Your boss is on the phone: ‘We need you to work away from home for a while – enjoy your trip!’. So, you pack your bags for a few weeks – or months – to work in a distant city. But what kind of accommodation is best for your extended stay?

Are extended stays good for work?

Yes, they are, especially if you’re going to be away for several weeks or longer. Settling into a comfortable base for your whole work trip is a smart move compared to multiple trips coming and going from home. Quite apart from all the time and hassle of long haul travel, every journey adds to your carbon footprint.

Extended stays also beat hopping from hotel to hotel, or apartment to apartment. Packing and unpacking, getting your bags from A to B, and settling into somewhere new takes time and can be a real drain on the energy you need for the working world.

Working well means following a routine, and routines begin with having a base – which is exactly what an extended stay in a ‘home from home’ serviced apartment gives you.

Why serviced apartments are better than hotels for extended stays

Great hotels are lovely places to stay for short stays, but there’s no hiding from the high costs, especially in city centres. By contrast, serviced apartments almost always offer better value for money, without compromising on the quality of the accommodation.

Apartments too offer significantly more space than a room in a hotel. If you compare the cost per square foot, serviced apartments win by a mile. The extra space makes apartments so much better to live in, rather than simply stay in.

The extra space also makes doing any work much easier – hotel bedrooms are usually too cramped for getting things done for the office in comfort. If you’re staying with your partner or your family for any part of your stay, an apartment is far and away the better option.

And then there’s the question of routines. If you are on a work trip, do you want to be governed by the hotel’s routines or your own? Who wants to wait for breakfast to begin, or to worry about when housekeeping comes round? Foodwise, with your own kitchen facilities, you can choose when and what to eat without having to fit in with hotel hours.

It is not unusual for serviced apartments and aparthotels to have onsite bars, cafés and restaurants, so you can take your pick of looking after yourself when you want to, or have the pleasure of someone else doing the cooking and the dishes. Welcome to the best of both worlds!

See also Why Choose a serviced Apartment.

Get to know a city like an insider

A couple of days in an iconic city can only give you a snapshot of what its really like. A longer stay gives you time to discover a whole lot more – favourite places to eat or shop, for example, or umpteen hidden gems from smaller theatres, galleries and museums to open spaces and much more.

The city you’re visiting can be a fantastic place to explore during your extended stay – and there’s nothing quite like being a well-informed guide for visiting friends and family.

Meet the locals

If you are on a work trip, local staff can point you in the right direction to meet local people. An extended stay gives you the chance to take part in plenty of activities. With time on your side, you can take part in sports and recreational activities, even join a fitness or sporting club. Some apartments have on-site gym and exercise class facilities. These are all questions you can ask your Serviced Apartment Booking Agent.

Joining in local activities helps you get to know the area. You can chat with your companions on guided walking tours, or visits to museums, theatres and football stadiums. If you regularly visit the same bar or pub, there’s a good chance of sharing some banter with locals.

And, of course, there is a huge choice of apps that make meeting like-minded people easier than ever. If you’re in a city for a few days you’re unlikely to have the time to do so – but if you are away from home for a few weeks or longer, the likelihood is that you’ll have the time to get a real feel for local life.

Workcations – work well, play well

Even if you’re not on a specific work mission, serviced apartments are great places to seek out for workcations – a modern day blend of remote working and travel for pleasure. We have moved on from times when going away had to be limited to traditional holidays.

Office shutdowns during the pandemic have shown how well people can work away from the office. Old-fashioned fears of remote employees skiving or not working effectively belong to a pre-pandemic mindset. As long as you have the right technology, working remotely has ceased to be an issue for a huge number of organisations.

So why not take a long ‘workcation’ trip to somewhere amazing?

You can still put in all the hours you need to do your job, but then you have the rest of the day, evenings and weekends to enjoy. It’s a great approach for couples and families too, as long as someone can look after the youngsters while you’re glued to a computer screen. The fantastic news is that, for first time in human history, where you work really doesn’t matter any more.

Extended stay apartments in London

If your work trip or workcation is in London, you’ve a fabulous array of serviced apartments to choose from in this history-rich city. You can pick locations in the main business areas like Canary Wharf and the traditional commercial centre of the City of London. Alternatively, you can opt for the lively buzz of the West End and Covent Garden, or the elegance of Kensington and Belgravia. For families, it’s hard to beat Wimbledon, Richmond and Muswell Hill.

Let us help you find the best Serviced Apartment for your needs

To find the right serviced apartment for an extended stay in London visit The Apartment Network and use our Find an Apartment search tool. If you follow up by supplying your details and preferences using our online enquiry form, we will get back to you without delay with available options.

We can provide further help and information via our web chat service or by phone – our number is +44 (0)20 3743 7336.

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