What Is Serviced Accommodation? Benefits & Uses

If you often work away with your company, you're probably used to staying in cramped hotel rooms. Have you ever considered there might be a better option? For anyone working away from home, especially contractors on longer projects, serviced accommodation is frequently more comfortable, more flexible and better value than a hotel or a bed & breakfast. Here's everything you need to know about the benefits, how it compares to a hotel, and what to look for.

What is serviced accommodation?

Serviced accommodation is a fully furnished apartment or house that's available to rent on a short- or long-term basis, combining the space and facilities of a home with hotel-style services such as cleaning and maintenance. In practice that means a private, self-contained place to stay, with a full kitchen, a living area, a washing machine and separate bedrooms, rather than a single hotel room. It's sometimes called a serviced apartment, an aparthotel, or (for larger properties) a serviced house.

For construction and contractor teams working away from home, it's often the difference between simply having somewhere to sleep and having a genuine home from home for the duration of a job.

Serviced accommodation vs hotels

The right choice depends on the length of stay, the number of people and what your team actually needs. For short, one- or two-night stays a hotel is usually simpler. But for longer projects, serviced accommodation tends to win on flexibility, space and cost. Here's why.

The flexibility of serviced accommodation

Hotels often have much stricter rules on what time you have to go to breakfast, leave your room for the day and get back before they lock the front doors for the night. Consider what a working day on a business trip looks like for you and whether it would work well with the restrictions hotels put on guests. If you work in demolition and often operate through the night in city centres, hotels probably aren't for you.

A home away from home

A full kitchen, a washing machine, a dishwasher, Netflix, a coffee machine and lots of other comforts can be found in serviced accommodation. These might be nice-to-haves for a short stay, but they become essential on a longer one. Consider having to stay in a hotel for a month without the everyday things you use at home. Some serviced properties even include luxuries such as hot tubs and swimming pools.

Having your own space

If you're staying alone or in a one-bed studio, you can relax properly, put the TV on as loud as you like, and eat breakfast without a hundred other people or maids coming into your room daily. You also get far more space: an average one-bedroom serviced apartment is around twice the size of a typical hotel room, and a serviced house is much bigger again.

Is serviced accommodation cheaper than a hotel?

For longer stays, serviced accommodation is usually the more cost-effective option. Being able to cook your own food works out far cheaper than eating out or relying on the hotel restaurant every night, and for groups a single serviced house often costs less than several separate hotel rooms. Hotels can also come with hidden charges: the mini-bar, late check-out, parking and gym access can all add up. On a per-night basis for a team staying more than a few nights, serviced accommodation frequently comes out ahead.

Serviced accommodation for contractors and construction teams

Serviced accommodation is particularly well suited to contractors. Secure, off-street parking for vans full of tools is common; separate bedrooms mean a team can share one property without living on top of each other; and there are no curfews to clash with early starts or night shifts.

Team bonding

A serviced house or apartment with multiple bedrooms often means your whole team can stay together. If you get on well, that's far less lonely than long evenings alone in a hotel room, and time spent together outside work hours helps teams bond, improving teamwork and helping you retain staff for longer.

What to look for in serviced accommodation

Not every serviced property is suited to working teams; a holiday apartment is a very different proposition to what a crew needs after a twelve-hour shift. The things that matter most are:

• Secure, off-street parking, ideally with room for work vehicles
• A properly equipped kitchen, not just a microwave and a kettle
• Reasonable proximity to the work site to minimise travel time
• Reliable Wi-Fi for reporting and communication
• Washing and drying facilities for work clothes
• Enough separate bedrooms for the team, ideally with ensuites
• A property manager who understands contractor stays rather than treating your team like holiday guests

Serviced accommodation FAQs

What's the difference between a serviced apartment and a hotel?

A serviced apartment is a private, self-contained home with a full kitchen, living space and separate bedrooms, plus hotel-style cleaning and maintenance. A hotel provides a single room with daily housekeeping but no real living or cooking space.

Is serviced accommodation good for long stays?

Yes, it's ideal for long stays. The extra space, self-catering kitchen and home comforts make weeks or months away far more comfortable, and it's usually cheaper than a hotel over that length of time.

Can a whole team stay in one serviced property?

Often, yes. Serviced houses and larger apartments have multiple bedrooms, so a team can stay together in one property, which is both more sociable and more cost-effective than booking individual rooms.

Ready to book? Explore our contractor accommodation service, including self-catering serviced accommodation, hotels and bed & breakfasts, or get in touch and we'll find the right fit for your team.