How is the serviced apartment sector changing? Our reporter speaks to Susan Cully about changing perceptions and the leisure market.

　　How is the serviced apartment sector changing? Our reporter speaks to Susan Cully about changing perceptions and the leisure market.

　　Do enough people know about serviced apartments?

　　The serviced apartment area is still a new sector in Europe and the UK. There is a major lack of awareness; most people do not see the price is the same as a hotel although it is starting to change. Awareness if growing as there is more competition now. As the sector grows, the knowledge of it will too.

　　By way of how the models change, it often starts at the hotel level, then apart’hotel, then serviced apartment and then a residence.

　　We work with some online travel agents and are on the GDS so if you know what you are looking for you can find us.

　　The sector is predominantly based on the business market but is this changing?

　　Marlin entered the serviced apartment market 10 years ago.

　　When we first started out the corporate guests would book apartments for months on end. They would typically stay during the week and sometimes head off elsewhere for the weekend, but they would book the apartment for the entire period.

　　Around five years ago this started to change as budgets tightened. Businesses started to book apartments from Monday to Friday or for shorter stays. It meant that we were left with apartments empty at the weekends. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are now our key nights.

　　What did Marlin do to fill these room nights?

　　Our initial focus was on the business market and within that we looked at female travellers who are travelling alone. These women like to have somewhere to cook for themselves and have their own area; this has been a growth area for us since.

　　We also decided to target the leisure sector and particularly those who stay in cities for the weekend. There is also a chance to reach out to the family market, as serviced apartments often have two or more beds covering 1,000 square metres of space and can sleep up to seven. The kitchen facilities available mean everyone can cook and eat in the same space if they choose to.

　　There has been an increase in the leisure sector in the last few years. We have been fortunate in that we have been able to diversify our business model as the market changed.

　　How has technology changed both your business and the sector?

　　Technology is the biggest question mark with what will happen in the industry. Customers are online more and being increasingly interactive both while booking and when staying in the apartments themselves. This demand is part of the reason Marlin offers free WiFi although we charge for higher bandwidth if people want to start streaming films or downloading big content.

　　Booking patterns are changing and technology is driving that. We are seeing more bookings online.

　　Marlin was the first serviced apartment company to launch its own online booking portal. Most of our bookings are done online even in the business sector as many ignore the corporate programme and book direct with us with a credit card.

　　How has Marlin performed in recent years?

　　2012 was an unusual year with the Olympics but it was a good year. London was taken by surprise; there were not so many tourists in the summer which was very visible and corporates stayed away during what would have been a busy period for us. But from July to September there was suddenly a huge demand in bookings for later in the year so it ended well.

　　Results from the sector showed an initial concern for the start of 2013 but Marlin had one of its strongest first quarters, up on occupancy and rate. From the ASAP meetings I find we are experiencing something different to our fellow operators. It was not such a good start for them but we were quite happy and looking comfortable for the summer, so it shows we are doing something right.

　　What developments are in the pipeline?

　　There are two sites we are looking to develop. One will be located in the south of London and another I cannot say too much about at the moment. The first will be our first apart’hotel, another way that the company continues to diversify. We bought the Stratford location as an alternative to the higher costs in central London and now want a less expensive version. This more affordable option will take this a step further so it will have smaller rooms but we will reduce the rate. It will maintain the facilities that the serviced apartments have.

　　We currently have six locations and 700 apartments and have an aim to reach 1,000 in three years. Marlin develops its own sites so it can take longer for our properties to come together.