The Hotel and Central London Serviced Apartments – a Comparison for Mid-Term Living

I’m going to start this post by defining what I mean when I say “mid-term living”. I’m basically talking about any stay longer than seven nights, below which you’re unlikely to find central London serviced apartments suitable anyway. In this mid range, between super short term stays and a more permanent arrangement, it can be hard to decide whether you are best suited to a hotel or a flat of some kind.

In a way, it’s actually a lot easier to answer this question than it seems. Assuming for a moment that cost was no issue, or at least no issue that could not be overcome: would you want to live in a hotel?

See, this is what you’re really talking about when you try to decide where to stay during a short term contract, or a long term training programme, or while your employer finds you somewhere permanent to live. You aren’t talking about staying away from home for a few days – you’re talking about basing yourself somewhere for let’s say between two weeks and three months.

That, combined with the fact that you are there to work, or train, on a normal working week basis, means you are looking at living arrangements and not just overnight stay arrangements. So your first comparison is a very direct one. On the one hand you have a hotel room (I am assuming for the purposes of this comparison that neither you nor your employer is willing to countenance a penthouse suite in a hotel!) and on the other you have a serviced flat.

For me – living in a flat is fine, I do it all the time. At home as well as when I come to the City on business. Living in a hotel? I can do it for a maximum of two weeks before I go crazy, and even that’s pushing it.

Because I find hotels to be both way too busy and way too empty at the same time. There’s always a lot of hustle and bustle but never much eye contact. In that respect staying in a hotel is a lot like travelling by Tube. Sometimes you have to do it but you would really rather not.

By contrast, staying in central London serviced apartments means you only have the people you want to be with inside your living area. So no more lobbies full of rushing people who don’t want to look at you – and a lot more kicking off your shoes, taking off your tie and relaxing in front of the TV, or with a book. Imagine kicking off your shoes in a hotel foyer and you’ll get the drift I am trying to make here.
So when you talk about short term apartments, or what I would call mid-term living, remember: it is living, and not just staying somewhere, that makes the difference.