"Our Story" composed of letter blocks

Comany history

From diploma thesis to successful company.


It all began in 1998, when Anett Gregorius wrote her diploma thesis in Berlin on the topic of "Presentation and evaluation of the development trends of boardinghouses on the German accommodation market according to structural and economic criteria" as part of her business administration (BA) studies. Her professor had prompted her to focus on the niche segment, which was still in its infancy in Germany. The potential of the hotel business quickly became apparent during the work, and the idea matured to later pursue the topic professionally.

After graduation, Anett Gregorius first travelled for six months through Australia, where the market for serviced apartments was already established. Back in Germany, she took on various positions in the Berlin hotel industry, including a job with the German aparthotel pioneer.

At the same time, the Berliner founded her company Apartmentservice in 1999 - as the first booking platform for serviced apartments in the German-speaking area Germany, Austria and Switzerlandand as a specialised consulting company. Anett Gregorius quickly became a sought-after contact person for the segment, so that she became completely independent with her company in 2001.

Since the 2000s, the segment has grown visibly in Germany, also with more and more newcomers. The economic crisis of 2008 was the first test. The sharp drop in travel activity caused major losses for the agency and consulting business. But both quickly returned, and a number of new operators were founded from 2010 onwards, bringing a lot of movement into the young segment.

To further professionalise the niche, Anett Gregorius launched the annual "Market Report Serviced Apartments" in 2011 and has since offered the only primary figures for the serviced apartment segment in Germany.

In 2013, the idea arose to present a separate award for serviced apartments, which was combined with a annual conference in the same year - the industry meeting SO!APART was born and quickly developed into the most important symposium for the serviced apartment segment in German-speaking countries.

This was followed from 2014 onwards by the development of a Charter of Temporary Living with numerous partners of the segment, which has been revised again and again over the years. And in 2017, Anett Gregorius published the "Compendium of Temporary Living" together with Matthias Niemeyer.

The Corona pandemic from 2020 onwards caused historic slumps in the segment - but at the same time it put the serviced apartment segment with its crisis resilience into special focus, both within the hospitality industry and beyond.

For further professionalisation and as a platform for the players in the segment, Anett Gregorius founded the online trade magazine SO!APART insight in 2021. Since 2023, in addition to the SO!APART Annual Congress, there have been other events that expand the range of topics related to the world of temporary living.

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