1

Does anyone know an aggregator/platform or company that provides high standards serviced apartments and actually enforces those standards (or provides actual recourse to the guest in case of problems)?

I have had a bad experience with a platform claiming to offer premium apartments, vetted landlords and a basically risk-free experience - essentially a premium Airbnb. The truth couldn't be much further than that. Looking at their & their competitors' reviews clearly shows I am not alone and it seems to be a bit of a market for lemons.

Considering most customers would be foreigners with no other options and no easy/cost-effective access to legal recourse, there is effectively no reason for them to deliver on any of their promises, and catering to customer loyalty is not necessary as there is an endless supply of new customers that will try their luck at least once so it makes sense this segment of the market ended up the way it is.

Are there any other options that avoids these problems for regular 3-6 month rentals in Western Europe? Even local "serviced apartment" websites sadly show a lot of the same properties that I saw on those terrible websites, so I am not sure how much to trust those?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    Have you considered apparthotel-type stays like Adagio or other similar chains?
    – jcaron
    Commented Jul 3 at 22:17
  • @jcaron yes I was looking for recommendations along those lines. My problem is that the ones I know and could easily find either no longer had availability or just weren't in the cities I was looking for.
    – André Borie
    Commented Jul 5 at 21:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

Your best bet would likely be to book a serviced apartment operated by a global hotel chain, which enforce brand standards as part of the deal.

Unfortunately these are not as common in Europe as they are in the US and Asia, but options include Adagio Aparthotels by Accor (132 properties), Citadines and other long-stay brands by ASR (52), Residence Inn by Marriott (30+ in Europe) and Frasers (20+).

The other catch is that, precisely because these are "premium" properties in a market with a lot of lemons, these tend to be (much) more expensive than random Airbnbs. For a multi-month stay, I recommend calling interesting-looking properties and negotiating directly, particularly outside high season they'll give you much better rates than the regular nightly/weekly prices.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .