Corporate serviced apartments: how teams source and book stays

What are corporate serviced apartments?

Wikipedia defines corporate housing as a relocation-industry term for renting a furnished apartment, condo or home on a temporary basis, and says users include individuals, military personnel, intern groups and corporations. It says corporate housing is typically used for stays averaging one month or more, citing an average of 83 days in a 2011 report and 84 nights in 2015.

The same article describes three kinds of provider: companies that lease and run furnished units, apartment communities that furnish a few of their own units, and client-focused companies that find and create furnished units for a customer. In each case, units are serviced between guests. It also contrasts corporate housing with extended-stay hotels, describing the first as housing in a residential setting. Serviced apartments that operate under a hotel-style brand sit between the two; aparthotel vs extended stay hotel explains the difference.

Who decides how a company books them?

Ownership of corporate serviced apartments varies, and it is changing. The Housing Providers Association published an article in April 2026 on the convergence of procurement, travel and global mobility. It says decision-making is increasingly influenced by procurement and finance rather than travel management and mobility, that authority is often distributed across multiple departments, and that companies are issuing more formal requests for proposals that combine hotel, serviced apartment and furnished housing vendors in one process.

Procurement often treats temporary housing as a lodging category rather than a specialised housing solution, according to the same source, and buyers increasingly expect clear pricing structures, standardised rate formats and reporting visibility. A corporate housing provider's president wrote in Hospitality Net in February 2025 that corporate travel buyers are demanding greater transparency in pricing and that many companies are opting for full RFPs. For a team, the practical point is to find out who in the business owns the budget before you approach providers.

What is the best way to source corporate serviced apartments?

There is no single best way to buy corporate serviced apartments; the right route depends on volume and urgency. A one-off project for a few staff can use direct enquiries to a handful of operators. A regular programme across several cities tends to need a structured tender, and some companies use an intermediary.

The Global Business Travel Association says the transient hotel request-for-proposal process sits at the heart of every well-run corporate travel programme and follows five sequential phases, with preparation starting two to three months before launch. That guidance is about hotels, but the same preparation applies when serviced apartments are in scope.

The table sets out the usual steps. The order is practical advice drawn from the sources above, not a fixed standard.

What does duty of care mean when choosing an apartment?

Employers are asked more and more to show they have thought about where staff sleep, and corporate serviced apartments are no exception. The Corporate Housing Providers Association states that employers must now demonstrate duty of care obligations, ensuring employees are housed in safe, compliant accommodations, and that providers must increasingly demonstrate property standards, safety protocols and reliable reporting. The Hospitality Net article cited above goes further and says companies must make duty of care in corporate travel and relocation their number-one priority.

The legal content of an employer's duty differs by country and by role, and nothing here is legal advice; confirm obligations with your legal, HR or health-and-safety teams. For travel generally, ISO 31030, published in September 2021, gives guidance to organisations on managing risks to the organisation and its travellers, applies to organisations of any type or size and excludes tourism and leisure travel except for people travelling on the organisation's behalf. It is a useful framework for structuring your own checks.

What should buyers ask providers about safety and support?

These questions turn a general duty-of-care aim into something a provider can answer when you source corporate serviced apartments. They are practical suggestions, not requirements from a source.

• What safety and fire information is provided to guests on arrival, and in which languages?
• Who can a guest reach out of hours, and how quickly are urgent maintenance issues handled?
• How are keys and access managed, and what happens if someone is locked out late at night?
• How is the building maintained and inspected, and can the provider show records?
• What incident and occupancy reporting can the provider give the employer?
• How does the provider handle a traveller who needs to leave early, extend or switch units?

How does consolidated billing work for a team?

Consolidated billing is a concept, not a product: it means charges for several travellers are collected on one account that the company pays. In hotels, the closest equivalent is a master account, which a hotel-industry glossary describes as a billing arrangement in which specified charges are billed directly to a company rather than to individual travellers. Typical inclusions are guest room charges and applicable taxes, while room service, minibar purchases and personal incidentals are usually excluded and stay on the traveller's own account.

Travel management companies offer a similar idea at programme level. One travel management company describes an invoice account as a centralised billing system managed by the travel management company, with invoices issued weekly, every two weeks or monthly, which smaller businesses often use to manage cash flow. Operators of corporate serviced apartments may or may not offer comparable arrangements, so ask what they provide.

For a team stay, ask how the invoice is itemised: rent, taxes, utilities, cleaning and any deposits. Ask whether charges can be split by employee or cost centre, who receives the invoice and what extras are billed separately. The guide to aparthotel extra charges and city taxes lists the items to look for.

Terms to agree: stays that change

Stays in corporate serviced apartments rarely run to plan. Projects slip, headcount changes and one person's assignment ends early. As practical advice, agree in advance how extensions are priced and confirmed, what notice an early exit needs, and whether the provider can move a traveller to another unit. Monthly serviced apartments explains common minimum-stay and cancellation patterns, and serviced apartments for relocation covers the transition from temporary to permanent housing.

Also check what is included, such as utilities, internet, linen and housekeeping, so that employees do not need to claim small items back. The long-stay accommodation checklist works for team onboarding as well.

Where do teams look first?

Teams sourcing corporate serviced apartments usually start with the cities where they have offices, clients or projects. The cities below are examples of business hubs to browse, not recommendations.

In Europe, look at London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Dublin. In Asia-Pacific, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney are examples. In North America, New York is a typical start. Each country hub, such as England or Singapore, lists where aparthotels are available.