Sleep, eat, relax, repeat: 11 reasons why you should stay in a Citybase apartment

If you’re undecided about how to get away at the moment, these 11 reasons why you should stay in a Citybase Apartment might help you make up your mind. Serviced Apartments have been the hospitality industry’s smart choice for both business and leisure guests for some years, but their appeal to the mass market has been slower in coming. This may be set to change as more people are waking up to the benefits of space and privacy that a fully self-contained apartment offers. But, for the as yet unconverted, here are 11 reasons why you should stay in a Citybase Apartment for your next break:

1. Serviced Apartments have more space

Serviced Apartments have much more space than equivalent hotel rooms; moreover, they're generally much more pleasant to be in. Apartments are much more like our own homes, you can usually open the windows properly, adjust the temperature more easily, and you have more space to put away your things. There's usually more natural light and fresh air. As we become more conscious of the environmental impact of flying, and the days of 99p flights are long gone, many of us will plan fewer, longer trips each year and, on this basis, comfortable, spacious accommodation becomes really important.

2. The facilities are better in an apartment

The fridge, need I say more. This makes life so much easier - and cheaper: no more overpriced drinks and snacks from the hotel bar, no restrictions on when or what you can eat. In a holiday apartment you can fill your fridge with exactly what you want, and eat it whenever and however you want.  You will also often have a dishwasher, washing machine, and a coffee machine too.  

3. A serviced apartment offers more privacy

If you don’t want strangers in your space on a daily basis, you can wash your own clothes, linen and towels whenever you like, or arrange weekly or fortnightly servicing at your convenience. You don’t need to send your clothes out to be washed or ironed, you can even clean the apartment yourself. If you really feel moved to. Personally I find that housekeeping every three days is more than sufficient, and they can usually arrange to come when you are out – rather than tapping on the door at 8am like in a hotel.

4. Eat what you want, when you want

All of our serviced apartments offer either a full kitchen, or as a minimum, a kitchenette, which usually means a hob, microwave and fridge. In practice, unless you’re planning to feed a huge group, or cooking Christmas Dinner, even a basic kitchenette will allow you to prepare a wide range of meals in your apartment and will be more than enough for a break of even a couple of weeks.

You can buy the right quantities of your own food, order takeaways or groceries to be delivered, wash fruit and vegetables and ensure that all your food is prepared the way you want it, this is especially handy if you, or your companions have any dietary restrictions, or just if your kids are fussy eaters.  Also, if you just want to grab a quick breakfast and go, and not have to interact with anyone in the morning then this is perfect for you.

5. Hotel WiFi and other annoying things

We’ve all been there. The free WiFi you get in hotels is almost invariably rubbish; you often have to pay a daily or weekly charge to get a more reliable connection, which then often only works on one device and tends to struggle with streaming, downloading or when multiple devices are logged on.  With a Citybase holiday apartment you get the WiFi code when you check in, and off you go. You can browse, stream or download to your heart’s content with no interruptions.  The importance of this cannot be overstated if you are travelling with children or, indeed, lucky enough to be holidaying with teenagers. 

While we're on the subject, other annoying things that crop up in hotels with irritating frequency include: thief-proof coat hangers, tiny little irons, weak travel hairdryers. While we can’t guarantee they might sneak in somewhere, as a general rule, the appliances in a Citybase serviced apartment tend to be of a much better quality than you usually see in hotels.

6. An apartment has a separate area to relax or work

Being stuck in a hotel room is going to have limited appeal after a pretty short time. An apartment offers a much more home-like atmosphere to be able to sit on a sofa and eat, watch TV or just hang out in a separate area to where you’re sleeping.  Similarly, sitting cross legged on your bed with a laptop on your knee is not going to be the most productive or healthy environment for anyone. Many more of us are working from home more frequently, or just generally running our lives from our laptops, and it’s much better to have a proper space at which to sit and focus.  

7. More protection and reassurance if something goes wrong.

Booking a homeshare or spare room can be a great way of immersing yourself in a city for what often seems like great value. And it’s all very well until something isn’t working as it should or your host cancels at the last minute.  When the unexpected does happen, a reputable, professionally-run serviced apartment provider (and we only work with those ones) will have an out of hours service to help you, will be able to call an emergency engineer, or, if all else fails will be able to move you to an alternative apartment.  As Business Insider  put it, “At an Airbnb, you're at the mercy of your host, who may or may not be responsive.”

8. Check-in your way

Our holiday apartments offer all different modes of check in. Some have 24 hour receptions and concierges similar to hotels, others will meet you and let you in, and others use lock boxes, punch your number in, collect your key and go. Whatever you feel more comfortable with, just tell us your preference when booking and we will recommend the right options.

9. If you’ve got kids, then it’s a no-brainer

Hotels with children can be hard graft, especially if they’re young. Adjoining or adjacent rooms are often hard to come by and even if you can get a family room, you’re piled on top of each other. When the kids finally go to sleep, you’re tiptoeing between beds trying not to wake everyone up.

Even if everyone sleeps through, they invariably wake up at 5am expecting breakfast or milk and Cbeebies turned up to 11. But, there’s no fridge, one TV and so you’re the family waiting at the breakfast room door at 6:59am looking like the walking dead. Not, by anyone’s standards, the most relaxing way to holiday. The family who booked an apartment have a separate room for the kids; they can go to bed in their own space, allowing you to enjoy an evening to yourself. In the morning they can chill with their tablets, & grab something from the fridge to keep them going til it’s time to go down for breakfast at a civilised hour. 

10…or pets

Citybase has a huge range of pet-friendly serviced apartments meaning you don’t have to leave your pets at home, or shell out for kennels while you enjoy a holiday. You can filter results on our website to properties that welcome pets, or mention it on booking.

11. You get more, (usually) for less in an apartment

Given all the benefits that Citybase serviced apartments offer, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you might pay more. Well actually it doesn’t always work out like that. There are a huge amount of hidden costs in your average hotel: bar, restaurant, reception, concierge, laundry, daily housekeeping, room service, breakfast and you tend to pay for these services whether you actually need or use them. In a serviced apartment, many of these hidden, wasted costs are not there and the savings are passed onto you, this means that you can usually get a really nice holiday apartment, in a major city, for equivalent or cheaper than a hotel of a similar standard.  

Furthermore, in a hotel you are charged one flat rate whether you’re staying for 1 night or 14. In an apartment, if you are staying more than a few nights then we can usually offer you an even better rate and the longer you stay, the bigger the savings.

So, there you have it, 11 reasons why you should stay in a Citybase Apartment , now your next decision just needs to be...where to go next!? If you’re choosing to stay in the UK this year, check out our recommended destinations for a fantastic UK vacation or our ten favourite cities to visit in the UK this year .

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