“If you want to stay somewhere comfortably and safely for more than a few days, you have a wide choice of serviced apartments. They are located in metropolises and now also in rural regions with leisure facilities – perfect for workations.“ Sylvie Konzack
Serviced apartments are typically used by people who are working on projects in a foreign city for a few weeks or months, starting a new job in a new city or whose own house or flat is a building site. Why? “In serviced apartments, you always have a living, kitchen and often also a work area, which means you often have more space and a more home-like feeling than in a standard hotel room. This is often cheaper than in a hotel, the longer the stay,“ explains Anett Gregorius, owner of the booking platform apartmentservice.de, which she founded in Berlin over 20 years ago. Serviced apartments properties are also hotels, at least in Germany, which guarantees companies that their employees will be accommodated professionally and safely during their business trip.
There are houses with few staff members, laundry facilities and regular apartment cleaning. And there are hotels with more services such as a restaurant and spa. Since the pandemic, more and more holiday guests have been booking into both serviced apartment models for a few days at a time – precisely because they offer more space for the family and self-catering options. Large providers such as Adina Hotels, with hotels primarily in German-speaking countries, have always specialised in both groups of guests.. The British brand Locke also specialises in stylish metropolitan apartments with large sofas and poufs. In London alone you can find six houses, including lounge and café areas with a lot of “laptop workers“.
The “von Deska Townhouses“ in Hamburg, on the other hand, have frequent guests from all over the world who stay there for months and focus on the absolute second-home feeling with traditional hanseatic furniture and a inner courtyard garden oasis. Purely digital providers such as Numa or Limehome, which do not require on-site staff, are also growing and and are often booked for city breaks. The Numa Vita in Florence, for example, is located in an old building with high ceilings and terraces less than 2 km from Piazza del Duomo – and makes it just as easy for workation outside the walls of your office at home. Whether for three days or longer.
Serviced apartments with beach and raft building
A new trend is now establishing itself with the growth of location-independent working: serviced apartments near major cities or in leisure regions for workation stays. The offers range from coworking retreats such as the Coconat near Berlin to holiday flats such as the “von Deska Countryhouses“ on the North Sea island of Föhr from the “von Deska Townhouses“. “They’re a good match, because serviced apartments in leisure regions are often more modern, fresher accommodation options than traditional holiday flats and are managed more professionally,“ says Anett Gregorius.
Limehome is also planning several properties in Mediterranean locations over the next two years, like on the Amalfi Coast. In Salerno, Italy, a Limehome is being built in a former hotel on the seafront promenade.
In Germany, near Berlin, a newcomer is being launched this summer: the 360° Teamgeist Resort directly on Lake Wolziger See by Isabel and Michael Haufe. The latter founded Teamgeist around 30 years ago, which is today one of the largest team event providers in Germany. He and his wife are now realising a courtyard plaza, a boathouse with workshop and a vegetable and fruit garden with a size of around 20 hectares. 23 serviced apartments can be booked for up to twelve people – 20 of which are transforming rooms, in which the living rooms can be converted into breakout rooms for small groups. They will be able to experience a lot of “we“ during moonlight and prosecco sailing, team painting or while building rafts or ice sculptures. Workation 2.0, so to speak.
Sylvie Konzack …
… has been engaged with serviced apartments, the innovative operators and the huge market dynamics as a hotel journalist for over 13 years. Many of her articles have been written in serviced apartments.
Fotos: © 360° Teamgeist Resort, Alex Hüfner, Sylvie Konzack
