Serviced accommodation provider Ascott Ltd has announced its intention to almost double its global portfolio, increasing its number of apartment units from 26,000 to 40,000 by 2015.

In 2011, the company is to launch its first Ascott-branded property in France, Ascott Louvre Paris, which will join Ascott Mayfair London as the company’s second European residence.

Located opposite the Grand Louvre Museum, Ascott Louvre Paris is being converted from the 51-apartment Citadines Paris Louvre and will be decorated with fine art and sculptures to create a stylish ambience, enhanced by the stunning original 1908 façade, colonnades and balconies. Served by a choice of metro stations, the property is close to the leading shopping areas of Rue St-Honoré, Avenue de l'Opéra and Place Vendôme, surrounded by must-see attractions, restaurants and cafés, and near embassies and government offices.

In addition, Ascott has secured management contracts on four properties in China, which, between them, offer more than 800 apartment units. Set to open in 2015, the properties are Ascott Raffles City Ningbo, Ascott Raffles City Hangzhou, Ascott Suzhou and Ascott Guangzhou IFC.

Ascott Raffles City Ningbo is Ascott’s first property in the city. Set to open in 2012, it will offer 160 units and will be located in the commercial district along South Daqing Road as part of Raffles City Ningbo, a one-stop shop for offices, restaurants, shopping and entertainment.

Ascott Raffles City Hangzhou is Ascott’s first property in Hangzhou. Scheduled to open in 2015, the 151-unit residence will be part of the Raffles City Hangzhou, which comprises top-quality offices and an impressive shopping mall. It will be located in the central business district of Qianjiang New Town, tipped to become the new city centre, and next to the Qiantangjiang River area currently being developed into the city’s municipal, commercial and recreational centre.

Opening in 2010 with 178 units, Ascott Suzhou is Ascott’s first residence in Suzhou. Centrally located at the intersection of Jingji Lake Road and East Ring Road, it will be within the Suzhou Industrial Park – home to major projects such as the Suzhou International Expo Centre and the International Science and Technology Park. The serviced residence will be part of a mixed development with a retail podium, with leading multinational companies, the Suzhou University and a major shopping mall in its vicinity.

The 314-unit Ascott Guangzhou IFC is Ascott’s second property in Guangzhou and will open in 2011 in Zhujiang New Town, the new central business district of Guangzhou. It will be part of the prestigious Guangzhou International Finance Center, which comprises a five-star office block, shopping mall and international conference centre surrounded by top commercial buildings, multinational companies and consulates. Guests will benefit from easy access to a wide range of dining, retail and entertainment facilities at the nearby Guangzhou Opera House and major shopping centres, including the Guangzhou Friendship Mall and Happy Valley Mall.

Once Ascott Louvre Paris and the four residences in China are complete, Ascott will have 20 premier Ascott-branded properties, offering more than 3,800 apartment units, in key cities worldwide.

Lim Ming Yan, Ascott’s chief executive officer, said, “Ascott aims to achieve transformation and growth by increasing its global portfolio to 40,000 apartment units by 2015. As demand for serviced residences is increasing, we are expanding aggressively, to strengthen Ascott’s leadership position. Ascott Residence Trust and Ascott China Fund are two strong platforms that will enable us to grow rapidly. We are investing S$50 million to refurbish over ten properties in Asia and Europe. Our hospitality management systems will also be enhanced, to create more value for our properties and our customers.”

Mr Lim added, “Our strategy is to extend Ascott’s dominance in key cities in Asia Pacific and Europe through investments and management contracts. China, Vietnam, Singapore and India continue to be our key growth markets in Asia. In Europe, we will build upon our strong presence in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. We will also seek opportunities in Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and the Eastern European countries.”

Further information is available from www.the-ascott.com and www.citadines.com

Serviced accommodation provider The Ascott Limited has launched a new 380-unit collection of one- and two-bedroomed executive and deluxe apartments in the heart of Melbourne’s business district.

Well served by public transport, Citadines Melbourne is within easy walking distance of a wide variety of leisure amenities, from restaurants and cafés to parks, shops and theatres.

The new residence reinforces the company’s presence in Australia, where it now operates 884 apartments in eight properties across four cities. In addition to Citadines Melbourne, there are three Somerset-branded residences in Melbourne, two in Hobart and one in both Sydney and Perth.

Alfred Ong, Ascott’s managing director for Southeast Asia and Australia, said, “We see tremendous potential in bringing Citadines to Melbourne. The Victorian Government continues to attract business and leisure travellers with its strong sports, arts and event strategies. This will create significant demand for our serviced residences.

“Citadines offers savvy travellers flexible services to suit their lifestyles. It will complement our existing Somerset properties and enable us to better cater to travellers’ different lifestyle needs. To extend our footprint in Australia, we will also continue to seek opportunities in other key cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.”

With the serviced accommodation sector continuing to grow, booking agents in the UK have now established an association in order to establish, maintain and promote standards of professionalism.

The Serviced Apartment Bookers Association (SABA) represents companies of all sizes that have agreed to adhere to the SABA Codes of Conduct for good service and business practice. Membership is open to all bookers of serviced apartment accommodation. Properties and their owners and/or management companies are invited to join as Partners.

In addition, the association will provide a means through which agreements can be reached with both properties and their associations. Initially established to include only UK agents, membership has already extended into Europe, with a projected membership of 50 specialist serviced apartment agents by the end of 2010.

For further information, go to www.the-saba.org.uk

Don’t miss Anna Lambert’s profile of award-winning serviced accommodation provider The Ascott Limited, in the Summer issue of Re:locate.

Serviced apartment provider The Cheval Group has rebranded as Cheval Residences, with a new logo designed by illustrator Chris Mitchell, known for creating the BAFTA and Guinness logos.

George Westwell, director of Cheval Residences, said “The Cheval Group has successfully evolved over the past 28 years, but the previous constellation of identities was created at different stages, by different designers, and was, therefore, rather disjointed. The group has rebranded to Cheval Residences to link the existing and future properties in a more uniform way.”

Figures just released by the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) confirm that occupancy for the first quarter of 2010 is showing an increase on last year.

The average overall occupancy for London was 85%, which represents a 4% increase on the first quarter of 2009. For the rest of the UK, average occupancy for Quarter 1 shows a 5% increase on 2009, with average occupancy being 73%.

At £778, the average net weekly rental for London was very slightly down (2.4%) on 2009, but, for the rest of the UK, the average net weekly rental was 9% up on 2009, at £558.

Membership of ASAP is growing steadily and now totals 36 members, who collectively represent almost 6,000 apartments in every major UK city. As a result of this stronger membership base, the association has put together an exhibition programme for the very first time. Nine members took part in the ASAP Village at the Business Travel Show, so visitors could have direct exposure to members who provide apartments to the major UK corporations as well as through agency intermediaries. They confirmed it had been extremely valuable to talk face to face to potential new clients about the benefits of using serviced apartments.

ASAP will also be represented at the Business Travel Market, which is being held on 16 and 17 June at London’s ExCel.

Don’t miss Anna Lambert’s profile of award-winning serviced accommodation provider The Ascott Limited, in the Summer issue of Re:locate. Check out our serviced accommodation section  with new providers profiles.

Visitors to Select Apartments’ website are now invited to vote in a daily poll canvassing opinion on the burning issues of the day. The latest poll asks assignees to express their preferences on the collection of keys for their new apartment.

Whilst some assignees (14%) prefer the anonymity and flexibility of using a keysafe system, more than half (57%) of respondents in the anonymous poll have indicated they prefer to use a reception service at apartment buildings. 29% of respondents are more than happy with a ‘meet and greet’ service.

“The direct feedback we receive from pollsters is invaluable to us,” said Adrian England, of Select Apartments. “It will influence our future decisions, such as customer preference for personal check-in support.”

For more information, or to cast your vote in today’s poll, visit www.SelectApartments.co.uk

In the Spring issue of Re:locate, Fiona Murchie looks at the latest developments in the fast-growing serviced accommodation industry.

The Apartment Service’s 2010 Global Serviced Apartments Industry Report reveals that, over the last 12 months, the number of serviced apartments worldwide has grown by over 15% to nearly 524,000 units. Says managing director Charles McCrow, “In comparison with our last report, the total number of serviced apartments has grown considerably. The number of serviced apartments shows an increase of 11.2%, whilst the corporate housing total has risen by 53.7%. The total apartment listings worldwide, compared to 2008, have grown by 15.9% to 523,922.”

Under the spotlight in the 2010 report are the major challenges facing the serviced apartment sector around the world and how the global downturn has affected the sector in six key regions.

The report, which asked over 3,000 operators to contribute, looks at the commercial and structural changes in the sector in these regions, the problems that apartment operators face and the solutions they are developing to grow this sector profitably. It concludes that the serviced apartment sector, as a whole, is optimistic about the future, with serviced apartments becoming more and more an essential part of the ‘thinking process’ on how SMEs and large corporates handle their staff accommodation requirements.

Read the full report at www.apartmentservice.com/News_Room/GSAIR2010

The Spring issue of Re:locate will include an analysis of the current state of the serviced accommodation industry. Don’t miss it!

At the The Business Travel & Meetings Show, held at Earl's Court on 9 and 10 February, Select Apartments announced a new top-priority corporate client response guarantee, with at focus on delivering detailed corporate proposals within 60 minutes. This pledges a typical booking enquiry-to-proposal turnaround of one hour, or less, for 95% of corporate serviced apartment requests.

The company also unveiled a dedicated VIP area for apartment bookers and assignees on its new-look website, which went live at the show. The Select Living social-media 'neighbourhood' will offer apartment bookers exclusive special offers, preferential rates and special entitlements, including a rewards scheme. It will also provide the opportunity to blog with fellow corporate accommodation bookers and take part in daily polling on topical travel and relocation issues.

Said Adrian England, Select Apartments' marketing director, "We know how important it is for corporate clients to have a quick turnaround on enquiries for serviced apartments, even when these cases are complex. Our enquiry-proposal promise will also make life considerably easier for TMCs, relocation agents and travel managers, who will not only receive the best-possible choice of proposal options, but also the quickest.

"We also want to give a voice to everyone using serviced apartments, to help them feel part of a wider community by providing a forum to share their experiences, offer personal recommendations and top tips, or simply get something off their chest!"

For further information, visit www.selectapartments.co.uk

 

 

BridgeStreet Worldwide has been recognised as the Best Serviced Apartment Company 2010 at the Business Travel Awards gala event, receiving this recognition for its technology and system-led innovations, as well as for its customer service, teamwork and environmental practices.

The independent judging panel consisted of leading travel buyers and business travel journalists.

At the awards ceremony, which combined Buying Business Travel's Diamond Awards and the Business Travel World Awards, Stephen Hanton, managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), accepted the award on BridgeStreet's behalf, along with associates in sales, marketing and management.

Further information can be obtained from www.bridgestreet.com

 

The New Year has got off to a promising start for Flexi|Apartments, which reports an increase in enquiries for their high quality serviced apartments in January compared with the same time last year.

Says Carole Charge, Director of Flexi|Apartments: “It is no surprise that the recession has hit many businesses hard, forcing them to make cuts in the number of employees they send away for work and the length of time employees are away for. However we are pleased to report that we have seen some signs of improvement in recent months. December is traditionally a slow month for serviced apartments, however we experienced good occupancy rates in December 2009, and this month have had an increase in enquiries compared with last January.

“Many companies recognise that serviced apartments are not only cheaper than hotels, they also provide a more comfortable, flexible experience. This is a win-win solution as it enables them to provide cost-effective accommodation for their employees without compromise. All our apartments are situated in town and city centres, and offer the comfort, space and freedom of a home, but with the flexibility and ease of booking a hotel.”

For convenience, Flexi|Apartments now offers its clients an easy-to-use rate calculator. Rates, which are set on a weekly basis, can be calculated at the touch of a button to show the daily rate, and the total cost for the number of days required. Apartments are bookable online with an instant booking acknowledgement and immediate confirmation.

“Everyone in the serviced accommodation industry is having to work hard to keep apartments occupied,” says Carole. “This will benefit users as rates will stay competitive, there will be special initiatives to attract business, and only those providing the best quality service and accommodation will succeed. To ensure that we remain the preferred choice of our many clients, we are planning to refurbish many of our apartments this year so that we can continue to offer top quality accommodation. As standard our apartments have a top quality finish, luxury furnishings and are equipped with fully fitted kitchens; contemporary furnishings; TV; Freeview or Sky; DVD player; telephone; and Broadband.”