Brands in the serviced apartment and aparthotel sector are using design inspired by location to distinguish their properties, and give guests a sense of community and connection
WORDS TOM OTLEY
It’s fair to say that until recently the words ‘serviced apartment’ would not have been enticing ones. At best, most serviced apartments are forgettable: anonymous in design, with no connection to the local area and inoffensive in fixtures and fittings. The thought of weeks spent in such accommodation isn’t the sort of treat some would associate with business travel. Then there is that hybrid of apartments and hotels called, rather unimaginatively, aparthotels. It’s an ugly neologism, rather like bleisure, but at least then there’s the chance of some time off for good behaviour.
Still, there are some brands hoping to change the reality – and our perception – of serviced apartments. “It’s a nascent sector still and it’s been very corporate in the past,” says Stephen McCall, chief executive of Edyn, which has the serviced apartment brands Cove and SACO as well as aparthotel brand, Locke. McCall blames the hospitality industry for being slow to respond because of “the traditional hospitality trope of consistency”.
“It’s bland, it’s transactional, it’s dead functional,” McCall says. “I wish the travelling public were more aware of the breadth of choice available to them. People think serviced apartments are corporate, white-washed, stain-proof, with indestructible plastic furniture. It’s what you get in the US, which has a massive extended-stay market, but it’s very boring.”
In its place the Edyn brands “…try and get very inspirational designers with keen vision and an incredible aesthetic to give you an experience in your room that’s a bit edgier and sharper than you would have at home. And maybe you wouldn’t do that at home because you don’t upgrade there every ten years.”
A FRESH AESTHETIC
This approach, with variations, can be seen in many of the new aparthotels, though there are challenges when a development might have hundreds of units in it.
Kayleigh Millington is group head of interiors for City Suites, which also has the Wilde aparthotels brand. The dilemma, according to Millington, is to “design en masse” while also keeping things “tonal, tasteful, but not going overboard with a particular type of finish or artwork”. Millington was clear about what she wanted to change. “My perception of serviced apartments before working in the sector was they were pretty basic.”
Instead, Millington’s design aesthetic i
