What are serviced apartments?

Question

they are intended for long term residence? in what are they different from classical hotel rooms?

Answer 1

The term "serviced apartment" is generally used to describe apartments furnished and fitted out like a normal home, with hotel-style services provided. Hotel rooms are more spartan. Some residences are very tastefully furnished (some with complete linen), each with a fully equipped kitchen, separate living & dining area and master bedroom with ensuite bathroom. Residences come in a choice of 1-bedroom, 2-bedrooms, 2-bedrooms with study, etc.

A fairly complete or inclusive serviced apartment may include the following:

Swimming Pool with Barbecue facility & ice-machine
Gymnasium
Business Centre - 24 hours (with PCs, printers, scanner, photocopy machine, Broadband Internet including Wireless Internet Access)
Private Car Park (with full security)
Daily Housekeeping & Maintenance services
Daily newspapers
24 hours Concierge, Reception & Security services (with CCTV surveillance)
Laundry & Dry Cleaning Services
Babysitting services
Grocery Delivery Service
Dining-In Food Delivery Services
Car rental & limousine services
Poolside BBQ & party arrangements
Travel and recreational arrangements

You can cook in the kitchen, while there's usually no kitchen in a hotel room. Most people choose a serviced apartment if their stay is longer than, say, a week, and up to say, a year. Less than a week and they'd go to a hotel. More than a year, and they'd look for corporate housing. Most of the patrons are expatriates on project work.

Answer 2

After staying at another serviced apartment in the area (oriental service apartment) I was more than convinced that apartments in Shanghai had a low quality, yet on my second trip, one of my colleagues recommended to me Aquaspace serviced apartments. It was a departure from the ordinary, in a good way.
First they gave me a great check-in by giving me exact instructions on how to find them, and after a friendly and informative check-in, I was immersed into their very spacious and clean apartment. One thing I found interesting is that they left me two bikes in their apartment, which I took out for a joyride around the area (Since the apartment is located in a small green community compound, and also because it was nice and sunny at the time). It was a very different experience in this sense from your traditional hotel.
Another thing was the level of service provided. Not only do they get the basis very well covered (something lacking in China), but also every other additional requests (such as additional beds for extra guests), would be fulfilled. Basically the practice of “where there is a will there is a way”.
The only one thing I found lacking from here was the location wasn’t as close to Lujiazui as I would like, but nothing serious as I could easily walk there still in 10-15 minutes.
You can book it through http://www.aquaspace.com.cn

Answer 3

A serviced apartment is a fully furnished apartment available for both short-term as well as long-term stays, providing all the hotel-like amenities. Serviced apartments typically include soft-furnishings and cooking utensils so that long term tenants need not bring their own, and have all the services like housekeeping, front office, parking & others included in the rent. Serviced apartments therefore include all of the convenience of hotel rooms but can be less expensive than equivalent hotel rooms for longer stayers.

Answer 4

I think that you may sign some kind of short term lease, 2 months, 4 months, etc. and in that document you would probably make a refernce to servicing the suite, make sure it is referred to someplace before you occupy