‘Record growth’ for UK serviced apartment sector in 2017  

At the start of what looks set to be a record year for serviced accommodation growth across the UK and Europe, Relocate finds out which relocation hotspots will be seeing new apartment openings.

Record growth for UK serviced apartment sector in 2017
Members of the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) will be launching a range of new properties across the UK and Europe during 2017. The winter 2016/17 edition of estate agent Savills’ report The UK Extended Stay Market confirms that this will be a record year for new developments in the UK, with just over 2,600 units forecast to be delivered, a 13.8 per cent increase on current stock.

London

Not surprisingly, London is a key city for serviced apartment growth. Staycity Aparthotels will launch its new premium city-centre brand with 106 apartments in Covent Garden.In Q1, BridgeStreet Global Hospitality will open a new property in Paddington, to include a laundry and a café area, under its Studyo brand. The company has also announced the development of a new Studyo-style aparthotel in Lower Marsh Street, Waterloo, London, as a joint project with Stow-Away. The development will include a café and reception area on the ground floor and is expected to open Q4.Scheduled to open in the summer on the South Bank are a Marlin aparthotel at Waterloo, which will have meeting rooms, a bar and shops, and Go Native’s new property in Bear Gardens.Also in the summer, Supercity Aparthotels will open its fourth aparthotel in London, The Chronicle, on Furnival Street. Close to Chancery Lane tube station, the development will also include two floors of office space, an onsite gastropub, and a gym Later in the year, Grange Hotels will open an all-suite hotel overlooking the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

Edinburgh market expanding

Popular with both tourists and business travellers, and a key business location, Edinburgh is seeing considerable expansion in serviced apartment provision.SACO will continue the rollout of its Locke aparthotel brand with 72 units in the city in Q1.Lateral City will open 50 new luxury apartments in October as part of the Grand Central redevelopment.Late 2017 will see the opening of an Apple Apartments aparthotel near Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, as part of the £150 million New Waverley development. It will boast a galleried atrium, 24-hour butler service, a customer lounge, and an in-house restaurant.
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Around the UK

Cities across the UK are seeing improving levels of serviced apartment provision. In Manchester, CitySuites has opened a property with 237 units and facilities that include a swimming pool and 24-hour gym. Staycity is due to open a property at the city’s Piccadilly Station, and Cycas has scheduled the opening of Staybridge Suites Manchester for 2017.Supercity has announced its first aparthotel in Brighton, due to open in 2018 with 65 apartments, a full-service restaurant and a gym. Room 2 by Lamington will see further expansion in 2017 with a hotel in Southampton, and CityStay will open Platinum house, its first aparthotel in Milton Keynes, this spring.

Europe

France, Germany and the Netherlands are three of the major European countries poised for growth in serviced apartments.In France, Staycity Aparthotels has just launched 108 units in Marseilles. Its 144-unit property in Lyon will open later in the spring. Located within a five-minute walk of the Arc de Triomphe, BridgeStreet Global Hospitality’s Mode Paris is also due to open this year. Facilities will include a breakfast room, a guest lounge and a fitness suite.In Germany, Frasers Hospitality will be opening Capri by Fraser, Berlin, in March. The launch of Fraser Suites Hamburg is planned for May 2018.In the Netherlands, Premier Suites' new aparthotel in Rotterdam will open this summer. Facilities will include a residents’ gym, an executive meeting room and a café.Scheduled to open autumn 2017 in Amsterdam, Cycas Hospitality’s first extended-stay hotel in the Netherlands will be dual-branded project consisting of a 60-unit Marriott Residence Inn and a 120-room Moxy hotel.

Going for growth

Having added more than 10,000 units in 51 properties in 2016 (its highest-ever increase in inventory count in a single year), The Ascott is on track to double its portfolio from 40,000 to 80,000 units by 2020. Its current portfolio is 52,000 units.Of the new units, 90 per cent are located in key countries across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia.Ascott has also introduced its newest brand, Lyf, designed for, and managed by, Millennials. The company aims to have 10,000 units under the Lyf brand globally by 2020, and is looking at sites in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.In London Ascott, operates close to 1,000 units across seven properties. Its target is to operate 10,000 units in Europe by 2020.Frasers Hospitality is on track to meet its global target of 30,000 units by 2019 (a 30 per cent increase) by opening 48 properties in cities across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This includes 21 new locations, including Tokyo, Penang, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abuja, Lagos, Berlin and Hamburg.Oakwood Worldwide is progressing with its plans to triple the number of its branded properties by 2020.Don’t miss the serviced apartments coverage in the Spring 2017 issue of Relocate magazine (out March).For related news and features, visit our Serviced Apartments section.Find serviced apartment providers in our Online Directory.Click to get to the Relocate Global Online Directory  Get access to our free Global Mobility Toolkit Global Mobility Toolkit download factsheets resource centre

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