Holidaymakers keen to book apartments in 2019, says poll

Posted: Sat 19 January 2019 at 10:41

Some 37 per cent of travellers from around the world plan to shun hotels for more unconventional accommodation, such as apartments, in 2019.

The Booking.com survey of thousands of travellers planning holidays for the coming year, found that more and more people are looking for a different experience to staying in a hotel. Interestingly, almost half of those questioned (49 per cent) said that that their main reason for wanting to shun hotels is to live more like a local.

Renting apartments and executive accommodation, as opposed to a hotel room, when visiting the UK, or anywhere else for that matter, can help travellers create a home from home. Increasingly, people want to be able to cook in their own kitchen and enjoy their holiday in a place in which they can feel truly at home.

Some 30 per cent of those questioned said they would book an apartment in 2019. Another 30 per cent said they would book a holiday home this year. Either way, it’s clear people are turning their backs on traditional hotels and looking for more authentic and comfortable accommodation.

Cost was another aspect cited by many of the respondents. Booking.com said that 45 per cent indicated that booking ‘home-type accommodation’ offers better value for money than hotels and guesthouses, for example.

Making the most of your short-term let in Windsor this Christmas

Posted: Fri 14 December 2018 at 12:11

We have a fantastic range of short-term lets in Windsor, which are popular with holidaymakers. Staying in your own apartment or even in one of our beautiful cottages, gives you independence and space. You’ll have the opportunity to experience Windsor like a local.

Here we take you through some of the ways you can get the very most out of your stay in one of our short-term lets in Windsor.

Cook!

Having access to self-catering facilities, including a fridge, a cooker and full range of pots and pans and utensils, means you can cook up a storm in your holiday home. Windsor has a fantastic farmers’ market on the first Saturday of each month on St Leonard’s Rd, which is a great place to source delicious local ingredients to use in your dishes. Even if you’re just buying some cheeses or a delicious cake to enjoy later on, you will be able to put it in your own fridge to keep it fresh – just as you would at home!

Host!

If you are visiting family or friends in Windsor or Eton, why not invite them over to your short-term let and host a dinner party? Having the space and facilities to host loved ones is a perk that you certainly can’t enjoy in a hotel room.

Take a day trip – and then enjoy returning to your own apartment at the end of the day…

There are some fantastic day trips to be taken right on Windsor’s doorstep and our staff at Accommodation Windsor will be more than happy to give you ideas about destinations and transport.

We love a trip to Cliveden National Trust, which is one of the loveliest places to explore within just 15 minutes drive from Windsor. Cliveden House Hotel is where the Duchess of Sussex spent the night before her wedding and it has since been given its own TV show ‘A Very British Country House’.

It goes without saying that London is easily accessible from Windsor, but why not try visiting the countryside around Windsor instead? A bracing country walk at Burnham Beeches is wonderful at this time of year, while a riverside visit to the nearby Runnymede, where the Magna Carta was signed is poignant and beautiful during the winter months.

At the end of a long day out seeing the sites, or walking in the countryside, enjoy coming home to your very own apartment or holiday cottage. You can kick off your shoes, relax on the sofa, watch the TV, listen to music, make a cup of tea (with a full-size kettle!) or fetch a cold glass of wine or beer from your very own fridge.

A growing number of holidaymakers are now renting short-term lets as their holiday accommodation with the main reasons being comfort and space. Christmas is perhaps the time of year when these things matter the most, and that’s why our short-term rentals in Windsor are always popular at this time of year.

Serviced Apartments Proving Increasingly Popular With Business Travel Bookers

Posted: Tue 11 December 2018 at 13:29

Almost one in three business travel buyers said they booked serviced apartments as their accommodation more frequently this year than last year, according to new research carried out ahead of the Business Travel Show.

In addition, a further 35 per cent said they used serviced apartments the same amount as last year.

The serviced apartment sector was the only category of accommodation that saw growth in its use over the year.

The reasons given for choosing serviced apartments over other types of accommodation were numerous, but the top reason was ‘value for money.’ The conveneince of having self-catering facilities came in as the second most frequently given reason, followed by the opportunity to experience the destination like a local. Many also said they liked the fact that serviced apartments gave them a better long-term option for their business travellers.

In a further testament to the growing popularity of serviced apartments for business travellers, only 32 per cent said they don’t use this option at all, down from 42 per cent last year.

David Chapple the event director at the Business Travel Show called the figures “pretty extraordinary,” while the CEO of the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers, who carried out the survey, also welcomed the results. He stated: “This year, in particular, we have found that more and more companies are booking two-bedroom or two-bathroom apartments, as colleagues will often share the apartment, making it a more cost-effective choice as well as giving employees working away from home some companionship. A two-bedroom option also provides privacy and collaboration space under one roof.”

Private Investors Spend Big on Serviced Apartment Industry

Posted: Wed 19 September 2018 at 09:17

Private equity investors are ploughing more cash into the short-term letting and serviced apartment industry than they are investing in the hotel market.

This is according to the latest report by commercial property research firm JLL. It found that in the year to May 2018, some £486m was invested in the serviced apartment industry in the UK alone. This is up from just £89m back in 2010, showing how rapidly the demand for this kind of accommodation is growing.

The researchers said that the investment in the industry will outpace investment in hotels. Eva Chan, a researcher at JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality EMEA team explained why serviced apartments are so appealing to investors: “With lower running costs than a staffed hotel, the serviced apartment sector also offers the opportunity to redevelop and to renovate to deliver higher returns.”

She added that portfolios of executive apartments are now attracting a large number of bids when they are sold, suggesting that the industry is increasingly seen as a viable asset class from which to make money.

All this investment is good for the guests who enjoy staying in serviced apartments as quality is likely to continue to improve as a result. There will also be more executive apartments available to choose from in towns and cities across the UK.

Summer 2018 Officially Among the Hottest Ever

Posted: Mon 17 September 2018 at 09:00

The Met Office has announced that summer 2018 was indeed the hottest ever – alongside 1976, 2003 and 2006.

This will come as no surprise to business travellers or holiday makers who enjoyed a stay in one of our executive apartments in Windsor over the months of June and July. With scorched ground across Bachelor’s Acre and Windsor Great Park, it was clear to see that this wasn’t any ordinary summer. In fact, there were more than 50 consecutive dry days and temperatures were consistently above average.

The Met Office has now confirmed that June to August temperatures just pipped previous hottest years, 1976, 1910, 2003 and 2006. However, they were unwilling to state a clear ‘winner’, instead adding: “Having further assessed the temperature data for the UK as a whole for summer 2018 the figures are so close that we are declaring it as the joint hottest on record together with 2006, 2003 and 1976.”

Although August was a lot more changeable, temperatures remained higher than average in most parts. The Met Office states that higher than average temperatures are likely to stay with us throughout the Autumn, which means we won’t be getting our winter coats out of storage just yet.

Ryanair Changes Baggage Policy To Reduce Delays

Posted: Sat 8 September 2018 at 16:09

Ryaniar is attempting to reduce delays on its flights to and from the UK by making further changes to its baggage policy.

The low-cost airline is a favourite option for a huge number of business travellers and tourists who go on to stay in serviced apartments in Windsor and other popular locations in the UK. However, it has suffered from a reputation for complicated baggage allowance rules and delayed flights. To address at least one of these problems, Ryanair has announced some new rules for non-priority travellers.

For all bookings made from 1 September, and at airports from 1 November, non-priority passengers will be allowed to carry only one small item of hand luggage. The size limits for this small piece of luggage have increased slightly to 40cm x 20cm x 25cm.

The new policy replaces a previous rule brought in earlier in the year, which saw non-priority passengers being asked to check-in their larger pieces of hand luggage at the gate for free. Although this previous rule change was also intended to reduce delays it was actually causing hold-ups, according to the airline.

Ryanair says it hopes the new rules will result in passengers either paying to upgrade to priority tickets or spending a little extra on a 10kg carry-on limit if they want to take an extra piece of hand luggage with them.

The airline claims that the new rules will only actually impact some 40 percent of passengers as 60 percent of travellers already either pay for priority tickets or happily travel just with one small carry-on bag.

Serviced Apartments in Windsor and Elsewhere Enjoy Strong Actual Occupancy Rates

Posted: Thu 23 August 2018 at 11:56

Actual occupancy levels for serviced apartments in the UK are at an impressive 79 percent, despite a slight slowdown in London due to an increase in supply.

The capital has seen an influx of new apartments coming onto the short-term rental market as a result of the popularity of this type of accommodation among a range of travelers. For example, there has been a rise in tourists from outside the EU looking for serviced apartments in Windsor following the international interest in the Royal Wedding earlier this year.

However, the rise in number of executive apartments available in some larger UK cities, such as London and Edinburgh, resulted in a slight drop in occupancy levels in the first half of the year, down 1.1 percent and 8.5 percent respectively.

The figures were released by the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP). The organisation’s CEO, James Foice, commented: “While the new supply is creating some challenges this year for our sector, especially in London, it’s really encouraging to see that operators remain confident about the future.”

Back in June, ASAP questioned serviced apartment operators about their level of confidence in the sector. They found that 38.5 percent of those questioned were more positive about the industry than six months before, while 37 percent said they are bringing plans to expand forward in response to demand.

Business Travellers Enjoy Extended Stays in Exciting Destinations

Posted: Wed 25 July 2018 at 10:00

Business travellers often view their trips more as leisure than work, according to a new survey.

Bristol Airport commissioned a survey of 1,000 employees and found that they viewed 42 percent of their trips as leisure rather than business.

The survey also found that the vast majority (86 percent) said they generally enjoyed work travel and 60 percent admitted that they used business trips as an opportunity to visit new places, thus expanding their horizons.

Far from being an inconvenience to many workers, business travel is largely seen as a positive as employees enjoy high standards of business accommodation, such as serviced apartments and luxury hotels. Work travel also enables them to visit countries that would be beyond their reach in their day-to-day lives.

Bristol Airport’s Business Development Director, Nigel Scott, said that the term ‘Bleisure’ has been coined to describe trips that offer a break from the humdrum working life for many business travellers.

He explained: “Previously passengers would arrange business travel involving for one or two nights away, but increasingly we are seeing passengers selecting three or more nights stays, in some cases this allows passengers the opportunity of relaxing and enjoying time in and around the destination they are visiting.”

Business travellers staying in Windsor can enjoy everything our historic Royal town has to offer from the comfort of one of our high-end serviced apartments.

Growing Number of Businesses Using Serviced Apartments

Posted: Wed 11 July 2018 at 10:00

Nearly three quarters of businesses across the globe are using serviced apartments for workers on assignments and projects, according to a new influential report.

The latest Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2018/2019, compiled by the Travel Intelligence Network shows that the industry itself is going from strength to strength with the number of serviced apartments available increasing by 14 percent year-on-year.

Businesses looking for serviced apartments in Windsor for their staff will be interested to know that they offer a secure and safe option. This is increasingly relevant as employers are bound by certain duty of care obligations and are usually keen to house their staff in comfortable, central accommodation.

Serviced Apartment Success

The report also found that nearly 70 percent of the serviced apartment operators questioned said they will be looking to grow the number of apartments they offer over the next two years. It’s easy to see why this might be the case in light of PricewaterhouseCooper’s recent Talent Mobility 2020 report, which states: “There will be more assignees, more business travel, more virtual tools, and especially more quick, short-term, and commuter assignments.”

Industry insiders believe that there are a number of factors behind the booming popularity of serviced apartments. Health and safety awareness is certainly a reason why more businesses are turning to this option, while they also offer a good value way to provide spacious accommodation for staff with great working facilities, such as desks and WiFi. These are now seen as ‘must haves’ for business travellers and many hotels still fail to offer these facilities.