SERVICED APARTMENTS
many employers and their employees it is primarily about length of stay, a good product, security, proximity, and ease of getting to work. The traditional serviced apartment model is perfect for this.
Rise of urban lifestyle aparthotels Many of the established brands known to the corporate relocation market have moved with the times and now offer urban travel and stay, concept or lifestyle ranges. First on the scene was Netherlands operator Zuko, which provides
social spaces where guests can work, eat, and meet kindred spirits. It has been followed this year by Yays, which is making its mark with three properties. BridgeStreet has responded by growing its Mode and Studyo aparthotel brands, with a focus on European and US capital and gateway cities. SACO launched its first Locke-branded apartments in London.
Edinburgh followed this summer, and Amsterdam is in the pipeline. Frasers Hospitality’s offering is Capri, which was launched in Asia and is making its way into Europe. The Ascott is embracing the concept with its new lifestyle brand, Lyf. It aims to have 10,000
EXTENDED STAY EXPLAINED
John Wagner, founding partner of extended-stay hotel expert Cycas Hospitality, explains how extended-stay hotels complement serviced apartments.
The terms ‘extended-stay hotels’ and ‘serviced apartments’ describe accommodation options that are very closely related. Extended stay is a model that is closer to a hotel than it is to an apartment. Although we offer fewer facilities than a full-service hotel, we still have a 24-hour reception, breakfast, daily housekeeping, a gym, and often a café or a restaurant, as well as shared facilities. The key point of difference with Cycas’s extended-stay
properties is that we offer a hands-on manager and a team whose presence, personality and hospitality really shine throughout the property. This is what keeps our guests happy and breeds loyalty. The typical length of stay is from one to four weeks, but we have corporate clients who remain with us for years, and we also take short stays of one or two nights. As companies continue to move people around the world,
employees will experience a variety of accommodation styles and become more savvy about the different options available to them. This will often lead to them seeking out the same brands in the UK and Europe, as guests like to stay loyal to a brand and never underestimate the value of collecting loyalty points! We experienced this recently when two of our guests
moved from one property where they had been staying for a while to another Cycas-managed property purely because they knew the brand and what to expect from it. As an operator, this is often the benefit of working with multiple brands so that you can tailor your offering to your corporates’ brand preferences. At Cycas, we work alongside IHG and Marriott so that we can offer corporates a variety of options.
Source: Serviced Apartment Summit Europe, STR Market Update, G Titlow
units under the brand globally by 2020, and is looking at sites in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. Ascott’s refurbished Citadines brand also captures the ethos.
The newly renovated Citadines Barbican was launched this summer with a fresh, contemporary look and a collaboration with Sourced Market that offers a food-and-drink market and fresh, seasonal meals seven days a week right next to the reception. Meanwhile, on the Continent, reflecting different price points
and designer chic, NEST Geneva offers accommodation to die for, for those discerning upper-strata decision-makers who want their lifestyle to flow across business and pleasure wherever they go.
Serviced offices reflect the trend Interestingly, Savills reports a substantial increase in serviced- office take-up this year, not only in London but also, increasingly, in the rest of the UK. In particular, large transactions have taken place in Birmingham, Reading and Manchester, where WeWork took 55,802 square feet at 1 Spinningfields. Savills notes that one of the key drivers behind the rise in
popularity of serviced offices is the expansion of the tech sector and, more specifically, start-ups and scale-ups. Cal Lee, head of new Savills venture Workthere, says, “Flexibility in terms of space and lease is vital for a tech company, or indeed any fast-growing business. Whether they are two people or 50, in a month they could be ten or 100 respectively, and therefore the flexibility allows them to grow and adapt at their own pace, letting the space work around their business. “In many cases, a conventional lease simply does not meet the
requirements of these fast-growing businesses that tend to think in one, two or three years, rather than five or ten.” Savills is increasingly seeing larger firms and corporates
recognising the benefits of having a presence in a serviced office environment, “as it provides them with an opportunity to integrate and collaborate with these new and creative companies as well as access a growing talent pool”. It appears that serviced office and serviced apartment providers
are moving in the same direction, reflecting changes in attitudes to the workplace and lifestyle. Global communications and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s new London HQ at 40 Chancery Lane (after 40 years in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia), described as ‘British with a twist’, is one example. “Saatchi & Saatchi wanted guests to feel as if they are stepping
directly into the agency, not a holding reception before the real thing,” noted project architect Andre Nave, of Jump Studios. “They were keen to subvert the traditional office in multiple ways, which
38 | Re:locate | Autumn 2017
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