Apartment-Hotel

Under an Apartment Hotel ( also Aparthotel ) refers to a hotel or tourist accommodation, rented the place in rooms or suites fully furnished apartments with kitchen, bathroom and either a living room or separate living room and bedroom; Many hotels also have 2-bedroom units. Unlike apartments are included in apartment hotels customary benefits such as change of linen and towels, daily housekeeping, and often also a breakfast in the price. Another difference is that in apartments apartment - hotels not on a weekly basis ( that is, from Saturday to Saturday), but be rented by the day as ordinary hotel room.

From other forms of full-service apartments such as boarding houses and dormitories differ apartment hotels located in that they are designed more for short-term and transitionally than for permanent housing.

Apartment Hotels in North America

The most extensive deployment of apartment hotels in the United States and Canada, where they are referred to as Extended Stay Hotels. They align their offers at business professionals who frequently change their work location, as well as to families who need a transitional apartment during a move. At sites of large companies that offer relocation services and residential costs assumed by their employees, apartment hotels are therefore likely to be found than in places with heavy tourism. However, apartment hotels can also be used by ordinary travelers in claim who like to care for themselves or with special needs for space or bed capacities have (eg, families with children). For longer stays almost always generous discounts will be applied. The gross fees per class for comfort, location and size of the apartment of about 180 to U.S. $ 2,000 per week; even with a short stay, the costs are significantly lower than those of an ordinary hotel room the appropriate comfort level.

Apartment hotels are usually operated in North America as a franchise business of large hotel chains. As the first company of its kind applies the Residence Inn chain, which was founded in 1975 in Wichita, Kansas, and purchased in 1987 by Marriott International. Since then, many other brands have emerged, covering a wide range of inexpensive to luxurious quarters:

• Extended Stay America, Extended Stay Deluxe Hotel, HomeStead Studio Suites Hotels ( Extended Stay Hotels)
• InTown Suites
• MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotels ( Choice Hotels)
• Studio 6 ( Accor )
• Town Place Suites (Marriott )
• Value Place

• Homewood Suites ( Hilton)
• Residence Inn ( Marriott)
• Summerfield Suites (Hyatt )
• Hawthorne Suites ( Wyndham ), offers suites, only some of which have a fully equipped kitchen

• Cambria Suites, Ascend Collection ( Choice Hotels)

The bedroom is often separated from the living area by a door (any image Examples: Homewood Suites ).

Apartment hotels are to be distinguished from corporate housing providers such as Oakwood, whose services are used almost exclusively by companies or relocation services. Hotel brands such as Baymont Inn & Suites ( Wyndham ), Comfort Inn & Suites ( Choice Hotels), Country Inns & Suites ( Carlson ), Embassy Suites ( Hilton) or La Quinta Inns & Suites, offering suites without fully equipped kitchen, form in North America a separate category.

Apartment hotels in the German-speaking

In Germany, there is a small number of apartment hotels of the Australian hotel chain Toga Hospitality (Adina Apartment Hotels) and global brands Accor ( Adagio ) and Best Western ( Best Western Aparthotel ). The Residence Inn opened in 2011 in Munich for the first time a branch of an American apartment - hotel brand. Independently-owned apartment hotels are in the German-speaking countries usually much smaller than their American counterparts. Exceptions to this rule are, inter alia, the NewLivingHome (Hamburg), the Aparthotel Residenz Am Deutsches Theater (Berlin), the Aparthotel Neumarkt (Dresden ) and the Apartment Hotel Residenz ( Steinenbronn ).

Supply and demand

The market for serviced apartments is a day of fast-growing market segment in the German accommodation market continues strong growth potential. Since 2006 the number of overnight stays rose by around 30 percent. Main locations are hereby Berlin with about 50 houses, Dusseldorf and Cologne with around 25 houses, Hamburg and Munich with about 20 houses and Frankfurt with about 15 houses. According to estimates exist on the German market 15000-25000 serviced apartment units. The need for overnight stays in long-term segment is estimated at about 122 million per year. This corresponds to a range of approximately 335,000 apartment units, demonstrating the potential for growth in this sector in Germany.

Even lower than in Germany, the capacity in Austria, where apartment hotels are up to now only in Vienna. In Switzerland, the apartments are often referred to as Business Apartments.

Certification of serviced apartments

The certification or classification of Serviced Apartments is for operators in Germany an increasingly important topic: Guests want to be able to classify qualitatively at a glance each house. In 2005, the first official certification system for the classification of serviced apartments has been introduced in Germany. It currently provides so far the only official certification opportunity for operators of Serviced Apartments Represents the independent certification system developed by the Berlin-based company Boardinghouse Consulting in cooperation with TÜV Rheinland.

The focus of the certification is the assessment of the service quality of the apartment buildings in regard to the placement of long-term guests. Are particularly important for these guests the facilities criteria, the location of the house, the infrastructure around the apartment building as well as the transport links by car and public transport. The certification for serviced apartments can be seen as a complement to the hotel classification in Germany. However, it is no competition to the known stars by the German Hotel and Restaurant Association ( DEHOGA) that are awarded exclusively for hotels.

The certification categories for Serviced Apartments are:

• AA = Economy for simple needs
• AAA = Value for moderate needs
• AAAA = Superior for discerning
• AAAAA = Excellent for highest demands

Other countries

Widespread are apartment hotels in the UK, where the residential units are referred to as serviced apartments. In London alone, there are over 120 houses. More often than in North America, operators are independent medium-sized entrepreneurs.

In France operates the Accor chain 26 Adagio City Aparthotels, including 14 in the greater Paris area. In 2012 there are in the city of Paris a total of 92 apartment hotels; in other parts of the country, such as in Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Aix -en- Provence and at Disneyland Paris, there are 125