The two basic types of short term accommodation in Cambridge used by businesses arehotels and serviced apartments. Both have elements of identical service about them: but both also diverge heavily from each other in certain key areas.
On paper, the identical elements of service are linen changes and (in some cases)
cleaning. In actual fact, though, while a hotel room is normally serviced daily, apartments are serviced once per week. As noted, some serviced apartments may also provide cleaning facilities for their clients – this is
normally by arrangement, if cleaning is required more than once per week.
Both forms of short term accommodation in Cambridge are likely to provide broadband internet connections for business users. The hotel, though, is still quite likely to charge for this as an extra service: while a serviced apartment tends
to include the price of broadband usage in its overall fee.
Also, the hotel charges (in most hotels) per person for occupancy of a room or of
rooms. The serviced apartment charges a single rental rate for the whole premises, which does not change unless more people are using it to sleep than the original berth figure. In this case, some serviced apartments will
make a spare bed or a sofa bed available at a small extra nightly charge.
It should be noted that the broadband connection provided by a serviced apartment
is often subject to a fair usage policy.
Beyond the features noted above – which are both similar and different – options
for short term accommodation in Cambridge, for business users, have widely different keynote features. An hotel, for example, provides cooked and cold food from a menu, which may remain the same for months. A serviced apartment
provides an environment in which occupants may cook their own food using a fully appointed kitchen.
For midterm business trips, this feature can add a lot of variety to the evenings.
It can also safeguard against potential homesickness and depression – both of which are common afflictions for business people who spend weeks at a time living away from home in hotel rooms.
In general terms, the hotel is set up to provide accommodation and catering options
for a few nights, say five working nights at most. Beyond this hotel living can become more of a drag than a convenience – and it is at this point that some businesses begin to consider the viability of other short term
accommodation in Cambridge.
Where longer term business trips are indicated. It is important that employees are
entering a home like environment: a place in which they can relax, and take time to do things other than their job. They may want to eat at their own time; or to entertain. They may want to do normal weekend things, like going
to the cinema or having a veg out afternoon in front of some old movies.
All of these things are taken for granted by people who live at home and commute to
work – or who work from home.