Tweet

The Apartment Service turns 30!

Guest post by: Bard Vos

Article Overview: This year, The Apartment Service celebrates 30 years as a specialist agent for fully furnished Serviced Apartments and Corporate Apartments worldwide. The Apartment Service was founded in 1981 as a specialist department serving executives on extended stays within Expotel Hotel Reservations and went independent in 1992 offering services to a wider range of clients.

The Apartment Service turns 30!

This year, The Apartment Service celebrates 30 years as a specialist agent for fully furnished Serviced Apartments and Corporate Apartments worldwide.

The Apartment Service was founded in 1981 as a specialist department serving executives on extended stays within Expotel Hotel Reservations and went independent in 1992 offering services to a wider range of clients.

"The company developed from being solely a booking agent for serviced apartments in the early days to becoming a leading provider of corporate accommodation solutions by managing corporate apartments and also offering project accommodation solutions" says Managing Director Charles McCrow. "The latter category really is outside the box for most agents as a specialist network is needed to assist with sourcing options, to provide the hand holding required for familiarization and to negotiate the best terms. The property options that best serve these latter categories are mainly from residential stock which has the ability to meet the budgets companies want and also in the specific locations whilst at the same time providing a more comfortable and spacious environment to live in."

"Guest services, cleaning, 24 hour assistance and utilities are bundled into one rate and bearing in mind that the average project accommodation procured in this way is for over 6 months, it always results in a happy employee and a happy management at the same time" continues McCrow

The Apartment Service also launched the apartment brand, Roomspace Serviced Apartments (RSA), in locations where there was enough regular demand to sustain these properties permanently. These areas, such as outside London in the Home Counties, the Thames Valley and Midlands, typically had little or no other offerings at the time. Currently the company operates RSA both in the UK and also in Europe in Portugal and Spain which were added in 2008 and 2009. "We started Roomspace Serviced Apartments in 1996 to provide viable solutions for one month plus and for month by month stays because the requests were there but the product wasn't. We covered over 40 UK locations by the middle of 2007, but expansion plans however were put on hold when the global financial crisis set in," says Charles McCrow, "We are now firmly back on track with our growth targets and will have at least two more European countries to add RSA to this year as well as more UK locations. These RSA properties not only help us to focus our activities in the local markets we open in, but they also crystallise and reinforce relationships with our established European network partners, most of whom are longstanding ones, to deliver our accommodation solutions on a bespoke basis. These partners are actively involved and partnering with us to achieve our European RSA expansion plans as well"

In 2008, the Apartment Service commissioned and produced the first truly Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report (GSAIR) to high industry acclaim and it was updated in 2010. "The first report looked at the questions everyone was asking about the sector, such as what are the different types of product, what size is it, where is it operating and who are the players" says The Apartment Service's Bard Vos, the main researcher for the report. "Our second report looked more closely at the regional differences and gave updated reports on how the sectors were growing there and shed some light on the effects the financial meltdown was having and comments on the local prospects in view of this."

The third edition of GSAIR is planned for distribution in early 2012 will cover the many changes that the sector has undergone during the recession. It will also highlight the trends and opportunities in the new economy.

The Apartment Service website has over 525,000 serviced apartments units available online atour websitewhich offers online booking capabilities for thousands of serviced apartment locations around the world at the ‘best available' rates. "We linked our web services into the GDS several years ago in order for companies to access the best available or their own negotiated rates. By utilizing the GDS connection, we got live product availability enabling instant reservation confirmations." says Melanie Degand, Director of Sales. "It also means these can be added to any bespoke managed corporate programmes all in one application."

"Booking most serviced apartments is no different to booking hotels as most are operated by major hotel chains or hospitality focused companies and therefore easily available to agents and travel management companies in their normal systems" adds Charles McCrow. "Where specialist serviced apartment agents really come into their own is with longer term stays and in sourcing solutions outside of the box, not just booking what is in the system. Many agents just do not have the expertise or capacity required to achieve this "

"The Apartment Service is continually looking to develop the services we offer in response to the changing demands of our clients" says Melanie Degand. "2011 is going to be an exciting year and the company has some big plans over the coming months."

The Apartment Service was the first winner of the Diamond Buying Business Travel award ‘Best Serviced Apartment Provider' in 2007

"We look forward to celebrating our 30th birthday with our long standing clients and colleagues this year and The Business Travel & Meetings Show marks the launch of our anniversary year... and we look forward to welcoming you to stand 250 at the BTMS".

----End ----

  For further information please contact

Melanie Degand - Director of Sales, +44-(0)20-89443646 - MelanieD@apartment.co.uk

Esther Munoz Tong - Marketing Executive, +44-(0)20-89443666 - EstherT@apartment.co.uk

Bard Vos - Marketing Executive, +44-(0)20-89443667 - BardV@apartment.co.uk

The Apartment Service

5-6 Francis Grove

Wimbledon

London SW19 4DT

UK

The Apartment Service is a trading name of Roomspace Ltd, 5-6 Francis Grove, London, SW19 4DT and is registered in England and Wales with company number 1112378. VAT No. GB-538890988

T. +44(0)20 8944 1444 | F. +44(0)20 8944 6744 | Members of: HBAA, ITM, ARP, ASAP, CHPA, ERC

Related Articles
  Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2010
  Utilize the Online Apartment Search Service to Identify 5 to 20 Apartment Projects
  Houston Apartment Search Tips - How to Find Low Cost Move in Apartment
  Write “Thank You!” on All Your Checks
  Business Travel and Relocation: Leased Apartment or Serviced Apartment?
  Serviced Apartments - A Smarter Option for the Business Bedouin
  How To Avoid Left Turns
  A Home Stager Can Get Tenants Fighting Over Your Rental
  A rise in Customer Service?
  Features and Benefits
  Does the Building Owner Insure My Apartment?
  The Joplin Perspective
  Your Vulnerability Is Your Strength!
  Joint Venture Referral Relationships
  Do you know what to look for when selecting serviced apartments for your business?
  Inbound call center services benefit your business
  Serviced Apartments are an increasingly attractive cost option for Corporate Travel and Relocation...
  Baking Bread and Finding Success
  Creating Magic With Your Network Marketing Business
  Lesson #1: “There’s no genius behind it. It’s persistence and listening to people.”

Article Tags: 30 years old, apartmentservice, corporate housing, extended stay, serviced apartments



Related Forum Posts
Re: Service Or Product? - I agree with starting a Service-based Business in the economy. Here is what I think is critical: 1. Researching that your Service business has a market. 2. Marketing the Service with as much leverage as possible. 3. Product-izing the Service (aka Package Expert Knowledge). This will only help elevate you as "the" expert in your niche and make you accessible to people in different price points.
Re: Time to get rich in real estate? - House prices, like a lot of the economy in Japan, have been pretty stagnant. Hiroshima is no exception, at least on the secondary market; Apartment in new apartment blocks are more attractive to people who buy for residential purposes.
Who Said Twitter Doesn't Work...? - Last month, the BBC World Service programme, The Strand, featured 21 year-old Icelandic pianist/composer Olafur Arnalds. Arnalds achieved extraordinary success through his internet-led project to compose 7 tunes in 7 days, post them on his website and then post links to it via TWITTER. As a result his website got thousands of visitors eager to listen to his music, catapulting him to fame and bringing his music to the attention of the BBC, who featured an interview with him on the World Service programme, The Strand! So who says Twitter doesn't work? (HINT: It does help if you have something uniquely your own that other people want to get hold of...)
Re: Gateway to funding for startups - Let us know how this turns out, Zenith. I would be interested to know. Sounds like a really neat event.
Re: Ways to Boost Productivity - 1. Give Employees More Than a Paycheck 2. Provide Better eSupport Channels to Promote Self-Service 3. Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning. 4. Outsource as much as possible 5. . Turn off the TV.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Value of Small Businesses

THE “SECRET RECIPES” OF LEADERSHIP

Using Social Media Marketing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.