The Conversation IMPOSSIBLE? MISSION
The Apartment Service has been trading since 1981 and trailblazed a sector that still defies definition today. Gillian Upton talks to its managing director Charlie McCrow
CHARLIE McCrow is a man with a mission, and the fact that it’s the same one he set out with suggests it’s a tough nut to crack. The mission is to define the word ‘serviced apartment’ and the fact that he runs The Apartment Service means it’s critical that he succeeds, at some point. Here’s the dilemma: the requirement for an apartment sits somewhere between a business trip and a relocation, its scope is anything between a long-stay trip of more than a week and a short-let residential apartment of less than a year. Moreover, it can be serviced by an all- frills Staybridge Suite – the new extended stay hotel concept that’s gaining ground in the marketplace – a no-frills Citadines apartment with little service, a stay in a corporate housing unit or in one of the growing band of residences. Confused? Well it might mean the difference between getting your broken TV fixed the same
day or missing out on an important match being aired live on Sky Sports that night. “It was really difficult to explain to people
what a serviced apartment was, and it still is. It also depends on whether you’re talking to a relocation manager or a travel manager,” says McCrow. “I’ve always been fascinated by this sector. It’s the wild west as nobody knows what it’s about.” But, clearly, everybody has some sort of opinion on what they think it's about, which goes some way to causing the confusion. McCrow was one of the founding members of ASAP (The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers) when it formed in 2002 and recalls that they spent the first three meetings largely debating what a serviced apartment was. Today the debate still rages in his newer role
as liaison between ASAP and the US-based CHPA (Corporate Housing Providers
Association). ”My task is to bring them together around the areas of mutual interest and set and apply standards,” McCrow explains. Despite the definition dilemma, the public
have taken to apartments in growing numbers, particularly in the US, where almost 77 per cent of the world’s extended stay apartments are. Europe comes next closest in the pecking order, with just under 11 per cent. Worldwide growth in supply is steady, rising from 452,051 in 2008, to 637,000 in 2011. The corporate market accounts for the majority
of users, with accountants, lawyers, software companies, management consultants and film crews overshadowing the likes of families on leisure breaks. What the sector is crying out for is more purpose-built apartments, but, across Europe, there is not enough land to foster such projects.
22 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
BMI PUBLISHING/MATT BONNER
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