TH1801

The Apartment Hotel

An apartment hotel refers to a serviced apartment or a serviced residence that offers self-contained units,
which contain access to kitchen and laundry facilities (Tuazon-Disimulacion, 2016).
Unlike hotels and resorts, apartment hotels allow guests to settle in if they opt to stay for a certain number of
weeks or months. As such, these accommodation establishments provide guests the experience of two (2)
different worlds: freedom of own residential property and service of a hotel. They also offer more space with
most of their rooms having access to a full-size kitchen and multiple rooms. These are mostly located in
residential areas as well.
Apartment hotels also offer rooms at a much lower cost than hotels and resorts. That is why these
accommodations are becoming more of a business travel space. Some consider them “home away from home”
(can get the privacy, comfort, and freedom of a second home). For these guests, they can prepare their own
meals using their room’s or unit’s kitchen, enjoy a spacious area for families, friends, or business meetings,
and feel more safe because of its 24/7 manned reception.
This type of accommodation establishment usually caters to corporate travelers who are out on a short to
medium term assignment. It offers leisure travelers an excellent value for accommodation that is nearest to
the area that they want to visit or explore.
These accommodations are also equipped with a full-sized kitchen, Wi-Fi connection, washers, and dryers that
make their rooms or units larger than most standard rooms of a hotel. Unlike hotels and resorts, these rooms
are cleaned every week. However, guests may request for it to be cleaned daily or every three (3) days. Hence,
even with larger rooms, pricing tends to drop when longer stays are booked.
People opt to stay in apartment hotels to get a flexible option for accommodation. Rooms or units can be
anywhere from a studio type to a five-bedroom unit in a city center complex or a seven-bedroom villa in a
resort complex.
Management and Operations of Apartment Hotels
An apartment hotel is divided differently since these establishments are a hybrid of a residential property and
a hotel. There are two (2) divisions that house different departments or teams (Ascott, 2019):

• Rooms Division allows apartment hotels to provide guests the experience of having a home with an
added service of a hotel; therefore, this division handles all matters about room accommodation and
maintenance. It houses four (4) separate departments:
o Operations Management ensures that the standards of the apartment hotel remain
consistent with its company philosophy, policies, and objectives. This department plans,
directs, and coordinates the daily operations of the apartment hotel.
o Housekeeping handles the rooms’ or units’ cleanliness and maintenance. One of its
responsibilities is to attend to the requests and complaints of the guests on either the
maintenance and cleanliness of their rooms or units and facilities that they can use.
o Guest Service aids the guests’ check-in and check-out and deals with ad-hoc (impromptu)
situations.
o Reception and Reservations Department takes care of the round the clock queries and
concerns of the guests and reservation process from arrival registration to check out
confirmation.

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• Administrative Division takes care of administrative and back office matters, as well as the following:
o Engineering maintains the physical condition of the apartment hotel amenities, central
equipment, and systems used within the property.
o Security oversees day-to-day security operations and the safety of the guests and apartment
hotel.
o Finance supports the apartment hotel in decision-making by collecting, analyzing,
investigating, and reporting financial data to drive the profitability of the enterprise.
o Human Resource handles the deployment and development of the apartment hotel’s
manpower.
• Other departments or teams include sales, marketing, and innovation (same with recreation).

Some apartment hotels may also have a Food and Beverage Division, which includes food outlets that serve
as tenants in the establishment. However, since these accommodations promote the freedom of having a
second home, guests tend to prepare their food straight from their room’s or unit’s kitchen.

References:
Chibili, M. N. (2016). Modern hotel operations management. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Operations Management. (2019). In The Ascott Limited. Retrieved from https://www.the-
ascott.com/en/ascottlimited/careers/operations-management on May 6, 2019
Tuazon–Disimulacion, M. A. (2016). Principles of tourism 2. Mandaluyong: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.

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