A serviced apartment is a fully furnished apartment and you can stay in those types of apartments during your short-term or long-term stays. Just by paying the rent, you can have all kinds of accommodation amenities and feel like you are staying at your place. All included opportunities such as kitchen, furniture and the fact that it has more square meters than regular hotel rooms will make you feel as if you are living there instead of traveling. You can do your laundry, watch your TV, and cook your dinner in serviced apartments. Shortly, you can do everything that you do in your place.
The feeling which makes you feel like home can be one of the main differences between hotel rooms and serviced apartments. In addition to that, you’ll have more space than you’ll have in a traditional hotel room and this will make you feel more comfortable and cozier. Especially if you are a digital nomad or a remote worker who travels a lot you may desire to have the warmth of your own home. If this is the occasion, a serviced apartment is the right place to stay.
Besides, if you are planning to stay more than a couple of days, serviced apartments are more affordable for longer stays. In other words, if you travel a lot, choosing a serviced apartment will be more sustainable for your wallet. Also, particularly for your touristic stays, you may want to stay in a place which is located in more central places and serviced apartments serve that purpose very well.
One of the main differences between a hotel room and a serviced apartment is the length of the stay. Normally, traditional hotel rooms are not convenient for long stays. In a hotel room, you will have a smaller space than in a serviced apartment and it can be quite difficult to stay in a little room for a long time. Especially if you need a working place or a place that needs to separate your living and sleeping area, serviced apartments are the right choice. Similar to your home, you can sleep in a different place and work or rest in front of the TV in another. Serviced apartments will be meeting your needs on such occasions.
Also, if you want to cook your meal, serviced apartments will be providing a fully equipped kitchen for your needs. Hotel rooms sometimes have kitchens too but they are quite smaller when compared to a serviced room kitchen. To be more specific, staying in a serviced apartment will be much more comfortable than staying in a hotel room.
There you have it. We’ve given you an introduction to serviced apartments. Serviced apartments are great alternatives if you’re bored with traditional hotel rooms and want to live like a local wherever you’re traveling to…
A serviced apartment is a fully furnished apartment that you can stay in during your travels. You can consider staying in serviced apartments both on your long-term and short-term trips. You can take advantage of the furniture such as the washing machine and television which will make you feel and give you a sense of coziness in your place. A serviced apartment is definitely worth its price. The fact that they have more space than a hotel room makes them more livable, particularly for your long-term stays. In addition to that, with their fully furnished kitchen, you can cook your meal and this will also make your stay wallet-friendly.
For the people who are searching for a place to stay for their journeys, serviced apartments can be the right choice. Because serviced apartments offer all utilities and an area for living. You can chill out after a long touristic day on your couch and prepare your breakfast in the morning before going out again. Serviced apartments are cheaper than hotel rooms as they are flats. The rent of a flat is almost always cheaper than a hotel room. Besides, when you stay in a hotel, most of the time you eat outside which makes you pay more during your stay.
The main difference between serviced apartments and condominiums is the status of the land. Serviced apartments’ aim is to be used as a commercial area while the condominium is more like a residential area. This fact makes them different in their legal status when it comes to paying the taxes etc. Although Airbnb and serviced apartments look very similar to each other, they have deterministic differences. The main difference between them is that the serviced apartments are in the business. That means that when you are staying in a serviced apartment, you will have sustainable quality and you don’t have to look for the right quality before you travel.
A serviced apartment is not residential property. Their title is commercial. The difference between residential and commercial properties is that residential properties are built for living while commercial properties are built for business. You can buy a serviced apartment. Especially in tourist destinations, buying a serviced apartment can be a good investment for the future. Most online booking sites offer a filter option and sometimes a separate category for serviced apartment searches.
If you are a business traveler or frequent vacationer, you may realize that short-term apartments are quickly becoming the new luxury hotels. They may not have room service or housekeeping service, but many of them provide luxury amenities and perks that you simply cannot find in a hotel chain.Especially if you are staying in town for a week or more, renting a house or condo can be cheaper than paying per night at a hotel. Even for the most economical hotels, you could easily pay up to $1,000 per week. But many nice rental homes charge a similar amount for an entire month’s stay and even prorate the rent if you only stay part of the month.
Hotel chains are often built in commercial zones, limiting you to freeways and fast food chains. When you rent a privately owned apartment or condo, you choose your area and neighborhood. If you are visiting Chicago, for example, you may prefer to stay in a trendy neighborhood of Chicago near Wrigley Field or Lincoln Park. In neighborhoods such as Bloomingdale in Chicago, you have pedestrian-friendly access to public parks and trendy local restaurants to choose from, giving your visit a more personal and local feel.
Hot tubs, large flat screen TVs, billiard rooms, and a private washer and dryer are not necessarily included in hotels. They are, however, fairly common in apartments. If you don’t mind cleaning up your own mess, having a fully equipped kitchen is nice if you are traveling by yourself or if you want to invite people over for a meal. Having a front porch or backyard patio can be a refreshing change of pace from the usual four walls of a hotel room as well.
Looking for sites like Airbnb to book your next vacation rental? Here is our guide to the best online apartment booking websites that provides a list of over 25 websites where you can search and book apartments and vacation rentals online. Getting a great place to stay is key to a good travel experience and if you are looking beyond hotels and hostels, renting an apartment, a house, or a private room can be a great alternative. Staying at an apartment versus a hotel can be great way to save money, have more autonomy, and connect with the local people. Most of these apartment booking websites also allow you to list your own property so that you can earn money while you travel or rent out a spare room or second home. Airbnb may be the best known vacation rental website, but there are a lot of Airbnb alternatives out there, and many have been on the scene for a lot longer. We’ll provide information on over 20 apartment booking sites like Airbnb and share tips on how to use them so that you will always be able to find the perfect place for your next vacation. Apartments give you the flexibility to cook your own meals, have complete flexibility about coming and going, and allow you to do laundry while traveling.
Today it is easy to book an apartment or vacation rental online from anywhere in the world, and apartments can offer a lot of benefits compared to hotel stays for certain travelers. So whether you are tired of Airbnb, looking for some additional sites to compare prices, want a professionally managed property, or want to book apartments in a region where Airbnb has few properties, this list of websites like Airbnb should help you find some great new apartment booking websites.
This list includes both peer-to-peer properties (such as on Airbnb) and professionally managed vacation rentals. Most of these booking websites also allow those who have extra rooms, empty apartments, or second homes to list their properties online as well, so we’ve provided details for property owners as well. Vrbo, which stands for Vacation Rentals By Owner, was one of the first websites to connect apartment owners with travelers, and has been around since 1995! It was also the first apartment company I (Jess) ever used to book an apartment in France for a week.
Vrbo is currently owned and operated by the Expedia Group. In 2019, they recently rebranded to Vrbo (ver-boy) from VRBO. Properties from HomeAway, Abritel, Stayz, and other Expedia owned vacation rental websites have been added to Vrbo to consolidate their vacation rentals into one website, greatly expanding the number of listings. Many of the properties listed on Vrbo can’t be found on other listing sites like Airbnb, and with over 2 million listings to choose from is definitely one you should check out when traveling. Properties are located worldwide in over 180 countries with a heavy concentration in Europe and North America. For Property Owners: Vrbo does allow property owners to apply and list their properties directly on the website. You can read more and sign up for Vrbo here.
If you are traveling in Asia and looking for apartments and vacation homes, we recommend checking out Agoda Homes. Agoda is a well-known hotel booking website, but it also offers apartments, vacation homes, guesthouses, and private rooms in homes. Agoda offers over 700,000 apartments and other vacation rentals in over 50 countries, with the largest number of properties located in Asian countries. For Property Owners: The set-up and listing is free for property owners, and then Agoda Homes takes a commission on bookings. You can learn more here. beach villa Airbnb alternatives best apartment booking websites Plum Guide is a London-based company that just launched in 2016. It currently offers over 10,000 apartments and vacation rental properties on its website with a large number of its properties located in major international cities like Los Angeles, London, Rome, and Paris. However, it has been expanding to more destinations and also includes properties in smaller towns and rural areas as well.
The Plum Guide is similar to Airbnb in that is a peer-to-peer vacation rental website; however, the company is much more selective about the properties listed on Plum Guide. They send a staff member to meet hosts and evaluate each property using a checklist to decide if it is a good fit. The company aims to only include the most popular and best-rated properties and markets themselves to a more discerning traveler who doesn’t want to search through a large number of listings to find the perfect place. Unlike most peer-to-peer vacation rental websites, Plum Guide doe not publish guest reviews of properties on their website as they believe that the peer review system is flawed. You can read our in-depth Plum Guide review for our thoughts and experiences using this relatively new platform. For Property Owners: Owners can apply to have their apartment of vacation rental listed on Plum Guide, and then it will be evaluated to see if it meets the company’s criteria. You can find out more here.
Sightseeing ToursWe’re guessing you’ve used Booking.com at some point to book a hotel stay. And with many excellent deals and many properties offering no-fee last minute cancellation policies, we love it too. What you might not have realized is that in addition to hotels, you can also book vacation rentals properties on the site, including apartments and villas, all around the world. And with about 6 million properties on their books thus far, there’s no shortage of choice. Apartments and holiday homes available to book in over 200 countries and territories. They have a large number of apartment properties in Europe (particularly the UK and France), Australia, North America, Asia, South Africa, and northern Africa. For Property Owners: It’s free to list on Booking.com, and then fees are applied to every successful booking made through their service. Sign up to list your property here.
Homestay differentiates itself by offering hosted experiences for those who want to actually meet the property owners and talk to the local host or family. All their stays also include breakfast. Homestay has properties in 150 countries; however, they have fewer properties than many of the other websites on this list, which means that it can be more difficult to find a property and get a booking accepted.
Properties are more concentrated in Europe (particularly the UK) and major cities worldwide (Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Paris). We have stayed in multiple Homestay properties around the world and have enjoyed the interaction with hosts and loved the fact that we could take advantage of their local knowledge and even share their pets for a few days! We can offer you a 5% discount on all Homestay bookings if you use this link to book, as well as up to USD $30 off your first booking when you sign up using this link (discount varies depending on the currency). For Property Owners: Registering a property on Homestay is free. You can sign up to list your property here.
Marriott is well known for its international hotel brand, and in 2019, Marriott launched Homes & Villas to offer upscale and luxury vacation home rentals and villas. The company offers over 20,000 properties in over 200 destinations worldwide. Marriott Homes & Villas specializes in premium and luxury vacation homes, villas, and condos. Marriott does not own or lease the properties; all properties are professionally managed by local professional management companies for the owners. Homes & Villas listed properties worldwide in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This is a particularly good option for Marriott hotel lovers, as Marriott Bonvoy members can redeem and earn points on homes and villas that are part of the program. For Property Owners: Marriott doesn’t accept homes managed by individual homeowners. Your home would need to be managed by one of the home management companies that work with Marriott Home & Villas. Sonder is one of the newe Airbnb-like companies and has been rapidly growing over the past few years. The company started in 2012 in Montreal, Canada. It provides a curated list of over 8,500 apartments in over 25 cities worldwide.
The company focuses on modern well-designed and decorated apartments that are outfitted with all the amenities and comforts someone would want in their own home. They also focus on properties that are in tourist-friendly and trendy neighborhoods. They offer 24/7 customer service and you are renting directly from them as they own or lease the property, furnish, and maintain them.
They have the largest number of properties in the United States and Canada, but also have a number of properties in major cities in Europe as well as apartments in Dubai. For Property Owners: Individual property owners can not rent out their apartment or home on Sonder as the company currently owns or leases all their properties. However, if you are looking to sell or lease real estate, you can contact them. If you are looking for a longer-term stay, Blueground specializes in apartments that can be rented for 1 month and longer. You can even rent some of the properties for 1 year or more. Apartments are fully furnished and managed properties with all the basic amenities included. They currently offer over 5,000 apartments in 18 major cities, including New York City, Paris, Istanbul, Chicago, London, San Francisco, and Boston.
Although they cater primarily to business travelers, they can also be great for leisure travelers wanting to stay in a place for a longer amount of time. For Property Owners: Blueground rents unfurnished apartments that meet their criteria from owners and then furnishes and manages them for you. You can find out more and sign up here. vacation rental Airbnb alternatives best apartment booking websites If you are looking for a vacation rental in the United States, you might want to also check out Evolve. The company started in 2011 and is based in Denver, Colorado. They currently have over 18,000 vacation homes in over 700 destinations throughout the United States. They include properties in popular big city and beach locations as well as rural getaways and lesser known destinations.
Although they cater primarily to business travelers, they can also be great for leisure travelers wanting to stay in a place for a longer amount of time. For Property Owners: Blueground rents unfurnished apartments that meet their criteria from owners and then furnishes and manages them for you. You can find out more and sign up here. vacation rental Airbnb alternatives best apartment booking websites If you are looking for a vacation rental in the United States, you might want to also check out Evolve. The company started in 2011 and is based in Denver, Colorado. They currently have over 18,000 vacation homes in over 700 destinations throughout the United States. They include properties in popular big city and beach locations as well as rural getaways and lesser known destinations.
They specialize in the hospitality side of the vacation rental business and so do list many of the properties listed on popular sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. However, they strive to differentiate themselves from these marketplaces by offering a better customer service experience. According to the Evolve CEO in a Forbes December 2020 interview: “Evolve properties must be safe, clean, and ready to welcome a guest, and meet or exceed the photos and descriptions. It’s our job to ensure that guests enjoy a 5-star experience while staying in an Evolve home.”
For Property Owners: Independent property owners can apply to see if their property matches the Evolve criteria. Owners are paid on a commission based on the earnings from the property. You can find out more and sign up here. Top Villas is an Orlando, Florida based vacation rental website focused on villas and vacation properties in Florida and the Caribbean. They currently have over 4,000 luxury rentals in over 50 destinations. The majority of the rental properties are in Florida and the Caribbean, but there are also vacation rentals available in other parts of the USA (California, Colorado, and Tennessee) as well as some parts of Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal) and Asia (Thailand and Indonesia). This website is particularly a good one to check if planning a trip to Florida, California, or the Caribbean.
For Property Owners: Listing a property is free on Top Villas and you can do that here. Hotels.com was founded in 1991 and has been a popular hotel booking website for a long time, but like Booking.com it has expanded its offerings to include a wide variety of accommodation, including vacation rentals. They offer hundreds of thousands of properties worldwide with a focus on North America and Europe. Hotels.com is particularly popular in North America and if you use it regularly to book accommodation (whether it is a hotel, apartment, or vacation rental), you can save with their loyalty program where after you book 10 stays, you get a reward stay. For Property Owners: Property owners can list properties for free on Hotels.com, but you need to sign up with the Expedia Group here. Hotels.com became part of the Expedia Group network in 2001.
Belvilla is the leading holiday home rental provider in the Benelux region, offering around 40,000 in over a dozen European countries, with most of the properties in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Great Britain. Belvilla offers a wide range of properties to suit just about any type of traveler and budget, from city studios to cabins to beach chalets to castles. Quest Apartments is a bit different from all the rest of the websites listed as it only offers serviced apartments. The company caters to business and leisure travelers who like the services of a hotel but wants the autonomy (e.g., kitchen facilities to cook) and space of an apartment. They offer apartments for both short stays as well as apartments for long-terms stays. Quest Apartments operates over 170 apartment hotel properties in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. A good place to search for travelers heading to Australasia. For Property Owners: We don’t believe Quest Apartments accepts private individual properties for inclusion.
Interhome offers approximately 50,000 vacation rentals in over 25 countries, with a focus on European apartments and vacation homes. Founded in Switzerland in 1965, this company has been providing vacation rentals for a long time and they are able to assist guests on-site with check-in and provide comprehensive services. A great website to check out for those heading to Europe and wanting to have a local service agent available 24/7. For Property Owners: Property owners choose either full professional management of their property or choose to act as representatives. Fees vary by type of management and contract agreement. You can find more about listing your apartment on Interhome here. You may already use TripAdvisor to read and leave reviews on hotels, tourist attractions, and restaurants. TripAdvisor also has its own apartment rental search engine, known as TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals.
TripAdvisor has been gobbling up apartment rental companies like FlipKey, holidaylettings, and HouseTrip and so all those listings are also in its search engine. With almost 1 million properties across 190 countries, there’s certainly no shortage of choice. And of course, as you’d expect, there’s a full review system for each property. Plus, TripAdvisor allows you to book flights, car rentals, and other travel services online, meaning you can do all your travel bookings through one site and provider. Definitely worth checking out! For Property Owners: Registering a property with the TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals service is free, then you pay a fee per booking. You can sign up for TripAdvisor Vacation Rentals online here. 20,000 properties located in the UK, Ireland, France, and Italy. They focus mostly on villas and cottages in the countryside, small towns, and in coastal locations.
Definitely focused on catering to the British traveler and common holiday destinations for those in the UK. But it is a website to check out for anyone traveling to the UK, Ireland, France, or Italy and looking for accommodation. For Property Owners: Cottages.com does allow property owners to apply to list their holiday homes on the website. You can find out more here. Italy websites like AirBnB alternatives booking apartments vacation rentals online Oliver’s Travels first started as a website that allowed people to book French chateaux back in 2003. It has since grown and expanded to focus on holiday villas, castles, and luxury properties in over 20 countries. Oliver’s Travels primarily focuses on historical and character properties and holiday villas in warm and tropical locations. Most of their properties are located in Europe, but they also have properties in a number of other destinations such as Bali, Thailand, Florida, and the Caribbean.
They are definitely one to consider if you are looking for a more unique and more upscale property for your next trip. They have a particularly good selection of properties in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Croatia. For Property Owners: Olivers’ Travels offers free listings for property owners and then charges commission fees. You can find out more here. If you are planning a trip to the UK or Ireland, then Sykes Holiday Cottages is a holiday home booking website we can definitely recommend checking out. They list over 16,000 self-catering properties on their website. Sykes Holiday Cottages offers a range of properties to suit just about any type of traveler and budget, from city studios to beach chalets to cabins in the woods to castles. Most of their properties are situated in small villages and in the countryside. Their website also makes it easy to find certain types of properties such as those which accept pets, those with pools, and those located near the coast.
For Property Owners: Sykes does allow property owners to apply to list their flat or holiday home on their website. It must be located in the UK or Ireland. You can find out more and apply here. Rural Retreats is another website to consider if you are looking for a place in the UK or Ireland. They focus on a collection of over 600 properties that are located in rural areas of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. Rural Retreats offers a number of different types of properties, from shepherd’s huts to castles, to suit a wide range of travelers and budgets. Although their focus is on rural properties, they do have a small selection of city apartments available as well. For Property Owners: Rural Retreats does allow property owners to apply to list their property. It must be located in the UK or Ireland. You can find out more and list your property here.
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