In 2023, the serviced apartment segment in Germany achieved an average annual occupancy rate of 82%. This is even more guests than in the previous year with 80 per cent and, above all, significantly more compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019 with ‘only’ 77 per cent. Apartmentservice determined the results as part of its annual operator survey, which the Berlin-based consulting and brokerage company has been conducting since 2011.
Short-term bookings in particular, which are common in hotels, have increased: The average length of stay has fallen to 14 days. More than every second stay in 2023 was between one and six nights long. ‘This is a record and shows that even in the long-stay-focussed and particularly lean operating form of serviced apartment buildings, short stays have become an important offer and that guests also want them,’ says Anett Gregorius, owner and founder of Apartmentservice.
More and more leisure travellers too
For many years, around 70 per cent of the most frequent guests in serviced apartments were business travellers, particularly project workers who spent weeks working in a foreign city, but now leisure travellers make up 44 per cent. ‘They come for a city break or a holiday with the family and appreciate the space and self-catering options. But of course, more and more business trips and holidays are also being combined due to the growing mix in the world of work, in the form of bleisure and workation trips,’ explains Anett Gregorius. ‘There are also good opportunities to work in many serviced apartments.’
In addition, serviced apartment companies are experiencing strong demand in tight housing markets such as Berlin and Munich: Serviced apartments are a flexible alternative for the first six months for national and international professionals who cannot find an apartment on the traditional market in a new city, including the possibility of connecting with like-minded people. In turn, companies can recruit new employees more reliably in this way.
Serviced apartments providers are adapting to the new guests with a growing number of hybrid brand concepts. As with Smartments Connect or MM:NT by Adina Hotels (TFE Hotels), the serviced apartment offers are mixed with rooms and shared kitchens for short stays. Others, such as Nena Hospitality, are focussing on more in-house catering.
Apartmentservice has been collecting the most important key figures in the segment as part of an operator survey since 2011. They are regarded as Germany's only source of detailed market data from the serviced apartment sector. Interested parties can find further and more detailed data and analyses at www.soapart-insight.de. On the booking platform www.apartmentservice.de, which Anett Gregorius founded over 20 years ago specifically for serviced apartments, private travellers, business travellers and their companies can find a selection of suitable serviced apartments in more than 150 destinations.