SACO - The Worldwide Serviced Apartment Network - Why 5-star hotel clients are defecting to luxury serviced apartments

If you have to stay in a city away from home, surely you can't get any better accommodation than a 5-star hotel?

Apparently, you can: thousands of business and leisure travellers are now opting for luxury serviced apartments instead.

They're the luxury accommodation defectors — and there are some interesting reasons behind their choices…

Just like home?

Today's five-star hotel clients are less easily impressed than ever. Even the best rooms may not be noticeably more comfortable than their own homes.

The last decade has seen a proliferation of luxury home furnishings, quality kitchens, bathrooms and city centre apartments built for relaxed yet opulent living. If you are used to a certain level of luxury at home, the novelty of a fine hotel is diminished.

Space is the real luxury

Instead, the real draw of a luxury serviced apartment is space: enough space to feel like you are really living, not just holed up in a bedroom. That means space to unwind, space to entertain, and space to stow your everyday clutter.

This kind of space in a hotel is a scarce resource that comes at a costly premium. It's no wonder that clients who are relocating now increasingly choose luxury serviced apartments as their first choice of interim accommodation.

Pamper fatigue

Every traveller eventually longs to feel 'at home', and being served all day and night can actually produce a touch of fatigue.

For example, although luxury serviced apartments provide same-day dry cleaning, sometimes you'd feel better just doing your own laundry in the washer-drier provided. As for eating in a restaurant or ordering room service every day, that can also get tiring before too long. How about a different kind of luxury: the freedom to cook your own dinner? Visitors from overseas particularly appreciate the chance to cook up authentic home-made dishes.

Luxury serviced apartments cost less and offer more

The fact that luxury serviced accommodation costs less than a five-star hotel is of course a factor. However, budget doesn't come into the equation as much as you might think. For many travellers it's much more important to be in comfortable, spacious home-from-home accommodation than to worry over every penny.

Take a look at SACO's luxury serviced apartments in the UK, and if you're travelling to the capital, you'll find several examples at the dedicated site for serviced apartments in London.