Hotel or serviced residence for next trip

Where to stay is a question arise when it is time for another trip.

There are many choices to choose in the market from hotels, serviced residences, homestay, motels, and many others.  This will depend on the purpose of your trip, what experiences you are expected to get and the budget you wish to spend.

In this writing, my main focus is to elaborate more on hotels and serviced residences which are categorized as   4-Star and above, by mentioning several points for your consideration.

This information will provide you some overview before deciding where to stay.

1. Length of stay

How long will you plan to stay meaning your check in and check out dates.  Will it be a short stay or a long stay?  I would consider that short stay can be between 1 to 14 days while above 14 days can be categorized as long stay.

Would you be comfortable to stay at hotel for short stay periods when 24-hour room service and housekeeping service will be mostly available?  Or would you consider to stay at service residences especially for long stay periods when you will have more spacious area to move around as well as complete kitchen facilities to experiment your cooking skills.

2. Spacious area

Serviced Residences will offer more spacious area in their leading room category.  The question is whether you will need spacious room or not for your stay.

The leading room category in hotel will offer an open space with bedroom, simple desk and sometimes, closet facilities and complete bathroom facilities. While the leading room category in serviced residences will also provide an additional area of kitchen facilities and living room area.

3. Facilities

What are your planned activities during stay? Do you have time to enjoy fitness center and swimming pool? Do you need full services of room service and housekeeping services?

Fitness center and swimming pool will usually be available in both hotel and serviced residence as part of their facilities.  Do check the opening and closing hours as some may not offer 24-hour opening hours especially for swimming pool due to safety concern.

As for room service and housekeeping services, you will also need to find out if they will provide 24-hour or limited services only.

4. Rate and inclusion

Determine what you need for your stay.  Do you require daily stay with breakfast and daily housekeeping services? Or do you require a long stay package such as monthly rate with or without breakfast and limited housekeeping services based on your needs.

Hotels will usually offer daily rate, while serviced residences can either provide you with daily or monthly rate. Do note that if you prefer to have a monthly rate, you will then require to also settle the payment for one month stay in one go.

Do not forget to always check the terms and condition applied in the rate offered. Do hotel or serviced residences require a deposit for longer stay? What happen if you decide to shorten your stay?

5. Location

Does location become one of your decision factors to choose your accommodation to stay? If so, and there are hotel and serviced residence as option to select within the preferred location, you can then review the following points mentioned earlier as references.

Choosing either hotel or serviced residences will be really based on your preferences and your needs. At the end of the day, a comfortable stay will become a significant factor to create a  happy trip and memorable experience.

Enjoy.