User talk:Sweetkittens

Serviced Apartment, Seoul
A serviced apartment is a type of furnished, self-contained apartment designed for short-term stays, which provides amenities for daily use.

Benefits, Serviced Apartment
Serviced apartments can be less expensive than equivalent hotel rooms. Especially when staying for 7 days or more serviced apartments offer savings of up to 30% on traditional hotel accommodation. Since the beginning of the boom in cheap international travel and the corresponding increase in the level of sophistication of international travelers, interest in serviced apartments has risen at the expense of the use of hotels for short stays. The benefits of serviced apartments are:
 * more space
 * more privacy
 * more freedom
 * cost effective, because not only a saving can be made on the cost of the apartment, also, because serviced apartments come with fully equipped kitchen facilities, there is no need to eat out all the time.
 * serviced apartments are convenient, especially when traveling with a family, because the whole family can stay in one apartment.
 * serviced apartments offer a home away from home, with all the modern conveniences you would expect.

The above benefits and criteria were highlighted in the inaugural [Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2008]http://www.apartmentservice.com/News_Room/GSAIR08, which was produced following a survey of 20000 serviced apartment operators, (corporate) travel agents and apartment bookers worldwide.

In this report the following description has been given of a serviced apartment and the various types of serviced apartments that can be distinguished:

The term “serviced apartment” is used when referring to an alternative for hotel accommodation for short and long stay leisure and business travellers. There are however distinctions to be made between types of serviced apartment:

First there is the extended stay hotel and aparthotel. This type of apartment offers generally a 24 hour reception, is located in city centres and gives the guest a home away from home feeling, within a hotel like environment. They range from budget to deluxe and room types range from studio apartments (one room which can be used as living area and sleeping area, a little kitchenette and a separate bathroom), to two or three bedroom apartments which offer a separate living area, a kitchen, one or more bathrooms and separate bedroom(s). Because of the availability of kitchen facilities in the apartments, extended stay properties and apart-hotels do not tend to offer any extra services such as restaurants and bars. There are of course exceptions to this rule, because there are a number of extended stay properties which have been built as an annexe to existing 4 or five star hotels and the guests who stay in the apartments can make use of the hotel facilities free of charge.

Secondly we can distinguish corporate housing. These are residential properties which have been upgraded for shorter term rentals and packaged together with services such as cleaning, utility charges, local taxes, telephone and television, for stays of 30 days or more. They can be located in city centres, but more often than not they are located on the outskirts of the centre of town, with easy access to the main business areas.

Both of the serviced apartment types above have in common that the units are all fully furnished and equipped and the guests will enter a home away from home, with cooking facilities and all modern conveniences such as television, DVD, internet access etc. Having a kitchen means that the client can opt for eating in instead of out, hence making an instant saving. Other benefits of a serviced apartment include, added space to both work and play, more privacy and more comfort.

The serviced apartment concept was created in the USA and the influence of America on the global serviced apartment market remains huge. 86% of the world´s stock of serviced apartments is still located there. Many, from origin hotel operators, which offer extended stay product, such as Marriott (Residence Inn, Execustay), Hilton (Homewood Suites) and InterContinental (Staybridge) have introduced their products worldwide. Next to that there are the companies, which only offer serviced apartments, such as The Ascott Group and Frasers Hospitality, which have been rapidly expanding their offerings across the globe. In the UK one of the first companies to offer corporate housing was The Apartment Service with their Roomspace Serviced Apartments and Executive Roomspace brands.

Currently research is underway for 2nd Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report, which is due early 2010.

Seoul Serivced Apartment
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has population of 10,356,000 (Metropolitan area 23 million). Recently, Korean trade became larger and lots of transactions has been made in Seoul area. Due to many reasons relating business matter, foreign (non-Korean) population has been growing rapidly. For education reasons, many of the Seoul public schools, private schools and private academies (Hak-won) are hiring young teachers from English speaking countries. These schools offer the teachers officetels, and the contract is usually good for a year. However, others who move to Korea for short term and long term, especially those with families seek for serviced apartments that provide similar services as home. Seoul serviced apartments are usually provided by international corporations and government, such as Oakwood Serviced Apartment (Located in Samsung-Dong), Marriott Excutive Apartments (Located in ), Somerset Place Seoul (Located in downtown seoul, near Anguk Station), and DMC Ville Serviced Apartments for foreigners Seoul (Located in Sangam-Dong). The services at Serviced Apartments in Seoul provide western style suits with based on living room, bedroom, kitchen style. For their comfort who are not used to Korea life style, many places also offer washer and dryer for laundry (usually Korean families do not use dryer). Many serviced apartments in Seoul are located near international schools for its student residence. Since most of the serviced apartments for foreigners in Seoul residence are non-Korean speakers, 24-hour English speaking reception is available.