hours a day for more than a few days. This is where the apartment serves its purpose.
