„Serviced Apartments sind durch ihre umfassende Ausstattung mit Küchen und Wohnbereichen moderne und komfortable Alternativen zu klassischen Hotelzimmern – und eignen sich vor allem auch für Bleisure- und Workation-Aufenthalte. Bei der SO!APART Ende 2024 wurden die besten Konzepte des Jahres ausgezeichnet.“
Beautiful Vienna is one of the serviced apartment strongholds in the German-speaking world, alongside Berlin and Munich, and with the Citadines Apart’hotel Danube Vienna, it is the winner in the category “large and magnificent – aparthotels“ at the current SO!APART Awards. Opened at the end of 2023, the aparthotel of the international Ascott Group soars upwards in the newly built Tower Vienna Twentytwo. An escalator takes you up to a small lobby and then up to the 12th floor to the actual aparthotel – with a rooftop bar, breakfast restaurant, fitness room and launderette, all with a skyline view of the city on the Danube. Guests can choose between 223 attractively designed serviced apartments (with kitchen and living area) and 26 hotel rooms, many of which can be combined.
In the “large and magnificent“ category, a classic from Frankfurt won in the „serviced apartment buildings“ category, i.e. concepts with less gastronomy and less service than in aparthotels: The Flag Oskar M. is a “long-stay and serviced apartment concept at its best“, emphasised Anett Gregorius, organiser of the award and owner of the booking platform Apartmentservice, in her laudatory speech. “Here you will find serviced apartments starting at 45 square metres with an absolutely homely interior, a skyline view of Frankfurt and a cool bistro overlooking the Main. The high-rise has been in operation for six years and has top ratings.“
Studios that can be converted into 6-person team apartments with a lake on the doorstep? An event tent and one of the largest stand-up paddle rental centres in Germany? The 360 Grad Teamgeist Resort south of Berlin has only been open since summer 2024 and has already been voted the winner in the “new and special“ category by the SO!APART jury. The jury was enthusiastic about the bleisure and workation approach, for both company teams and families. The concept as such is still very new in the serviced apartment segment and pulls out all the stops when it comes to the trending topics of country, conference, bleisure, leisure, short and long stays,“ emphasised jury member Sylvie Konzack, editor-in-chief of Bleisure Traveller, at the award ceremony at the Felix Suites (Staycity) in Leipzig.
Among the “small and fine“ properties with a maximum of 50 serviced apartment units, the Adapt Apartments Wetzlar in Wetzlar, an hour’s drive from Frankfurt, impressed the jury. The serviced apartment building offers particularly large apartments starting at 31 square metres and a lot of personality, although the building is operated completely digitally. The apartments were designed with the help of regular guests from the other houses in Berlin and Gießen. With many local companies, the Adapt Apartments Wetzlar focuses on both business and leisure travellers, thanks to the nearby Lahntalradweg cycle path.
For those looking for accommodation for longer than six months, the Havens Living Frankfurt Bockenheim is also available in Frankfurt. In the “large and magnificent“ category (residential apartment building – residential), the building with 150 premium apartments in exciting design lines and with a generous community concept is in the running.
In the “sustainable and special“ category, the Poha House Aachen in Aachen, Germany, won the trophy. The building is housed in a former swimming pool.
The winners in the categories “Most popular small“ and „Most popular large“ were chosen exclusively by the audience in an online vote. Christoph Carnier, President of the German Business Travel Association VDR and Travel Manager at Merck, presented the awards to two serviced apartment house operators: Brera Serviced Apartments Singen on Lake Constance and, once again, Adapt Apartments Wetzlar in Wetzlar as “most popular small“.
All the winners were honoured at a ceremony at SO!APART, the most important trade conference for the serviced apartment segment in the German-speaking area. Since 2013, Apartmentservice has been presenting the SO!APART Awards for the best serviced apartment concepts in the DACH region here. Over the last 20 years, numerous exciting concepts have established themselves on the market, inviting short and, in particular, longer stays, as if in a second home.
Bleisure Traveller was once again a media partner of the event.
Photos: © Hafencitystudios, The Flag, The Ascott Limited (Citadines Apart’hotel Danube Vienna), Alex Hüfner (360 Grad Teamgeist Resort), Havens Living, Brera Serviced Apartments, Adapt Apartments
