Serviced apartments


Can a booker book serviced apartments quickly enough? How up to date are their booking systems? Catherine Chetwynd has the answers as to whether serviced apartment providers should embrace online technology and whether corporates’ patience is running out


inventory for bookers, with most providers relying on telephone and email rather than online facilities. However, there are good reasons why serviced apartments cannot be booked with the ease of hotel rooms. Hotel guests stay a couple of nights and spend little time at the property. Users of serviced apartments may be staying for five days, five months or even a year, and may want to see the apartment before booking.


S


erviced apartment providers are burdened by the perception that their sector is still in the dark ages when it comes to ease of access to


Equally, buyers may need the option


to extend the length of stay or could be booking multiple apartments with back to back changes of occupancy. How is software supposed to deal with all that? The Global Serviced Apartments Industry


Report 2011-12, produced by The Apartment Service, recognises the problem, pointing out that attempts to create a GDS for serviced apartments have foundered on the fundamental issue of recognising an apartment – hence preferred use of the internet. Serviced apartment operators do not want to be on GDS unless either they


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THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE 33


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