Seasoned travelers who have a flair for sniffing out the best deals on flights and accommodation swear by a certain methodology to employ when trying to get the best deals on accommodation in particular. That methodology proves to be very effective pretty much all the time, but things are a little different when it comes to serviced apartments.
With serviced apartments, getting the best deal won’t typically result from jumping on your favourite online budget accommodation search site, even if you apply all the known tricks that usually account for further savings, like searching after midnight, searching mere days before your indicated travel date, etc. Things are different with serviced apartments, for reasons which we won’t be detailing today.
Rather, we’ll just get straight into the requisite approach for serviced apartments in particular.
Book a short-stay first
The ultimate plan is to get to know the owners, manager, or any other staff working at or running the serviced apartment you’ll seek to stay in, assuming that you want to stay longer. First book a short-stay, even if it’s via the regular accommodation-searching platforms. Once there, just be the good guest that you indicatively are and take every opportunity to engage with the staff. Ask about things to do around and emphasise that you’re looking to save costs. Check out Stargate for the best options and prices.
Negotiate a longer-term arrangement directly
Hosts normally greatly appreciate guests who are just “sane” and aren’t a nuisance. You’ll be greatly surprised at just how something like simply following the house rules automatically sets you apart from the majority of guests who somehow seem to think paying for accommodation gives them the right to act out utopian power-hungry fantasies. True story…
It’s as simple as something like the host waiving a lot of the extra fees that are really just included in the public rate as security since you pose a lower risk as a “good” guest. You might not have to pay the full price for the deposit if you seek long-term accommodation, for instance. But in pretty much any instance, longer-term bookings negotiated directly with the property management company, generally unlock better deals in the case of serviced apartments.
Stay during the low-season
Sure, high-season is peak travel season for a reason, but if you’re the kind of traveler looking at serviced apartments as an accommodation option, you probably aren’t really swept away by what the crowds are fascinated by. So that makes you the perfect candidate to take advantage of the generally lower pricing around low-season. With serviced apartments, the price differences tend to be much greater, because many of the times a serviced apartment is operated by a family whose regular living environment has been made into something like a boutique hotel or serviced apartment villa/building.
Book well in advance
This is a trick that we can say is “borrowed” from what travelers staying in any type of accommodation do to get great deals, which is of course booking in advance. Sometimes even if it’ll be peak-season, merely booking in advance (and paying) will have you in on great deals.